The Mycobacteria

Updated and revised, this thorough volume provides a selection of the newest methods, as well as some of the basic methods required for a mycobacterial research laboratory. Mycobacteria Protocols, Third Edition guides readers through fractionation and analysis of macromolecules, from nucleic acids to proteins, complex lipids, and metabolites. Detailed and comprehensive protocols are provided for protein and lipid/glycolipid analysis using well-established methods; these are now complemented by a metabolomics chapter in which the complement of metabolites can be profiled. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and up-to-date, Mycobacteria Protocols, Third Edition will be a resource both to those working in the field and to newcomers.

This book is a comprehensive and authoritative source on nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pathogens and diseases and their appropriate management, with a focus on lung disease. NTM diseases, especially lung diseases, are increasing in prevalence in the U.S. and internationally with concomitant growing interest in a broad section of the medical community. Often merely included in coverage of tuberculosis, many aspects of NTM organisms and diseases are actually very different than TB. These differences are not intuitive or trivial and frequently result in suboptimal management of NTM patients. This book addresses these gaps in the literature with chapters on microbiology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, the various diseases that can stem from NTM, and their particular management. There is also coverage on prevention and NTM as a public health problem. For pulmonologists and infectious disease physicians, this is the definitive resource on nontuberculous mycobacteria.

Tuberculosis continues to kills more people than any other single infective agent. The resurgence of the disease in many countries has produced a heightened awareness of the threat posed by mycobacterial infections. At the same time, there has been an explosion of knowledge of the fundamental properties of mycobacteria, most notably the determination of the complete genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This book provides an up-to-date account of these developments in the molecular biology and immunology of mycobacteria, coupled with allied advances of a more applied nature, such as the use of molecular techniques for diagnosis and epidemiological investigations. With chapters contributed from an international team of experts, it will not only be an essential reference text for the expanding mycobacterial research community, but also will find a prominent place on the shelves of clinicians, infectious disease and public health specialists, diagnostic laboratories, postgraduate students and indeed anyone concerned with the management and investigation of outbreaks of tuberculosis. Comprehensively covers recent advances in the molecular biology of the mycobacteria. First book to be published on this subject since the publishing of the complete genome for the tubercle bacillus (M. tuberculosis). Coincides with a worldwide resurgence of tuberculosis.

This work contains updated and clinically relevant information about tuberculosis. It is aimed at providing a succinct overview of history and disease epidemiology, clinical presentation and the most recent scientific developments in the field of tuberculosis research, with an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment. It may serve as a practical resource for students, clinicians and researchers who work in the field of infectious diseases.

Completely revised and updated, this comprehensive resource covers the epidemiology, pathogenesis, varied clinical manifestations, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis. All of the extra-pulmonary as well as pulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis are covered. Atypical mycobacterial infection is detailed. A special feature of this second edition is the new material on AIDS, which is now known to be complicated by tuberculosis infection.

The aim of this book is to provide detailed protocols for studying the molecular biology of the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and its int- actions with host cells. As established mycobacterial laboratories move - wards exploiting the genome, and laboratories with expertise in other fields apply them to mycobacteria, both traditional and novel methodologies need to be reviewed. Thus the chapters in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protocols range from perspectives on storage of strains and safety issues to the application of the latest functional genomics technologies. The last few years have been remarkable ones for research into M. tuber- losis. The most important landmark by far has been the completion of the genome sequence of the widely studied H37Rv strain (1). We can now predict every protein and RNA molecule made by the pathogen. This information is or will soon be enriched by the addition of genome sequences of other strains from the M. tuberculosis complex: a second strain of M. tuberculosis, My- bacterium bovis, and the vaccine strain, M. bovis BCG. Valuable comparative data will also be provided by the genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium avium, and Streptomyces coelicolor. Another recent milestone for M. tuberculosis has been the development of efficient mutagenesis me- odologies, the lack of which has been a major handicap in functional studies.

The authors discuss fundamental questions about the biology, genetics, mechanisms of pathogenicity, mechanisms of resistance, and drug development strategies that are likely to provide important new knowledge about TB and new interventions to prevent and treat this disease.

Before effective treatments were introduced in the 1950s, tuberculosis was a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Health care workers were at particular risk. Although the occupational risk of tuberculosis has been declining in recent years, this new book from the Institute of Medicine concludes that vigilance in tuberculosis control is still needed in workplaces and communities. Tuberculosis in the Workplace reviews evidence about the effectiveness of control measuresâ€"such as those recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionâ€"intended to prevent transmission of tuberculosis in health care and other workplaces. It discusses whether proposed regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would likely increase or sustain compliance with effective control measures and would allow adequate flexibility to adapt measures to the degree of risk facing workers.