One of a series whose aim is to identify specialist areas in microbiology and to provide up-to-date methodological information for laboratory microbiologists, active researchers and graduate students. This volume addresses nucleic acid techniques in bacterial systematics.

Current chemosystematics owes much to the availability of highly sensitive analytical techniques. Many of these involve a quantitative approach, utilising computers and a variety of statistical techniques. This book contains up-to-date procedures on chemical methods being developed and used for the classification and identification of bacteria, including medically and economically significant ones. Detailed protocols are given on how valuable taxonomic data can be derived from analyses of nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and whole-organisms. Of general interest to microbiologists, the volume should also be an essential reference to those actively engaged in diagnostic bacteriology or microbial systematics. FROM THE PREFACE: Chemical methods not only are well established in bacterial systematics but are also rapidly changing our views on how bacteria should be classified and identified. Chemotaxonomy, which owes much to the availability of new and highly sensitive analytical techniques, can be used to establish relationships between bacteria at all levels in the taxonomic hierarchy. However, many of the new approaches are designed for the identification of bacteria and some are quantitative, employing computers and a variety of statistical techniques. This book contains detailed procedures on many of the chemical methods currently being used for the classification and identification of bacteria. As such, it will be of value generally to microbiologists and is an essential reference for those actively engaged in diagnostic bacteriology.

Systematic biology has a far wider application than merely the provision of a reliable classification scheme for new strains. With the framework of the hierarchic system stabilizing, genomes, noncoding regions, and genes and their products can now be evaluated in an evolutionary context. This book summarizes recent developments in the molecular characterization of cultured and as-yet uncultured prokaryotes, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of individual approaches. The chapters of the book are compiled to stimulate students to enter the field of bacterial diversity, presenting a broad spectrum of fascinating multifaceted disciplines that illuminate the paths to ecosystem functioning, communication within communities, symbiosis, life in extreme environments, astrobiology, and more.

For a long time microbial ecology has been developed as a distinct field within Ecology. In spite of the important role of microorganisms in the environment, this group of 'invisible' organisms remained unaccessable to other ecologists. Detection and identification of microorganisms remain largely dependent on isolation techniques and characterisation of pure cul tures. We now realise that only a minor fraction of the microbial com munity can be cultivated. As a result of the introduction of molecular methods, microbes can now be detected and identified at the DNA/RNA level in their natural environment. This has opened a new field in ecology: Molecular Microbial Ecology. In the present manual we aim to introduce the microbial ecologist to a selected number of current molecular techniques that are relevant in micro bial ecology. The first edition of the manual contains 33 chapters and an equal number of additional chapters will be added this year. Since the field of molecular ecology is in a continuous progress, we aim to update and extend the Manual regularly and will invite anyone to depo sit their new protocols in full detail in the next edition of this Manual. We hope this book finds its place where it was born: at the lab bench! Antoon D.L. Akkermans, Jan Dirk van Elsas and Frans J. de Bruijn March 1995 Molecular Microbial Ecology Manual 1.3.6: 1-8, 1996. © 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

This second edition of Modern Bacterial Taxonomy has been completely revised and expanded to include detailed coverage of molecular systematics including relevant aspects of nucleic acid sequences, the construction of phylogenetic trees, typing of bacteria by restriction fragment length polymorphisms, DNA hybridization probes and the use of the polymerase chain reaction in bacterial systematics.

Modern approaches to microbial classification and identification, particularly those based on nucleic acid analysis, have raised the awareness and interest of microbiologists in systematics during the past decade. The extended scope of the subject has revolutionized microbial ecology with the demonstration of uncultivable microorganisms as a major component of the biosphere and evolution, with the ribosomal RNA phylogenetic tree as the basis of current classifications. However, advances in microbial systematics have also had enormous impact on other, diverse aspects of microbiology such as animal pathogenicity, plant-microbe interactions and relationships with food. In this book, we survey and discuss in depth the contribution of modern taxonomic approaches to our understanding of the microbiology of these various systems. The book does not concentrate on methods - these have been well reported elsewhere - instead it provides a unique insight into the application and value of modern systematics in diverse branches of microbiology. It will be of value to microbiologists at both research and technical levels who need to appreciate the range of organisms with which they work and the diversity within them. It will also be of value to teachers and students of microbiology courses who want to understand how systematics can enhance microbiology beyond the routine of classification, nomenclature, and identification.

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