Pathogen Genomics

Leading infectious disease researchers and pharmaceutical scientists comprehensively review the latest genomic technologies and their application to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The authors' cross-disciplinary approach, with expertise acquired from studying disease-causing viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, reveals how sequence information from diverse pathogens has uncovered novel targets for drug discovery, antigenic determinants for vaccine development, as well as diagnostic tools. The authors also discuss the application of DNA micoarrays and the impact of genome sequencing comparisons on the discovery and choices of novel drug targets. The result is a better understanding how genomic information can reveal the fundamentals of microbial pathogenesis and how organisms interact with their host environment.

This book provides a timely and thorough snapshot into the emerging and fast evolving area of applied genomics of foodborne pathogens. Driven by the drastic advance of whole genome shot gun sequencing (WGS) technologies, genomics applications are becoming increasingly valuable and even essential in studying, surveying and controlling foodborne microbial pathogens. The vast opportunities brought by this trend are often at odds with the lack of bioinformatics know-how among food safety and public health professionals, since such expertise is not part of a typical food microbiology curriculum and skill set. Further complicating the challenge is the large and ever evolving body of bioinformatics tools that can obfuscate newcomers to this area. Although reviews, tutorials and books are not in short supply in the fields of bioinformatics and genomics, until now there has not been a comprehensive and customized source of information designed for and accessible to microbiologists interested in applying cutting-edge genomics in food safety and public health research. This book fills this void with a well-selected collection of topics, case studies, and bioinformatics tools contributed by experts at the forefront of foodborne pathogen genomics research.

Foodborne illnesses caused by various bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens lead to a high number of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and throughout the world. Recent advances in microbial genomics have significantly improved our understanding of the physiology, evolution, ecology, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of different foodborne pathogens. This book focuses on the genomics of foodborne bacterial pathogens. It begins with a brief overview of the recent advances in microbial genomics and the impact of genomics on food safety research. Then, eight chapters follow that elaborate some in-depth reviews on the genomics of several common foodborne bacterial pathogens including Bacillus, Campylobacter, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, and Vibrio. Finally, the last four chapters focus on some current genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic technologies and their applications in studying the epidemiology, evolution, and pathogenesis of foodborne bacterial pathogens. Genomics of Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens can be used as a reference by scientists and professionals in academia, government, and industry who are interested in understanding microbial genomics and using genomics tools to study foodborne bacterial pathogens. This book can also be used as a textbook for instructors and professors who teach food microbiology or microbial genomics-related courses at the post-graduate level.

Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases is at the crossroads between two major scientific fields of the 21st century: evolutionary biology and infectious diseases. The genomic revolution has upset modern biology and has revolutionized our approach to ancient disciplines such as evolutionary studies. In particular, this revolution is profoundly changing our view on genetically driven human phenotypic diversity, and this is especially true in disease genetic susceptibility. Infectious diseases are indisputably the major challenge of medicine. When looking globally, they are the number one killer of humans and therefore the main selective pressure exerted on our species. Even in industrial countries, infectious diseases are now far less under control than 20 years ago. The first part of this book covers the main features and applications of modern technologies in the study of infectious diseases. The second part provides detailed information on a number of the key infectious diseases such as malaria, SARS, avian flu, HIV, tuberculosis, nosocomial infections and a few other pathogens that will be taken as examples to illustrate the power of modern technologies and the value of evolutionary approaches. Takes an integrated approach to infectious diseases Includes contributions from leading authorities Provides the latest developments in the field

Pan-genomics: Applications, Challenges, and Future Prospects covers current approaches, challenges and future prospects of pan-genomics. The book discusses bioinformatics tools and their applications and focuses on bacterial comparative genomics in order to leverage the development of precise drugs and treatments for specific organisms. The book is divided into three sections: the first, an "overview of pan-genomics and common approaches, brings the main concepts and current approaches on pan-genomics research; the second, “case studies in pan-genomics, thoroughly discusses twelve case, and the last, “current approaches and future prospects in pan-multiomics , encompasses the developments on omics studies to be applied on bacteria related studies. This book is a valuable source for bioinformaticians, genomics researchers and several members of biomedical field interested in understanding further bacterial organisms and their relationship to human health. Covers the entire spectrum of pangenomics, highlighting the use of specific approaches, case studies and future perspectives Discusses current bioinformatics tools and strategies for exploiting pangenomics data Presents twelve case studies with different organisms in order to provide the audience with real examples of pangenomics applicability

'Microbial Pathogenomics' contains a unique collection of reviews demonstrating how genomics has revolutionized our understanding of virulence, host-adaptation strategies and the evolution of bacterial pathogens. Current technologies - computational tools and functional approaches to genome analysis - are carefully documented and clearly illustrated. These include visualization tools for genome comparison, databases, in silico metabolic reconstructions and function prediction as well as interactomics for the study of protein-protein interactions. The concepts of pan-genomics and reverse vaccinology are introduced as strategies when addressing the challenge presented by bacterial diversity in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The authors explore individual bacterial pathogens and discuss the mechanisms that have contributed to their evolutionary success. Special cases of host adaptation, for example, are illustrated by Helicobacter pylori and 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis' which are human-specific and highly persistent; further bacteria discussed include 'Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Pseudomonas, Legionella, Bartonella, Burkholderia' and 'Staphylococcus'.'Microbial Pathogenomics' provides the reader with a global view of key aspects and future trends in bacterial pathogenomics and evaluates their impact on the understanding and treatment of infectious diseases. Well illustrated and accessible to both specialists and nonspecialists, it is recommended not only for researchers in microbiology, genomics and biotechnology, but also for lecturers and teachers.