Gazing into crystal balls is beyond the expertise of most scientists. Yet, as we look further into the 21st century, one does not have to be Nostradamus to predict that the current genomics and proteomics "revolution" will have an immense impact on medical bacteriology. This impact is already being re- ized in many academic departments, and although encroachment on routine diagnostic bacteriology, particularly in the hospital setting, is likely to occur at a slower pace, it remains nonetheless inevitable. Therefore, it is important that no one working in bacteriology should find themselves distanced from these fundamental developments. The involvement of all clinical bacteriologists is essential if the significant achievements of genome sequencing and analysis are to be turned into tangible advances, with resulting benefits for patient care and m- agement. It is our hope that Genomics, Proteomics, and Clinical Bacteriology: Methods and Reviews will play a part in bringing such a development to fruition. The advances in genomics and proteomics have already given us frequent opportunities to reassess our knowledge and understanding of established b- terial adversaries, and have provided us with the means to identify new foes. The new knowledge gained is enabling us to reconsider, for example, our c- cepts of bacterial pathogenicity, phylogeny and novel targets for antibacterial chemotherapy. These topics, and others, are considered in Genomics, Proteomics, and Clinical Bacteriology: Methods and Reviews.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext
It is essential that all clinical bacteriologists become active participants in the current genomics and proteomics revolution if the significant achievements of genome sequencing and analysis are to produce real benefits for patient care. In Genomics, Proteomics, and Clinical Bacteriology, a panel of internationally renowned experts reviews how genomics has provided novel methods for bacterial investigation and advanced our knowledge of bacterial pathogenicity. The authors critically evaluate the applications of genomics to diagnostic bacteriology, highlighting both current and likely future uses, describing real-time PCR methods, and outlining the promise of microarrays in clinical bacteriology. Their discussion examines in detail genomic approaches to antibacterial discovery, the nature of pathogenicity, the discovery of new pathogens, the exploration of the concept of clonality in bacteria, and bacterial taxonomics. Introductory material explains for the uninitiated the relevance of genomics to the clinical laboratory, illustrating the art and science of working with public databases, digging for data, and exploiting bacterial proteomes.
Comprehensive and insightful, Genomics, Proteomics, and Clinical Bacteriology offers everyone working in medical bacteriology an accessible introduction to a rapidly evolving discipline, one that shows not only how knowledge of bacterial genome sequences affects diagnostic bacteriology today, but also how that knowledge may be used in the future to gain new insights into bacterial disease processes, identify critical targets for antiinfectives, and aid in designing novel antibiotics.

Inhalt
Principles of Bacterial Genomics.- Bacterial Genomes for the Masses.- Public Databases.- Genome Sequencing and Annotation.- Comparative Genomics.- Genome Plasticity.- Exploring and Exploiting Bacterial Proteomes.- Application of Genomics to Diagnostic Bacteriology.- Molecular Diagnostics.- Molecular Diagnostics.- Real-Time PCR.- Microarrays for Bacterial Typing.- Interrogating Bacterial Genomes.- Genomic Approaches to Antibacterial Discovery.- Using the Genome to Understand Pathogenicity.- Identification of Novel Pathogenicity Genes by PCR Signature-Tagged Mutagenesis and Related Technologies.- Discovering New Pathogens.- Exploring the Concept of Clonality in Bacteria.- Bacterial Taxonomics.