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Reviews and Resources
Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology, Second Edition
Connie R. Mahon and George Manuselis (ed.). W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 2000, 1,230 p, $75.00.
The editors of this second edition of this volume have invited contributions from a variety of authors ranging from microbiologists to pharmacists and clinicians. The academic and professional range of the contributors is reflected in an uneveness in the quality of some chapters.
The book is divided into three parts, i.e., basic principles and concepts of diagnostic microbiology, methods for identification of significant isolates, and clinical and laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases manifest at various body sites.
To exemplify the above, in Table 6 (Exotoxins of Pathogenic Bacteria) of chapter 6, no mention is made of the toxic shock syndrome toxins of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, or of Shiga-toxin producing enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Elsewhere, under Capnocytophaga species, no mention is made of C. canimorsus and C. cynodegmi. Although these entities are discussed elsewhere in the text, such omissions fail to guide the reader appropriately. To some extent, such omissions may be attributed to a particular contributor reproducing (as in Table 6, and elsewhere), a 10- to 14-year-old table without modification. Furthermore, in this and several other instances, authors either reference only other textbooks or use references 10 years old or older.
Admixed among such contributions are several superb chapters dealing with laboratory safety, procedures for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, performance improvement in the microbiology laboratory, molecular applications, and microscopic examination of infected materials. These chapters are well written and insightful. The chapters dealing with individual microorganisms—bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses—offer useful approaches to isolation and identification and clinical syndromes associated with each entity. For the most part, these chapters are enhanced by excellent visual aids. A description of the techniques used to isolate and identify Bartonella henselae should appear in a future addition.
The true utility of this textbook will vary with the expertise level of the individual reader. In many instances authors make statements that require refinement e.g., "all Borrelia species are arthropod borne," which is true for all except oral Borrelia, and Table 8-4 (Gram Stain Morphology and Associated Organisms) indicates that when gram-negative diplococci are seen on smears (from any source) the most common organisms are "pathogenic Neisseria or Moraxella catarrhalis." Additionally, no mention is made of maltosenegative Neisseria meningitidis, which could be misidentified as N. gonorrhoeae. If the user of this textbook can be guided through some necessary fine tuning of terminology and information base, this textbook could find a useful niche for teaching basic diagnostic microbiology to health care professionals practicing or enrolled in academic medical technology programs.
Edward Bottone
Mount Sinai Medical Center
New York, N.Y.Biodegradation and Bioremediation
Martin Alexander. Academic Press, New Tork, 1999, 453 p. $59.95.
Biodegradation is half of what microorganisms do metabolically. The other half is to make new molecules from the pieces of molecules they and other microorganisms biodegrade. The present book by Martin Alexander takes a more focused view, concentrating primarily on the biodegradation of chemicals generated anthropogenically. This is what most people think of when they hear the word biodegradation, and Professor Alexander plays this one to the crowd.
The biodegradation of environmental pollutants is clearly a topic of current and expanding interest for engineers, chemists and evolutionary biologists who are joining the ranks of traditional environmental microbiologists like Professor Alexander. All of those groups will find something to their liking in Biodegradation and Bioremediation.
Biodegradation and its applications, now commonly referred to as bioremediation, is a broad topic, so any treatment of such a topic must make choices; for example, to focus on organismal aspects, biochemical fundamentals, natural processes, the classes of chemicals of importance to the field, or practical process development and implementation. A number of these areas are developed in the current book. Some of the key chapters deal with acclimation phases, kinetic treatment of data, bioavailability, predicting products of biodegradation, bioremediation technologies, biodegradation of metals, and biodegradation of air pollutants. Overall, this is a reasonably comprehensive treatment of biodegradation and bioremediation. There is less than some might wish on genetic, enzymatic, and evolutionary aspects of biodegradation. Most of the information pertaining to these areas is contained in a short chapter entitled "Cometabolism."
The second edition of the book expands the coverage offered in the first edition. While several chapters appear nearly identical, there are some exciting additions. For example, both editions contain chapters entitled "Effect of Chemical Structure on Biodegradation." However, the second edition follows this up with a chapter entitled "Predicting Products of Biodegradation." Biodegradation prediction is increasingly needed, with the realization that organic chemists are synthesizing new molecules faster than microbiologists can study their biodegradation experimentally. To predict how new compounds are likely biodegraded requires adequate compilations of existing experimental data, and this book will be one resource to help meet that goal. Another nice feature of the book is the large number of references compiled at the end of each chapter. This makes the book particularly valuable to scientists who are primarily engaged in biodegradation research. But clearly others will benefit from reading this book which will be an important resource to government regulators, industrialists, and academic scientists who are being drawn into biodegradation research from a variety of fields.
Larry Wackett
University of Minnesota, St. PaulNational Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID)
This site is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. It contains compilations of surveillance reports, background information, and alerts concerning many infectious diseases, both microbial and viral. In addition to the "headlines" about recent news stories and outbreaks, there are also conference summaries, the Emerging Infectious Disease Journal, and NCID program summaries. Links to other CDC sites are also available, and the site is searchable.
Although emerging (and sometimes exotic) diseases are highlighted, more common infections are also featured, cross-referenced by specific disease or microorganism. As an example, under Disease Information on influenza there is background information on the virus, traveler's advisories, composition and availability of the current year's vaccine, and information on anti-influenza drugs. Surveillance reports for the last few years outline the number and type of flu cases reported in the United States. The current year's report is updated weekly during the flu season and includes a map of the distribution in the United States.
Although much of the information is highly technical and very specific, there is also a great deal of information that would be useful and interesting to students, like the presentation "An Ounce of Prevention," seven simple steps that can be taken to prevent infectious diseases.
Earl Pursell
Wyeth Lederle Vaccines
Pearl River, N.Y.The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
The newly reported rough draft of the human genome, as well as the completion of smaller genomes (e.g. fruit fly, yeast, numerous bacteria) has raised a nettlesome issue for biology: how do we integrate all of this information? The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes makes an ambitious stab at this formidable task. The project draws from and integrates large databases; a pathway database of interacting molecules and genes, a ligand database of cellular components, and a gene database from 50 organisms, mostly prokaryotes, but including key eukaryotes (e.g., humans, mice, fruit fly, C. elegans). This information is presented pictorially in pathway maps, genome maps, and catalogs that group genes by organism and function. Once a pathway map is accessed, clicking on the component box accesses gene sequences for individual components such as enzymes, which then can be used to look up orthologous genes in other organisms. Alternatively, genes from particular organisms can be looked up by keyword or sequence similarity search. The site is meant to be seamless, allowing the viewer to follow gene or protein links from one pathway or organism to another. The introduction section of the site contains extensive published documentation on the KEGG concept, which states the author's clear desire to provide a synthetic approach to genome biology.
The future will tell whether KEGG will provide the best structure to integrate all genomic information. Other challenges for KEGG's approach include integrating the flood of data from DNA array and proteomic technology. Perhaps in the end there will be no adequate tool for synthesizing the full complexity of biological systems, but KEGG is a noble start.
Kurt Brorson
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Bethesda, Md.
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