The enormous advances in molecular biology that have been witnessed in . Not recent years have had major impacts on many areas of the biological sciences least of these has been in the field of clinical bacteriology and infectious disease . Molecular Bacteriology: Protocols and ClinicalApplications aims to provide the reader with an insight into the role that molecular methodology has to play in modern medical bacteriology. The introductory chapter ofMolecular Bacteriology: ProtocolsandCli- cal Applications offers a personal overview by a Consultant Medical Microbio- gist of the impact and future potential offered by molecular methods. The next six chapters comprise detailed protocols for a range of such methods . We believe that the use of these protocols should allow the reader to establish the various methods described in his or her own laboratory. In selecting the methods to be included in this section, we have concentrated on those that, arguably, have greatest current relevance to reference clinical bacteriology laboratories; we have deliberately chosen not to give detailed protocols for certain methods, such as multilocus enzyme electrophoresis that, in our opinion, remain the preserve of specialist la- ratories and that are not currently suited for general use. We feel that the methods included in this section will find increasing use in diagnostic laboratories and that it is important that the concepts, advantages, and limitations of each are th- oughly understood by a wide range of workers in the field .

Zusammenfassung
The introductory chapter ofMolecular Bacteriology: ProtocolsandCli- cal Applications offers a personal overview by a Consultant Medical Microbio- gist of the impact and future potential offered by molecular methods.

Inhalt
Impact of Molecular Methods on Clinical Bacteriology.- Genomic DNA Digestion and Ribotyping.- Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis.- Plasmid Analysis.- DNA Amplification.- Arbitrarily Primed PCR Methods for Studying Bacterial Diseases.- Genomic Fingerprinting by Application of rep-PCR.- Molecular Approaches to the Identification of Streptococci.- Pneumococcal Diseases.- Molecular Approaches in Mycobacterium tuberculosisand Other Infections Caused by Mycobacterium Species.- Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Diphtheria.- Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Infections Caused by Legionella spp..- Molecular Methods for Haemophilus influenzae.- The Impact o Molecular Techniques on the Study of Meningococcal Disease.- Gonorrhea.- Chancroid.- Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma Infections.- Application of Molecular Methods to the Study of Infections Caused by Salmonella spp..- Cholera.- Diagnosisand Investigation of Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli.- Campylobacter Infections.- Detection and Typing of Helicobacter pylori.- Nosocomial Infections Caused by Staphylococci.- Application of Molecular Techniques to the Study of Nosocomial Infections Caused by Enterococci.- Molecular Approaches for the Detection and Identification of ?-Lactamases.- Biochemical and Enzyme Kinetic Applications for the Characterization of ?Lactamases.- ?Lactam Resistance Mediated by Changes in Penicillin-Binding Proteins.- The Application of Molecular Techniques for the Study of Aminoglycoside Resistance.- Molecular Investigation of Glycopeptide Resistance in Gram-Positive Bacteria.- Quinolone Resistance.- Resistance to Tetracyclines, Macrolides, Trimethoprim and Sulfonamides.