The completion of sequences for over one hundred microbial genomes, with more than 200 additional projects now under way, has vastly multiplied the potential avenues for research using genetic, biochemical, and bioinformatics tools, and has created the new field of functional genomics. These advances have laid the foundation for understanding key principles applicable to human genome research.

Microbial Functional Genomics, the first comprehensive treatment of this subject, provides a much-needed synthesis of genome-wide studies on gene networks and functions, as well as the use of...