Bacterial pili play important roles as environmental sensors, in host colonization and in biofilm formation, enabling bacteria to interact with the environment, with surfaces and with other bacteria and host cells. Most bacteria, both Gram positive and Gram negative, and almost all bacterial pathogens, are piliated. This book discusses the synthesis, structure, evolution, function and role in pathogenesis of these complex structures, and their basis for vaccine development and therapeutics for Streptococcus pathogens. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and students of medical microbiology.

Studies of the bacterial cell wall emerged as a new field of research in the early 1950s, and has flourished in a multitude of directions. This excellent book provides an integrated collection of contributions forming a fundamental reference for researchers and of general use to teachers, advanced students in the life sciences, and all scientists in bacterial cell wall research. Chapters include topics such as: Peptidoglycan, an essential constituent of bacterial endospores; Teichoic and teichuronic acids, lipoteichoic acids, lipoglycans, neural complex polysaccharides and several specialized proteins are frequently unique wall-associated components of Gram-positive bacteria; Bacterial cells evolving signal transduction pathways; Underlying mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

Established almost 30 years ago, Methods in Microbiology is the most prestigious series devoted to techniques and methodology in the field. Now totally revamped, revitalized, with a new format and expanded scope, Methods in Microbiology will continue to provide you with tried and tested, cutting-edge protocols to directly benefit your research. - Focuses on the methods most useful for the microbiologist interested in the way in which bacteria cause disease - Includes section devoted to 'Approaches to characterising pathogenic mechanisms' by Stanley Falkow - Covers safety aspects, detection, identification and speciation - Includes techniques for the study of host interactions and reactions in animals and plants - Describes biochemical and molecular genetic approaches - Essential methods for gene expression and analysis - Covers strategies and problems for disease control

This book provides an up-to-date overview of the architecture and biosynthesis of bacterial and archaeal cell walls, highlighting the evolution-based similarities in, but also the intriguing differences between the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria, the Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, and the Archaea. The recent major advances in this field, which have brought to light many new structural and functional details, are presented and discussed. Over the past five years, a number of novel systems, e.g. for lipid, porin and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis have been described. In addition, new structural achievements with periplasmic chaperones have been made, all of which have revealed amazing details on how bacterial cell walls are synthesized. These findings provide an essential basis for future research, e.g. the development of new antibiotics. The book’s content is the logical continuation of Volume 84 of SCBI (on Prokaryotic Cytoskeletons), and sets the stage for upcoming volumes on Protein Complexes.

Bacterial plasmids originating in a wide range of genera are being studied from a variety of perspectives in hundreds of laboratories around the globe. These elements are well known for carrying "special" genes that confer important survival properties, frequently neces sary under atypical conditions. Classic examples of plasmid-borne genes are those provid ing bacterial resistance to toxic substances such as antibiotics, metal ions, and bacte riophage. Often included are those determining bacteriocins, which may give the bacterium an advantage in a highly competitive environment. Genes offering metabolic alternatives to the cell under nutritionally stressed conditions are also commonly found on plasmids, as are determinants important to colonization and pathogenesis. It is likely that in many, if not most, cases plasmids and their passenger determinants represent DNA acquired recently by their bacterial hosts, and it is the characteristic mobility of these elements that enables their efficient establishment in new bacterial cells by the process known as conjugation. Whereas many plasmids are fully capable of promoting their own conjugal transfer, others move only with help from coresident elements. The ability of a plasmid to establish itself in a variety of different species is com mon, and recent studies have shown that transfer can in some cases occur from bacterial cells to eukaryotes such as yeast.

This book is the second edition of Atlas of Oral Microbiology: From Healthy Microflora to Disease (ISBN 978-0-12-802234-4), with two new features: we add about 60 pictures of 14 newly isolated microbes from human dental plaque, at the same time, we re-organize the content of this book and provide more research progress about the oral microbiome bank of China, the invasion of oral microbiota into the gut, and the relationships between Oral Microflora and Human Diseases. This book is keeping up with the advanced edge of the international research field of oral microbiology. It innovatively gives us a complete description of the oral microbial systems according to different oral ecosystems. It collects a large number of oral microbial pictures, including cultural pictures, colonies photos, and electron microscopy photos. It is by far the most abundant oral microbiology atlas consists of the largest number of pictures. In the meantime, it also described in detail a variety of experimental techniques, including microbiological isolation, culture, and identification. It is an atlas with strong practical function. The editors and writers of this book have long been engaged in teaching and research work in oral microbiology and oral microecology. This book deserves a broad audience, and it will meet the needs of researchers, clinicians, teachers, and students major in biology, dental medicine, basic medicine, or clinical medicine. It can also be used to facilitate teaching and international academic exchanges.

This book, the first for many years on this important topic, brings together some of the top scientists in the field and describes the current knowledge and latest research on prokaryotic pili and flagella. The emphasis of the chapters is on the molecular