Kategoria BISAC: Medical >> Microbiology

Pathogenic bacteria for human and animals have developed sophisticated weapons, termed virulence factors, to ensure their replication and persistence into their hosts. The authors in this volume show a synthesis on how the various host cellular Rho GTPases activities are manipulated by bacteria to fulfil their virulence.

Chemokines represent a family of over 40 small proteins that, for the most part, are secreted into the environment and function by binding to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are expressed on numerous different cell types. When initially identified close to 30 years ago, these molecules were associated with various human inflammatory diseases and it was recognized that expression may be integral in leukocyte recruitment to inflamed tissue. Within a relatively short period of time, early participants within the field determined that these proteins displayed distinct and conserved...

The aberrant replication pathway of foamy viruses distinguishes them from all other retroviruses. Many details have been accumulated over the past ten or so years. Most of the findings on foamy viruses were obtained by research on a single virus isolate previously called "human foamy virus," which appeared to be the first to be investigated on a molecular level. However, to the editor's knowledge, genuine human foamy viruses do not exist, but several trans-species transmissions of different simian foamy viruses from monkeys and apes to human hosts.

This book details the widely accepted hypothesis that the majority of bacteria in virtually all ecosystems grow in matrix-enclosed biofilms. The author, who first proposed this biofilm hypothesis, uses direct evidence from microscopy and from molecular techniques, arguing cogently for moving beyond conventional culture methods that dominated microbiology in the last century. Bacteria grow predominantly in biofilms in natural, engineered, and pathogenic ecosystems; this book provides a solid basis for the understanding of bacterial processes in environmental, industrial, agricultural,...

The number of patients affected by and dying from what can be considered as a "biofilm disease" is higher than heart disease and cancer combined. Thus, this is a hugely important work that describes the molecular mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication among bacterial cells in a biofilm, the development of antibiofilm inhibitors such as quorum-sensing inhibitors, and the use of biofilm inhibitors to prevent and treat bacterial infections in humans and other animals.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a disease associated with high morbidity and mortality, with at least one third of cases requiring hospitalization, exceeding the numbers admitted for myocardial infarction and stroke. Despite a broad armamentarium of antimicrobials available, it remains an important cause of death in industrialized countries. CAP is caused by a variety of pathogens with their order of importance dependent on the location and population studied. Despite the importance of CAP, reliable data and a recommended evidence-based therapy are lacking, and basic research...

The application of new molecular methodologies in the study of bacterial behavior and cell architecture has enabled new revolutionary insights and discoveries in these areas. This new text presents recent developments in bacterial physiology that are highly relevant to a wide range of readership including those interested in basic and applied knowledge. Its chapters are written by international scientific authorities at the forefront of the subject. The value of this recent knowledge in bacterial physiology is not only restricted to fundamental biology. It also extends to biotechnology and...