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.

Throughout the biological world, bacteria thrive predominantly in surface-attached, matrix-enclosed, multicellular communities or biofilms, as opposed to isolated planktonic cells. This choice of lifestyle is not trivial, as it involves major shifts in the use of genetic information and cellular energy, and has profound consequences for bacterial physiology and survival. Growth within a biofilm can thwart immune function and antibiotic therapy and thereby complicate the treatment of infectious diseases, especially chronic and foreign device-associated infections. Modern studies of many important biofilms have advanced well beyond the descriptive stage, and have begun to provide molecular details of the structural, biochemical, and genetic processes that drive biofilm formation and its dispersion. There is much diversity in the details of biofilm development among various species, but there are also commonalities. In most species, environmental and nutritional conditions greatly influence biofilm development. Similar kinds of adhesive molecules often promote biofilm formation in diverse species. Signaling and regulatory processes that drive biofilm development are often conserved, especially among related bacteria. Knowledge of such processes holds great promise for efforts to control biofilm growth and combat biofilm-associated infections. This volume focuses on the biology of biofilms that affect human disease, although it is by no means comprehensive. It opens with chapters that provide the reader with current perspectives on biofilm development, physiology, environmental, and regulatory effects, the role of quorum sensing, and resistance/phenotypic persistence to antimicrobial agents during biofilm growth.

This book will cover both the evidence for biofilms in many chronic bacterial infections as well as the problems facing these infections such as diagnostics and treatment regimes. A still increasing interest and emphasis on the sessile bacterial lifestyle biofilms has been seen since it was realized that that less than 0.1% of the total microbial biomass lives in the planktonic mode of growth. The term was coined in 1978 by Costerton et al. who defined the term biofilm for the first time.In 1993 the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) recognised that the biofilmmode of growth was relevant to microbiology. Lately many articles have been published on the clinical implications of bacterial biofilms. Both original articles and reviews concerning the biofilm problem are available.

The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance. “Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Nutrient Management” focus on the management of plant nutrient to support plant growth and development. The topics treated in this book include mechanisms of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, zinc and phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, sulfur oxidizing bacteria, ACC deaminase, siderophores, phytohormones, quorum-sensing, biofilms, antibiotics, volatiles, denitrification and integrated nutrient management.

Many potential applications of synthetic and systems biology are relevant to the challenges associated with the detection, surveillance, and responses to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. On March 14 and 15, 2011, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop in Washington, DC, to explore the current state of the science of synthetic biology, including its dependency on systems biology; discussed the different approaches that scientists are taking to engineer, or reengineer, biological systems; and discussed how the tools and approaches of synthetic and systems biology were being applied to mitigate the risks associated with emerging infectious diseases. The Science and Applications of Synthetic and Systems Biology is organized into sections as a topic-by-topic distillation of the presentations and discussions that took place at the workshop. Its purpose is to present information from relevant experience, to delineate a range of pivotal issues and their respective challenges, and to offer differing perspectives on the topic as discussed and described by the workshop participants. This report also includes a collection of individually authored papers and commentary.

This book describes modern biophysical techniques that enable us to understand and examine dynamic processes of infection at the molecular level. Cutting-edge research articles, laboratory protocols, case studies and up-to-date reviews cover topics such as single-molecule observation of DNA replication repair pathways in E. coli; evolution of drug resistance in bacteria; restriction enzymes as barriers to horizontal gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureus; infectious and bacterial pathogen biofilms; killing infectious pathogens through DNA damage; bacterial surfaces in host-pathogen interactions; bacterial gene regulation by riboswitches; transcription regulation in enterobacterial pathogens; the bacterial flagellar motor; initial surface colonization by bacteria; Salmonella Typhi host restrictions; as well as monitoring proton motive force in bacteria; microbial pathogens using digital holography; mathematical modelling of microbial pathogen motility; neutron reflectivity in studying bacterial membranes; force spectroscopy in studying infection and 4D multi-photon imaging to investigate immune responses. The focus is on the development and application of complex techniques and protocols at the interface of life sciences and physics, which increase the physiological relevance of biophysical investigations.