Genetics and Molecular Biology of Anaerobic Bacteria, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1993
Brock Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience Series

The field of bacterial genetics has been restricted for many years to Escherichia coli and a few other genera of aerobic or facultatively anaerobic bacteria such as Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Salmonella. The prevailing view up to recent times has been that anaerobic bacteria are interesting organisms but nothing is known about their genetics. To most microbiologists, anaerobic bacteria appeared as a sort of distant domain, reserved for occasional intrusions by taxonomists and medical microbiologists. By the mid-1970s, knowledge of the genetics and molecular biology of anaerobes began to emerge, and then developed rapidly. but also im­ This was the result of advances in molecular biology techniques, portantly because of improvements in basic techniques for culturing anaerobes and for understanding their biochemistry and other areas of in­ terest. Investigations in this field were also stimulated by a renewal of interest in their ecology, their role in pathology and in biotransformations, and in the search for alternative renewable sources of energy. The initial idea for this book came from Thomas D. Brock. When Dr. Brock requested my opinion about two years ago on the feasibility of publishing a book on the genetics of anaerobic bacteria, as a part of the Brock/Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience, I answered positively but I was apprehen­ sive about assuming the role of editor. However, I was soon reassured by the enthusiastic commitment of those I approached to contribute. Eventually, thanks to the caring cooperation of the contributors, the task became relatively easy.

1 Plasmids, Phages, and Gene Transfer in Methanogenic Bacteria.- 2 Methanogen Genes and the Molecular Biology of Methane Biosynthesis.- 3 Genes for Stable RNAs and Their Expression in Archaea.- 4 Molecular Biology of the Acetoclastic Methanogen Methanothrix soehngenii.- 5 Mutations.- 6 Conjugative Gene Transfer in Clostridia.- 7 Transformation and Electrotransformation in Clostridia.- 8 Vectors for Use in Clostridium acetobutylicum.- 9 Antibiotic Resistance Determinants of Clostridium perfringens.- 10 Genetics and Molecular Biology of Antibiotic Resistance in Clostridium difficile: General and Specific Overview.- 11 Genetics and Molecular Biology of Chloramphenicol Acetyltransferase of Clostridium butyricum.- 12 The Role of Bacteriophages and Plasmids in the Production of Toxins and Other Biologically Active Substances by Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium novyi.- 13 Molecular Biology of Clostridial ADP-Ribosyltransferases and Their Substrates.- 14 Gene Cloning and Organization of the Alpha-Toxin of Clostridium perfringens.- 15 Gene Cloning, Organization, and Expression of ?-Toxin of Clostridium perfringens.- 16 Molecular Biology of Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin.- 17 Molecular Genetic Studies of UV-Inducible Bacteriocin Production in Clostridium perfringens.- 18 Genome Mapping of Clostridium perfringens Type A Strains.- 19 Molecular Biology of the Clostridium difficile Toxins.- 20 Gene Cloning and Expression in Escherichia coli of Clostridial Sialidases.- 21 Cloning and Expression of Clostridium acetobutylicum Genes Involved in Carbohydrate Utilization.- 22 Cloning and Expression of Clostridium acetobutylicum Genes Involved in Solvent Production.- 23 Molecular Analysis of Glutamine Synthetase Genes and Enzymes of Clostridium and Bacteroides.- 24 Phospholipid Biosynthetic Enzymes of Butyric Acid-Producing Clostridia.- 25 The Clostridium pasteurianum Ferredoxin Gene.- 26 Organization of the Nitrogen Fixation Genes in Clostridium pasteurianum.- 27 Cloning and Sequencing of the Clostridium pasteurianum Genes Encoding Molybdenum-Pterin Binding Proteins.- 28 Cloning, Sequencing, and Expressions of Genes Encoding Enzymes of the Autotrophic Acetyl-CoA Pathway in the Acetogen Clostridium thermoaceticum.- 29 Genes and Proteins Involved in Cellulose Degradation by Mesophilic Clostridia.- 30 Genes and Proteins Involved in Cellulose and Xylan Degradation by Clostridium thermocellum.- 31 Nucleotide Sequence of the Gene and Primary Structure of the Thermophilic ?-Amylase from Clostridium thermosulfurogenes.- 32 The ?-Amylase-Pullulanase (apu) Gene from Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum: Nucleotide Sequence and Expression in Escherichia coli.- 33 Molecular Biology of Xylan Utilization by Thermoanaerobes.- 34 Genetics and Molecular Biology of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria.- 35 Gene Transmission, MLS, and Tetracycline Resistance in Bacteroides.- 36 Transfer of Beta-Lactam Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteroides.- 37 Genetics of 5-Nitroimidazole Resistance in Bacteroides.- 38 Genetics of Polysaccharide Utilization Pathways of Colonic Bacteroides Species.- 39 Molecular Biology of the Fimbriae of Dichelobacter (Previously Bacteriodes) nodosus.- 40 Genetic Exchange in Pigmented Bacteroides.- 41 Porphyromonas gingivalis: Gene Cloning of Determinants of Pathogenicity.- 42 Cloning, Structure, and Expression of Genes of the Anaerobic Rumen Bacteria.- 43 Antigenic Characterization, Taxonomy, and Genetics of Treponema hyodysenteriae.- 44 Nucleic Acid Hybridization for Identification and Detection of Gram-Negative Anaerobes.- 45 Molecular Biology of Bile Acid 7?-Dehydroxylation in an Intestinal Eubacterium Species.- 46 Cloning and Expression in Escherichia coli of Three Amylase Genes of a Strictly Anaerobic Thermophile, Dictyoglomus thermophilum, and Their Nucleotide Sequences.- 47 A Novel Class of Industrially Important Debranching Enzymes: The Thermoanaerobic Amylopullulanases.- Appendix: A List of Strict Anaerobes.