It is a common statement that because of its simplicity the bacterial cell makes an ideal model for the study of a wide variety of biological systems and phenomena. While no-one would dispute that much of our under standing of biological function derives from the study of the humble bacterium, the concept of a simple life-form would be hotly disputed by any scientist engaged in the determination of the relationship between structure and function within the bacterial cell. Bacteria are particularly amenable to intensive study; their physiology can be probed with powerful biochemical, genetical and immunological techniques. Each piece of information obtained inevitably raises as many questions as answers, and can lead to a highly confused picture being presented to the lay reader. Nowhere is this more evident than in the study of the surface layers of the bacterial cell. Examination of the early electron micrographs suggested that the bacterial cytoplasm was surrounded by some sort of semi-rigid layer, possessing sufficient intrinsic strength to protect the organism from osmotic lysis. The belief that the surface layers were rather passive led to their neglect, while researchers concentrated on the superficially more exciting cytoplasmic components. Over the last twenty years our view of the bacterial envelope has undergone extensive revision, revealing a structure of enormous complexity.

The bacterial cell wall represents a very complex structure disconnecting the interior of single-cell organisms from the environment, thus protecting, but also enabling, them to interact with the surrounding milieu and to exchange both substances and information. Knowledge of the biochemistry of the cell wall (components) and the genetic background helps to understand their significance with regard to microbiology and immunology of bacteria. This book represents the second edition of a publication which was presented nearly 20 years ago in the German language (Die bakterielle Zellwand). Since that time our knowledge in this field has been significantly enlarged. Therefore, the manuscript had to be completely revised and updated. To maintain both the size and the introductory character of the book at least to a great extent, the authors had to restrict the presented material to that which appears basic and most important. This requirement must inevitably bring about many subjective factors. As pointed out in the first edition, the term cell wall was not taken too strictly. Since the constituents located outside the cytoplasmic membrane are frequently difficult to divide in structure, localisation, and/or function into true cell wall components and supplementary substances, they are all at least briefly mentioned.

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.

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.

Study of the phenomena of bacterial adhesion to surfaces has accelerated considerably over the past 10 to 15 years. During this period, microbiologists have become increasingly aware that attachment to a substratum influences considerably the activities and structures of microbial cells. Moreover, in many cases attached communities of cells have important effects on their substratum and the surrounding environment. Such phenomena are now known to be important in plant and animal hosts, water and soil ecosystems, and man-made structures and industrial processes. Much work on microbial adhesion in the early 1970s was descriptive. Those studies were important for detecting and describing the phenomena of bacterial adhesion to substrata in various environments; the findings have been presented in numerous recently published, excellent books and reviews. In some studies, attempts were made to elucidate some funda mental principles controlling adhesion processes in different environments containing a variety of microorganisms. Common threads have been observed occasionally in different studies. Taken as a whole, however, the information has revealed that many disparate factors are involved in adhesion processes. Whether a particular microorganism can adhere to a certain substratum depends on the properties of the microbial strain itself and on charac teristics of the substratum and of the environment.

As a reflection of the quantum leap that has been made in the study of glycostructures, the first edition of this book has been completely revised and updated. The editors give up-to-date information on glycostructures, their chemistry and chemical biology in the form of a completely comprehensive survey. Glycostructures play highly diverse and crucial roles in a myriad of organisms and important systems in biology, physiology, medicine, bioengineering and technology. Only in recent years have the tools been developed to partly understand the highly complex functions and the chemistry behind them. While many facts remain undiscovered, this MRW has been contributed to by a large number of the world’s leading researchers in the field.