Lateral DNA Transfer

Lateral DNA Transfer PDF Author: Frederic Bushman
Publisher: CSHL Press
ISBN: 9780879696214
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
This book is about mobile genes—the transfer of DNA between unrelated cells. It discusses the machinery of gene transfer and its wide-ranging biological and health consequences. Mobile DNA makes possible the development of antibiotic resistance in microbes, the conversion of harmless to pathogenic bacteria, and the triggering of cancerous growth in cells. It also contributes to human evolution. This well-illustrated volume contains an up-to-date account of a topic now seen as increasingly important, and will be invaluable for both working scientists and as a textbook for advanced courses.

Lateral DNA Transfer

Lateral DNA Transfer PDF Author: Frederic Bushman
Publisher: CSHL Press
ISBN: 9780879696214
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 472

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is about mobile genes—the transfer of DNA between unrelated cells. It discusses the machinery of gene transfer and its wide-ranging biological and health consequences. Mobile DNA makes possible the development of antibiotic resistance in microbes, the conversion of harmless to pathogenic bacteria, and the triggering of cancerous growth in cells. It also contributes to human evolution. This well-illustrated volume contains an up-to-date account of a topic now seen as increasingly important, and will be invaluable for both working scientists and as a textbook for advanced courses.

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology PDF Author: Ricardo Amils
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642278334
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1853

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Book Description
The interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its increasingly likely chances for its emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, biochemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. The members of the different disciplines are used to their own terminology and technical language. In the interdisciplinary environment many terms either have redundant meanings or are completely unfamiliar to members of other disciplines. The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work and the expert field editors intend for their contributions, from an internationally comprehensive perspective, to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology.

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Horizontal Gene Transfer PDF Author: Tomás G. Villa
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030218627
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
The book focuses on the evolutionary impact of horizontal gene transfer processes on pathogenicity, environmental adaptation and biological speciation. Newly acquired genetic material has been considered as a driving force in evolution for prokaryotic genomes for many years, with recent technical developments advancing this field further. However, the extent and implications of gene transfer between prokaryotes and eukaryotes still raise controversies. This multi-authored volume introduces various means by which DNA can be exchanged, covers gene transfer between prokaryotes and their viruses as well as between bacteria and eukaryotes, such as fungi, plants and animals, and addresses the role of horizontal gene transfer in human diseases. Aspects discussed also include the relevance for virulence and drug resistance development on one hand, and for the occurrence of naturally derived antibiotics and other secondary metabolites on the other hand. This book offers new insights to anyone interested in genome evolution and the exchange of DNA between the different domains of life, the genetic toolkit for adaptation and the emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria.

Molecular Basis of Bacterial Pathogenesis

Molecular Basis of Bacterial Pathogenesis PDF Author: Barbara H. Iglewski
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0323148670
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 486

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Book Description
Molecular Basis of Bacterial Pathogenesis focuses on the molecular mechanism of disease associated with bacterial pathogens. Topics covered include the population genetics of bacterial pathogenesis; environmental modulation of gene expression in gram-negative pathogens; and bacterial invasion and intracellular growth. Bacterial toxins are also discussed. This volume is comprised of 20 chapters and begins with an overview of pathogenesis, paying particular attention to common elements and genetic mechanisms of regulation. The discovery that many bacterial pathogens are clonal, with individual clones often having a greater virulence than others, is then considered. The next section deals with the regulation of synthesis of surface components and their role in colonization of the host and/or evasion of the host immune defense systems; antigenic variation and its role in evasion of the host immune response; and the role of iron acquisition systems in the colonization of the host. Subsequent chapters explore the invasion and intracellular growth of facultative and obligate intracellular parasites. The last section is devoted to studies on the role of bacterial toxic products in pathogenesis. Bacterial lipopolysaccharides (endotoxins) and exotoxins are described. This book should be of interest to molecular biologists, physiologists, clinical specialists, pathologists, and geneticists.

Inferring Phylogenies

Inferring Phylogenies PDF Author: Joseph Felsenstein
Publisher: Sinauer Associates Incorporated
ISBN: 9780878931774
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 664

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Book Description
Phylogenies, or evolutionary trees, are the basic structures necessary to think about and analyze differences between species. Statistical, computational, and algorithmic work in this field has been ongoing for four decades now, and there have been great advances in understanding. Yet no book has summarized this work. Inferring Phylogenies does just that in a single, compact volume. Phylogenies are inferred with various kinds of data. This book concentrates on some of the central ones: discretely coded characters, molecular sequences, gene frequencies, and quantitative traits. Also covered are restriction sites, RAPDs, and microsatellites.

Sequence — Evolution — Function

Sequence — Evolution — Function PDF Author: Eugene V. Koonin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475737831
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
Sequence - Evolution - Function is an introduction to the computational approaches that play a critical role in the emerging new branch of biology known as functional genomics. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the principles and approaches of functional genomics and of the potential and limitations of computational and experimental approaches to genome analysis. Sequence - Evolution - Function should help bridge the "digital divide" between biologists and computer scientists, allowing biologists to better grasp the peculiarities of the emerging field of Genome Biology and to learn how to benefit from the enormous amount of sequence data available in the public databases. The book is non-technical with respect to the computer methods for genome analysis and discusses these methods from the user's viewpoint, without addressing mathematical and algorithmic details. Prior practical familiarity with the basic methods for sequence analysis is a major advantage, but a reader without such experience will be able to use the book as an introduction to these methods. This book is perfect for introductory level courses in computational methods for comparative and functional genomics.

Endonuclease-independent LINE-1 Retrotransposition

Endonuclease-independent LINE-1 Retrotransposition PDF Author: Tammy A. Morrish
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description


The Pangenome

The Pangenome PDF Author: Hervé Tettelin
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030382818
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
This open access book offers the first comprehensive account of the pan-genome concept and its manifold implications. The realization that the genetic repertoire of a biological species always encompasses more than the genome of each individual is one of the earliest examples of big data in biology that opened biology to the unbounded. The study of genetic variation observed within a species challenges existing views and has profound consequences for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning bacterial biology and evolution. The underlying rationale extends well beyond the initial prokaryotic focus to all kingdoms of life and evolves into similar concepts for metagenomes, phenomes and epigenomes. The book’s respective chapters address a range of topics, from the serendipitous emergence of the pan-genome concept and its impacts on the fields of microbiology, vaccinology and antimicrobial resistance, to the study of microbial communities, bioinformatic applications and mathematical models that tie in with complex systems and economic theory. Given its scope, the book will appeal to a broad readership interested in population dynamics, evolutionary biology and genomics.

The Society of Genes

The Society of Genes PDF Author: Itai Yanai
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674425022
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Nearly four decades ago Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene, famously reducing humans to “survival machines” whose sole purpose was to preserve “the selfish molecules known as genes.” How these selfish genes work together to construct the organism, however, remained a mystery. Standing atop a wealth of new research, The Society of Genes now provides a vision of how genes cooperate and compete in the struggle for life. Pioneers in the nascent field of systems biology, Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher present a compelling new framework to understand how the human genome evolved and why understanding the interactions among our genes shifts the basic paradigm of modern biology. Contrary to what Dawkins’s popular metaphor seems to imply, the genome is not made of individual genes that focus solely on their own survival. Instead, our genomes comprise a society of genes which, like human societies, is composed of members that form alliances and rivalries. In language accessible to lay readers, The Society of Genes uncovers genetic strategies of cooperation and competition at biological scales ranging from individual cells to entire species. It captures the way the genome works in cancer cells and Neanderthals, in sexual reproduction and the origin of life, always underscoring one critical point: that only by putting the interactions among genes at center stage can we appreciate the logic of life.

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Horizontal Gene Transfer PDF Author: Michael Syvanen
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080534120
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
The second edition of Horizontal Gene Transfer has been organized to provide a concise and up-to-date coverage of the most important discoveries in this fascinating field. Written by the most prominent gene transfer and genome analytical scientists, this book details experimental evidence for the phenomenon of horizontal gene transfer and discusses further evidence provided by the recent completion of genomic sequences from Archea, Bacteria, and Eucarya members. The relevance of horizontal gene transfer to plant and metazoan taxonomy, GM foods, antibiotic resistance, paleontology, and phylogenetic reconstruction is also explored. Horizontal Gene Transfer is essential for microbiologists, geneticists, biochemists, evolutionary biologists, infectious disease specialists, paleontologists, ecologists, and researchers working in plant/animal systematics and agriculture with an interest in gene transfer. This includes scientific researchers from government and industry concerned with the release of genetically modified organisms. - Up-to-the-minute reviews, maps, conclusions, urls to relevant websites and colour figures - Unique chapters, for example one written by paleontologists presents data for horizontal gene transfer from fingerprints form the fossil record