Bacterial taxonomy as a specialized discipline is practised by a minority but the applications of taxonomy are important to most, if not all microbiologists. It is the implementation of taxonomic ideas and practises which gives rise to identification and typing systems, procedures for the analysis and characterization of biodiversity, hypotheses about the evolution of micro-organisms, and improved procedures for the isolation and implementation of bacteria in biotechnological processes. Without taxonomic theory providing a sound basis to these many facets of microbiology there would be severe...

If ripple effect is a measure of greatness in scientific discovery then GEMMOs have a lot going for them and this book dramatically illustrates the risks associated with advances being made by researchers to mobilize and control the power of the microorganism in the world's fight to perfect nature and fmd remedies for its imperfections. In the field of genetic science it is abundantly clear that so much more can be achieved through prevention rather than cure and that the indirect kill, by reason of its logic is a much more powerful weapon for winning results. Nevertheless the dilemma facing...

The belief that energy might be a limiting factor for the development of humanity led twenty years ago to a great interest being'taken in research on anaerobic digestion. The first international symposium held in Cardiff in 1979 was followed by the meetings in Travenmund (1981), Boston (1983), Guangzhou (1985) and Bologna (1988). By now anaerobic digestion has come to be recognized as an appropriate technology for waste treatment. More recently, the increase in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere and (in developed countries, especially_ in the EEC) the. fact that more and more land...

This compendium is the result of the FEMS Workshop on "Rapid Diagnosis of Mycoplasmas" which I organized and which took place in Jerusalem, Israel, August 11-23, 1991. The first week's sessions were held at a resort on the outskirts of Jerusalem and consisted of lectures and discussions. This part was modelled along the lines of the Gordon Conference in the USA, i.e., in an intimate atmo- sphere in which everyone could mix and exchange ideas, and was very benefi- cial. About 100 scientists from around the world attended the first week. Dur- ing the first week, the biology, molecular biology...

A very early step in microbial colonization and pathogenesis is that involving recog- nition of the host by the microbe. In the final analysis such recognition is due to interaction between specific molecules on the two sides, without which host and microbe would ignore each other. It is therefore exciting to learn the rules that govern host-microbe interaction at to a large extent determines whether or not we are infected by the molecular level, which influenza virus, leishmanias, staphylococci and other pathogens. This book is a compendium of the addresses delivered at a symposium on...

Scientists from 24 countries who participated in the Symposium on Candida and Candidamycosis, 24-28 April 1989, Antalya, Turkey, have made important contributions to a better understanding of Candida and its infections - by their presence, presentations and discussions in the meeting. The Turkish Microbiological Society, organizing the Symposium in the name of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS), thanks all participants for realising this important meeting on such an important subject. In this book the full manuscripts of invited and free papers of the meeting are...

The Streptomycetes are industrially widely used microorganisms due to their ability to produce numerous different chemical compounds. These show very varied effects upon other living systems, and result from profound and subtle biochemical and morphological differentiation during the streptomycete life cycle. It is therefore not surprising that research on the genetics of antibiotic biosynthesis and differentiation in this group is currently progressing rapidly in many countries. Intimately connected with the production of antibiotics is resistance to them; analysis of this is giving further...

The meeting that provided the material for this book was the 58th Symposium of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) entitled MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF GASTROINTESTINAL INFECTIONS which was held in Helsingor, Denmark from 2nd to 4th September, 1990. The aim of this meeting was to bring together scientists from a range of discipline- microbiology, cell biology, molecular biology and immunology - to consider how microbes, including parasites, colonize and infect the gastrointestinal tract. The programme was designed to focus particular attention on the range of strategies...

The formation of atmospheric nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria may represent a significant nutrient sink in natural ecosystems. The rate of denitrification has often been difficult to measure in situ, however, and new methodologies should stimulate research on distribution of activity in space and time. The load of fertilizer nitrogen in modem agriculture has led to increasing nutrient reservoirs in recipient subsoils, aquifers, inland waters and coastal seas. By its conversion of nitrate to atmospheric nitrogen, bacterial denitrification is the only biological process to potentially...

The meeting on "Microbial Surface Components and Toxins in Relation to Pathogenesis" was held on May 15-19, 1989, in the Mitzpe Rachel guesthouse of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in Israel. Four major topics formed the basis for the meeting: adhesion and colonization; cell invasion and intracellular multipli- cation; evasion of host defenses; toxins and systemic effects. The presentations clearly show that our understanding of the pathology, pathogenesis and bacteria-host cell inter-action has greatly advanced over the last few years. The contributions to our knowledge on the biogenesis of adhesins...