Bacterial Sensing and Signaling

M. Collin, R. Schuch, A. Schmidt, H. Herwald

• Publisher: S. Karger
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9783805591324
• eBook ISBN: 9783805591331
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Infectious Diseases

Over the last fifteen years it has become increasingly obvious that bacteria are not as simple and solitary as once believed. Rather, an accumulating body of work shows that bacteria are highly complicated and social organisms, constantly sensing their surroundings and altering both their environments and behaviors to ensure survival. Direct communication between bacteria turns out to be quite common, as are coordinated intra- and interspecies responses that include the formation of highly sophisticated microbial communities. In fact, threats to bacterial survival from assaults ranging from nutrient deprivation and oxygen depletion tothe defenses of eukaryotic hostsare all managed through the integration of a dizzying array of complex sensory and communication systems with the appropriate bacterial behaviors. This volume provides an update of the current knowledgeinthe expanding field ofbacterial sensing and signaling, highlighting its most important and interesting aspects. In twelve state-of-the-art articles, respected international experts address topics such as quorum sensing and secondary messengers, chemotaxis and magnetoaerotaxis, two-component phosphotransferase systems, bacterial virulence mechanisms, thermoregulation, and more. The final chapter represents a unique description of the tools available to manipulate many of the sensing and signaling systems described in this volume. Bacterial Sensing and Signaling is recommended reading for students, scientists and clinicians with interests in microbiology, immunology, ecology, biotechnology and a range of other disciplines.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Foreword
• Chemical Interactions between Organisms in Microbial Communities
• Autoinducer-2-Based Chemical Communication in Bacteria: Complexities of Interspecies Signaling
• The Molecular Basis of Excitation and Adaptation during Chemotactic Sensory Transduction in Bacteria
• Bacterial PEP-Dependent Carbohydrate: Phosphotransferase Systems Couple Sensing and Global Control Mechanisms
• Correlations between Carbon Metabolism and Virulence in Bacteria
• Stand-Alone Response Regulators Controlling Global Virulence Networks in Streptococcus pyogenes
• The Heme Sensor System of Staphylococcus aureus
• Bacterial Sensing of Antimicrobial Peptides
• RNA Thermosensors in Bacterial Pathogens
• Prevailing Concepts of c-di-GMP Signaling
• Magnetosomes and Magneto-Aerotaxis
• Engineering Bacterial Signals and Sensors
• Author Index
• Subject Index