Books

Comprehensive examination of the current understanding of pathogen adaptation and microevolution.

• Introduces the rapidly evolving field of genome plasticity, presents the latest research findings, and explores the relevance of these findings to infection and infection control.
• Compiles and analyzes current investigations on the genome fluidity of pathogenic microbes.
• Explores bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites from the aspect of host genome plasticity and its impact on infection.

Hardcover, 391 pages, illustrations, index.

A current review of basic research on Rickettsiales biology and pathogenesis in one comprehensive volume. The text details the scientific knowledge about how these obligate intracellular bacteria invade, survive and replicate inside eukaryotic cells. It also describes the spectrum of disease caused by an infection and the role of vectors in tramsmission, and discusses protective and pathologic immune responses and establishment of persisten infection. In addition, the text describes the latest developments including genomics and progress in vaccine development.

The title serves as a significant research book for scientists, physicians, medical students, public health professionals, epidemiologists, biocomputational scientists and government policy makers.

Hardcover, 443 pages, full-color illustrations, index.

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Written as a text for one-semester microbiology courses, the third edition of the highly acclaimed Bacterial Pathogenesis draws together the latest research to help students explore the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens cause infections in humans and animals. It features two additional authors who offer new points of view to ensure that all facets of the field are thoroughly explored. Readers will discover the strategies that bacterial pathogens use to survive and multiply within their hosts as well as the strategies that hosts use to fend off infections. At the same time, the text’s engaging style, illustrative examples, and thought-provoking exercises convey the excitement and fun of scientific discovery.

Completely revised and updated, this third edition features a new organization that dispenses with separate chapters dedicated to individual bacterial pathogens. Instead it focuses on core principles based on the growing understanding of the underlying similarities among pathogens and their mechanisms of action. In addition, readers familiar with the previous edition will find much new material. For example, there is new coverage of key findings on the mechanisms of bacterial secretion, toxins, and regulation.

Study questions at the end of each chapter challenge students to probe more deeply into the issues covered. This edition also offers new problems that immerse students in the discovery process. These problems present actual research data, asking students to interpret the data and then devise new experiments that would help build their understanding.

New to the Third Edition

• Presents new paradigms that unify concepts in the field of bacterial pathogenesis
• Challenges students to interpret actual research data and design new experiments
• Explores the latest findings on the mechanisms of bacterial secretion, toxins, and regulation
• Expands coverage of the role of normal microbial populations of the human body in health and disease
• Includes two new authors offering additional perspectives and points of view

Key Features

• Inspires students to become involved in the scientific process
• Builds understanding of principles by using easy-to-follow examples
• Illustrates molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis with clear diagrams
• Defines key terms in a detailed glossary
• Explains the historical development of important findings

For more on the book and information on requesting an examination copy please visit http://www.asmscience.org/instructors.

Click here to see ASM's "Author Insights" interview with Bacterial Pathogenesis' author Brenda Wilson, PhD.

Paperback, 540 pages, two-color illustrations throughout, glossary, index.

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Over the course of his career, John Roth has inspired his students and colleagues not only with his achievements, but also with his sense of adventure and joy in solving difficult puzzles in bacterial genetics. In addition, he has instilled in them his unique, rigorous scientific approach. Endlessly curious, he is forever diagramming ideas, developing them into models, designing experiments to test those models, and then evaluating the results in order to develop new models and tests. Along the way, he encourages his colleagues’ feedback, engaging them at every step of the scientific process.

This book has been written and edited by colleagues and former students of John Roth, many of whom are also leaders and pioneers in the field of bacterial genetics. It provides a complete overview of the entire field of bacterial genetics, helping the reader to understand how the field has evolved through the years. Moreover, the book enables everyone to be inspired by and to learn from John Roth’s achievements and contributions to bacterial genetics.

Initial chapters introduce the reader to John Roth and his impact on science. Subsequent chapters offer valuable lessons in both the history and science of bacterial genetics. The authors take the reader behind the scenes for a look at some of the most important triumphs and mishaps that have occurred on the path to discovery. The final chapter, written by John Roth himself, offers a fascinating look into the future. Progressing through the book, readers will gain valuable insights into how scientists think, how scientific ideas evolve, and how scientists interact.

Hardcover, 362 pages, illustrations, index.

The second edition of the highly acclaimed Bacterial Stress Responses incorporates and reviews the vast number of new findings that have greatly advanced the understanding of bacterial stress responses in the decade since the publication of the first edition. Readers will discover how this improved understanding not only enhances our knowledge of all cellular regulation at the molecular level, but also provides new ammunition in the fight against pathogens and helps optimize the use of bacteria in biotechnology.

The first section explores general regulatory principles, including the latest findings from genomics studies. In the second and third sections readers will learn how much more researchers have discovered about both specific and general stress responses. Next, the fourth section reviews how stress responses affect the interactions between bacteria and host cells. The fifth section describes bacterial stress responses in different niches and communities, with an emphasis on extreme environments. The final section examines how our growing understanding of bacterial stress responses can be used to better combat bacterial infection with antibiotics and improve biofuel production and bioremediation.

All chapters have been contributed by leaders and pioneers in their respective fields and then carefully edited to ensure conciseness and clarity. With its coverage of a broad range of model organisms as well as biotechnologically, medically, and environmentally relevant bacteria, this new edition fully encapsulates our understanding of bacterial stress responses. Moreover, it serves as a springboard for new investigations and new applications.

Hardcover, 506 pages, four-color insert, illustrations, index.

The Fecal Bacteria offers a balanced, integrated discussion of fecal bacteria and their presence and ecology in the intestinal tract of mammals, in the environment, and in the food supply. This new volume covers their use in examining and assessing water quality in order to offer protection from illnesses related to swimming in or ingesting contaminated water, in addition to discussing their use in engineering considerations of water quality, modeling, monitoring, and regulations. Fecal bacteria are additionally used as indicators of contamination of ready-to-eat foods and fresh produce. The intestinal environment, the microbial community structure of the gut microbiota, and the physiology and genomics of this broad group of microorganisms are explored in the book.

With contributions from an internationally recognized group of experts, the book integrates medicine, public health, environmental, and microbiological topics in order to provide a unique, holistic understanding of fecal bacteria. Moreover, it shows how the latest basic science and applied research findings are helping to solve problems and develop effective management strategies. For example, readers will discover how the latest tools and molecular approaches have led to our current understanding of fecal bacteria and enabled us to improve human health and water quality.

The Fecal Bacteria is recommended for microbiologists, clinicians, animal scientists, engineers, environmental scientists, food safety experts, water quality managers, and students. It will help them better understand fecal bacteria and use their knowledge to protect human and environmental health. They can also apply many of the techniques and molecular tools discussed in this book to the study of a broad range of microorganisms in a variety of habitats.

Hardcover, 315 pages, four-color insert, illustrations, index.

After more than four decades of working on the frontlines in the war against malaria, author Irwin W. Sherman is uniquely qualified to present this chronicle of the search for medicines to conquer malaria. The book not only reviews the history of antimalarial medicines, it also explains the hurdles that lie ahead in the discovery and development of effective treatments and control strategies. Moreover, it provides new perspectives on the creative process of drug discovery as well as the challenges of overcoming drug resistance.

Magic Bullets To Conquer Malaria provides a historical overview of the medicines that have been used to treat malaria. It recounts how these drugs were discovered, how they have been used, and why they have failed to eradicate this disease. In addition, readers will learn about the use of larvicides, bednets, and DDT as well as recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibodies to block malaria transmission from mosquitoes to humans.

Each year, there are some 350 million to 500 million cases of malaria, killing between one million and three million people, the majority of whom are children in sub-Saharan Africa. This book will help microbiologists, parasitologists, pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, biochemists, physicians, and drug researchers better understand what has been done and what still needs to be done in the battle against malaria. Even readers with a limited background in chemistry and biology will find that the book’s clear, conversational style enables them to make sense of 300 years of malarial drug research, from quinine to today’s drugs and beyond.

Paperback, 298 pages, illustrations, index.

Genomic sequencing initiatives from around the world have resulted in the complete sequencing of a large number of food- and waterborne pathogens, including most of the bacterial agents associated with significant disease in human populations. In this contributed work, the authors review these genome sequencing initiatives, explaining how they continue to build our understanding of the ecology, adaptation, and evolution of individual pathogens. In addition, the authors explain how our growing understanding of pathogen genomics has the potential to help ensure the safety of global food and water supplies.

Each chapter focuses on a specific food- or waterborne pathogen that represents a major public health threat. Moreover, each chapter has been written by one or more authors who have made major contributions to the genomic discovery of the particular pathogen. These authors explore all the findings, potential applications, and new questions that have arisen from genomic discovery efforts. They also examine how global trends such as climate change, growing human populations, and increasing levels of pollution are stressing the ecosystems that food- and waterborne pathogens encounter, forcing them to adapt.

Genomes of Foodborne and Waterborne Pathogens not only presents the latest findings from genome sequencing studies: it also translates this information into both scientific and public health opportunities. It is therefore recommended not only for microbiology and genomics researchers but also for public health officials, regulators, food scientists, and other professionals tasked with protecting our food and water supplies from dangerous pathogens.

Hardcover, 352 pages, full-color insert, illustrations, index.

Population Genetics of Bacteria: a Tribute to Thomas S. Whittam explores the field of bacterial population genetics by highlighting the work of the late Thomas S. Whittam, one of the field’s leading innovators and pioneers. Dr. Whittam helped develop a statistical understanding of the abundance and distribution of genetic diversity within populations of the model organism Escherichia coli. Best known for his work with enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7, a foodborne pathogen, he developed the STEC Center, an acclaimed collection of pathogenic E. coli strains that continues to support the research of clinical scientists, evolutionary biologists, microbiologists, and population geneticists.

Focusing on the application of bacterial population genetics to pathogenic E. coli, this book brings together a compilation of research projects and ideas stemming from Dr. Whittam’s work. Readers gain a broad perspective on the historical development of bacterial population genetics, which underscores how Dr. Whittam’s research has shaped and defined the field. Next, individual contributions examine E. coli from ecological, evolutionary, and clinical perspectives. Finally, the book provides a detailed explanation of how population genetics principles have guided the investigations of the lethal O157:H7 lineage.

Each chapter has been written by one or more leading experts in bacterial population genetics who have been inspired to expand upon the investigations of Dr. Whittam. Readers will discover how the methodologies that Dr. Whittam used to study pathogenic E. coli and O157:H7 now serve as models to investigate many other pathogenic bacterial populations.

Hardcover, 336 pages, color plates, illustrations, index.

One-third of the world’s human population is currently infected with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis remains epidemic, causing close to two million deaths each year. Most of these deaths occur in developing nations; however, developed nations also struggle with tuberculosis, contending with such growing challenges as drug resistance, immigration, immunosuppression, and nontuberculous mycobacterial infection. Nearly 30 years after the publication of the first edition, the Sixth Edition of this comprehensive reference gathers the most current science and tools available in the fight against tuberculosis, enabling readers to fully understand the underlying mechanisms of tuberculosis and correctly diagnose and manage the disease.

Tuberculosis and Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections is divided into three sections. Section I presents basic concepts of epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, medical and surgical therapy, drug-resistant tuberculosis, vaccines, and tuberculosis in enclosed populations. Section II covers both classic and more recent clinical manifestations of tuberculosis infection. Separate chapters address every organ system as well as issues unique to pregnancy, infants and children, HIV infection, organ transplantation and immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. Section III explores nontuberculous mycobacterial infections, including a detailed discussion of the clinical syndromes produced by these organisms.

All the chapters have been written by leading experts whose experience ranges from basic and clinical research to bedside medicine.

638 pages, illustrations, index.