Books

A comprehensive examination of the technical and anthropological issues in this new multidisciplinary field

Only recently was it determined that two of the world’s most devastating plagues, the plague of Justinian and the medieval Black Death, were caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen. Use of paleomicrobiological techniques led to this discovery. This work is just one example of the historical mysteries that this emerging field has helped to clarify. Others, such as when tuberculosis began to afflict humans, the role of lice in plague pandemics, and the history of smallpox, are explored and further illuminated in Paleomicrobiology of Humans.

Led by editors Michel Drancourt and Didier Raoult, the book’s expert contributors address larger issues using paleomicrobiology. These include the recognition of human remains associated with epidemic outbreaks, identification of the graves associated with disasters, and the discovery of demographic structures that reveal the presence of an epidemic moment. In addition, this book reviews the technical approaches and controversies associated with recovering and sequencing very old DNA and surveys modern human diseases that have ancient roots.

Essentially, paleomicrobiologists aim to identify past epidemics at the crossroads of different specialties, including anthropology, medicine, molecular biology, and microbiology. Thus, this book is of great interest not only to microbiologists but to medical historians and anthropologists as well.

Paleomicrobiology of Humans is the first comprehensive book to examine so many aspects of this new, multidisciplinary, scientific field.

Paperback, 212 pages, full-color illustrations.

This work examines the pathogenesis of human pulmonary tuberculosis in all of its stages, with a primary focus on the rabbit model. Tuberculosis in the rabbit most closely resembles that found in humans, including caseous necrosis, liquefaction, and cavity formation with bronchial spread of the disease. Other animal models-mouse, guinea pig, and monkey-are compared with the rabbit and human models.

Authored by a noted and experienced expert in the field, Pathogenesis of Human Pulmonary Tuberculosis reviews the interplay of the delayed-type hypersensitivity and cell-mediated immunity, clearly showing how both are needed to control the growth of the tubercle bacillus and how antibodies contribute to these cellular immune responses. The pathology and structure of tuberculous lesions are thoroughly investigated. Other significant topics discussed include the histochemistry of macrophage activation; the roles of various cytokines; the effects of glucocorticoids, estrogens, thyroid hormones, and irradiation on the disease; and principles of immunization against tuberculosis, including vaccine development. The final chapter describes many areas in which future research could contribute to our knowledge, treatment, and control of this disease. The text is complemented by high-quality illustrations of both human and rabbit disease.

Pathogenesis of Human Pulmonary Tuberculosis updates and revises the ground-breaking work of Max B. Lurie, summarizing the combined 80 years of research by Drs. Lurie and Dannenberg. The book offers a comprehensive resource for clinicians, public health investigators, and laboratory researchers in tuberculosis and immunology.

Electronic Only, 453 pages, illustrations, glossary, index.

Pathogens and Toxins in Foods: Challenges and Interventions offers a farm-to-table approach to food safety that enables readers to control microbial pathogens and toxic agents at all stages of the food supply chain. The book begins with chapters that help readers understand the characteristics of specific pathogens and toxins, the illnesses they cause, and the factors such as food processing operations that affect their survival and growth in food products.

Further, the chapters in the book explore the most recent advances in biological, chemical, and physical interventions to control food-borne hazards during pre-harvest, harvest, food processing, and in retail ready-to-eat foods and food service operations. Also included are chapters that discuss the latest methods to rapidly detect food-borne pathogens as well as the implementation of comprehensive food safety management systems.

Each chapter has been written by one or more leading experts in the field of food safety. Their advice is based on a thorough investigation of the literature as well as their own first-hand experience. In short, by drawing from hundreds of sources, this book offers food safety professionals a unique, single reference containing the latest understanding of food-borne hazards as well as the latest methods to detect and control their incidence.

Hardcover, 512 pages, illustrations, index.

The study of characteristically persistent bacterial infections has begun to focus attention on some of the basic biological questions: How have host and pathogen coevolved to reach the current balance of power? Is persistent colonization and/or infection a biological accident or the result of an evolved equilibrium?

This important new volume, Persistent Bacterial Infections, addresses these and other timely questions. Offering an examination of persistent bacterial infections in the light of ecological and evolutionary principles, it focuses on the principles of parasitism and commensalism and our ability to distinguish the two states. Throughout the volume, the authors explore the ways in which persistent infections differ from acute, self-limiting bacterial infections and how both differ from the nonpathogenic commensal state. The volume also addresses coevolution, host adaptation, natural selection, and other fundamental biological principles.

Valuable reading for investigators and advanced students in the field of bacterial pathogenesis. The volume also includes a foreword by Stanley Falkow.

Hardcover, 453 pages, illustrations, index.

Petroleum Microbiology is a state-of-the-art presentation of the specific microbes that inhabit oil reservoirs, with an emphasis on the ecological significance of anaerobic microorganisms. An intriguing introduction to extremophilic microbes, the book considers the various beneficial and detrimental effects of bacteria and archaea indigenous to the oil field environment. Presenting fundamental and applied biological approaches, the book serves as an invaluable reference source for petroleum engineers, remediation professionals, and field researchers.

First providing basic, updated material on the microbial ecology of oil fields, Petroleum Microbiology explores the impacts of microbial activities on the composition of crude oil and on petroleum production, as well as examining bacterial mechanisms involved in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons. The editors provide a compilation of relevant information and coverage of recent developments, incorporating chapters on fermentative, iron-reducing, and nitrate-reducing microorganisms; biodegradation of petroleum in subsurface geological reservoirs; microbial enhancement of oil recovery; petroleum upgrade through the use of biotechnology; and the microbiology of marine oil spill bioremediation.

Electronic only, 365 pages, illustrations, index.

Featuring contributions from eminent immunologists, microbial geneticists, and cell and molecular biologists, this single volume brings together a current understanding of how phagocytes recognize and respond to potentially pathogenic microbes. It explores and explains the complex biology underlying the different phagocyte lineages that enables them to sense and respond to their environments.

Several chapters in this volume review the properties and functions of the phagosome itself, which are intimately linked to the diverse roles it fulfills in the mechanisms of phagocytosis and host response. Authors explore the link between innate immunity and acquired immunity, and the development of specific cellular and humoral immune responses. Finally, several chapters explore the latest developments in the use of a variety of models of host-pathogen interaction.

Drawing from such disciplines as cell and molecular biology, microbiology, and immunology, this book helps readers gain a new appreciation and understanding of the role of the complex interactions between the microbial pathogen and its host’s multifaceted defenders.

Electronic Only, 559 pages, full-color insert, illustrations, index.

Picornaviruses afflict the animal kingdom with a wide range of maladies, notably the common cold, encephalitis, hepatitis, meningitis, and polio in humans and the economically devastating foot-and-mouth disease in animals. With contributions from leading experts from around the world, this volume examines the most current breakthroughs as well as the challenges that lie ahead in picornavirus research. Based on the most recent basic and clinical research findings, The Picornaviruses encapsulates our current knowledge of the molecular biology, evolution, and pathogenesis of this large family of viruses. In addition, it examines the diseases that these viruses cause and the latest vaccines and antiviral drugs to prevent and control those diseases.

The first eleven chapters explore the structural and mechanistic bases of picornavirus replication, highlighting new insights about the host cell interactions needed for virus growth. The next six chapters illustrate how the regular occurrence of mutations, typical of viruses with RNA as genetic material, generates the quasispecies dynamics that underlie viral fitness. Together with more drastic recombination events, the book shows how this error-prone RNA replication may have generated the variety of viruses embodied in the different picornavirus genera. The final twelve chapters focus on picornaviruses that cause disease, examining pathogenicity and innate and acquired immune responses against infection as well as the latest vaccine and antiviral drug strategies.

Synthesizing the latest developments in the study of picornaviruses, the book underscores our growing understanding of the close connections among picornavirus biology, diversity, evolution, and disease. Moreover, it serves as a springboard for developing new approaches to understanding this important family of viruses as well as preventing and treating picornaviral diseases.

Hardcover, 493 pages, full-color insert, illustrations, index.

Explore the remarkable discoveries in the rapidly expanding field of plasmid biology

Plasmids are integral to biological research as models for innumerable mechanisms of living cells, as tools for creating the most diverse therapies, and as crucial helpers for understanding the dissemination of microbial populations. Their role in virulence and antibiotic resistance, together with the generalization of “omics” disciplines, has recently ignited a new wave of interest in plasmids.

This comprehensive book contains a series of expertly written chapters focused on plasmid biology, mechanistic details of plasmid function, and the increased utilization of plasmids in biotechnology and pharmacology that has occurred in the past decade.

Plasmids: Biology and Impact in Biotechnology and Discovery serves as an invaluable reference for researchers in the wide range of fields and disciplines that utilize plasmids and can also be used as a textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in biotechnology and molecular biology.

"The study and utilization of plasmids is experiencing renewed interest. This book is a comprehensive and illustrative source where readers can find the latest advances in all aspects of plasmids, from the basic understanding of their biology to their utilization as tools in the modern laboratory."

—Luis A. Actis, Professor and Chair, Department of Microbiology, Miami University

"Plasmids: Biology and Impact in Biotechnology and Discovery compiles information on the recent progress achieved in the field of Plasmid Biology. It constitutes a wealth of inextinguishable knowledge, and is an important reference for all scientists working in the expanding and interconnected world of modern biology."

—Prof. Manuel Espinosa, Professor 'ad honorem' at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

Marcelo E. Tolmasky is a Professor at the Department of Biology, California State University, Fullerton, and the Director of the Center for Applied Biotechnology Studies. He did his PhD at the Fundación Instituto Leloir under the mentorship of Luis F. Leloir and his postdoctoral training in Jorge H. Crosa’s laboratory at the Oregon Health & Sciences University, where he studied virulence and antibiotic resistance plasmids in Gram-negatives. His current research focuses on several basic and applied aspects of plasmid-mediated multidrug resistance and virulence. He was a coeditor of the book Enzyme-Mediated Resistance to Antibiotics: Mechanisms, Dissemination, and Prospects for Inhibition (ASM Press).

Juan C. Alonso is a Research Professor at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. He did his PhDs at the School of Veterinary Science and Exact and Natural Sciences under the mentorship of Eduardo Zaccardi and Oscar Grau, respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training studying plasmid and chromosomal horizontal gene transfer in Bacillus subtilis in Thomas Trautner’s lab at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany. Current research in his laboratory focuses on genomic stability in Firmicutes. Through genetic, cytological, biochemical, and biophysics approaches, the long-term goal is to define the molecular steps in the dynamic process of homologous recombination and DNA segregation.

Hardcover, 718 pages, full-color illustrations, index.

The Pneumococcus is a state-of-the-art examination of recent research in this field and the impact of this gram-positive pathogen on human disease. Long known as a severe, invasive pathogen, the threat level of the pneumococcus is on the rise due to high-level antibiotic resistance. In addition, this volume comprehensively covers the wealth of available information on this highly transformable pathogen, precipitated by the publication of pneumococcal genome sequences.

Written by the foremost experts in the field including a foreword by Robert Austrian, the book integrates pneumococcal physiology, pathogenesis, and host-pathogen interactions. The Pneumococcus provides coverage of topics in basic microbiology such as details of DNA transformation, molecular and medical epidemiology, the molecular basis of invasive disease, and various interactions with host defenses.

The Pneumococcus presents important historical information on the field of pneumococcal research and suggests strategies for future investigation. With broad readability, this book is a valuable source of current information for graduate and medical school students, infectious disease specialists, and field researchers in the pathogenesis of gram-positive bacteria.

Hardcover, 427 pages, illustrations, index.

Quick reference to clinical microbiology

If you work in the clinical laboratory, this pocket guide will help you confidently identify most organisms you could encounter.

This useful updated edition continues to present valuable quick-reference information to the clinical microbiology community in a small package. Along with specifics on pathogenic microorganisms, there is updated information on effectively using essential molecular diagnostic techniques for today’s challenges.

You will find guidance on:

• MALDI-TOF MS performance for individual bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi
• Nucleic acid amplification testing/PCR and help interpreting genetic sequencing results
• Susceptibility testing, with methods and interpretive criteria for most organism/antibiotic combinations
• Antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and resistance profiles for common organisms

Paperback, 420 pages, index.