Extrusive Bacterial Ectosymbiosis of Ciliates.

Insects engage in intimate associations with microbial symbionts that colonize their digestive systems or internal cells and tissues. The stability and near ubiquity of many of these "symbioses" implies their importance, a prediction supported through experimentation. With the advancing power of experimental methodologies and the growing accessibility of genomic techniques, insect science has reached a powerful new stage enabling the study of previously recalcitrant symbioses, including several with medical and agricultural significance. In this volume we publish a collection of chapters focused on the physiology of insect-microbe symbioses, emphasizing their mechanistic underpinnings, and the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of these interactions. Resident microbes modulate insect digestion, nutrition, detoxification, reproduction, interspecies signaling, and host-parasite interactions, and these chapters synthesize impactful, state-of-the art research on insect-microbe symbioses. Through discussions of the mechanisms that both stabilize and regulate these symbioses, these chapters yield further insight into the physiological integration between many insects and their influential microbial partners.

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

A multiplicity of biotrophic micro-organisms interact with plants in nature, forming symbiotic relationships that range from mutualism to antagonism. Microorganisms that have adopted biotrophy as a lifestyle are able to colonize the plant and often to cross the plant cell boundaries by forming intracellular structures that are the site of nutrient uptake/exchange. To establish themselves within plant tissues, both mutualistic and pathogenic biotrophs need to overcome the plant defense response through an exchange of molecular signals. Our knowledge of the nature of these signals and their function in the interaction has rapidly increased over the last few years. This volume focuses on the genetic, molecular and cellular components involved in the communication between partners of well-known symbioses, but also reports on the advances for less studied systems.

Research on the interaction between plants and microbes has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The use of modem genetic techniques has now made possible a detailed analysis both of plant and of microbial genes involved in phytopathogenic and beneficial interactions. At the biochemical level, signal molecules and their receptors, either of plant or of microbial origins, have been detected which act in signal transduction pathways or as co-regulators of gene expression. We begin to understand the molecular basis of classical concepts such as gene-for-gene relationships, hypersensitive response, induced resistance, to name just a few. We realize, and will soon exploit, the tremendous potential of the results of this research for practical application, in particular to protect crop plants against diseases and to increase crop yield and quality. This exclung field of research, which is also of truly interdisciplinary nature, is expanding rapidly. A Symposium series has been devoted to it which began in 1982. Recently, the 5th International Symposium on the Molecular Genetics of Plant-Microbe Interactions was held in Interlaken, Switzerland. It brought together 640 scientists from almost 30 different countries who reported their latest research progress in 47 lectures, 10 short oral presentations, and on over 400 high-quality posters. This book presents a collection of papers that comprehensively reflect the major areas under study, explain novel experimental approaches currently in use, highlight significant advances made over the last one or two years but also emphasize the obstacles still ahead of us.

As befits a volume in the Advanced Series in Agricultural Sciences, this book was written with problems of practical agriculture in mind. One of the ways of controlling plant disease is by using resistant cultivars; and from the wide literature of genetics and biochemistry in plant pathology I have emphasized what seems to bear most closely on breeding for disease resistance. This has a double advantage, for it happens all to the good that this emphasis is also an emphasis on primary causes of disease, as distinct from subsequent processes of symptom expression and other secondary effects. The chapters are entirely modern in outlook. The great revolution in biology this century had its high moments in the elucidation of the DNA double helix in 1953 and the deciphering of the genetic code in 1961. This book, so far as I know, is the first in plant pathology to be conceived within the framework of this new biology. Half the book could not have been written 20 years ago, even if there had then been available all the literature that has since accumulated on the genetics and chemistry of plant disease. The new biology is the cement this book uses to bind the literature together. Another feature of this book is an emphasis on thermodynamics.

The roots of most plants are colonized by symbiotic fungi to form mycorrhiza, which play a critical role in the capture of nutrients from the soil and therefore in plant nutrition. Mycorrhizal Symbiosis is recognized as the definitive work in this area. Since the last edition was published there have been major advances in the field, particularly in the area of molecular biology, and the new edition has been fully revised and updated to incorporate these exciting new developments. - Over 50% new material - Includes expanded color plate section - Covers all aspects of mycorrhiza - Presents new taxonomy - Discusses the impact of proteomics and genomics on research in this area

Molecular Aspects of Plant Beneficial Microbes in Agriculture explores their diverse interactions, including the pathogenic and symbiotic relationship which leads to either a decrease or increase in crop productivity. Focusing on these environmentally-friendly approaches, the book explores their potential in changing climatic conditions. It presents the exploration and regulation of beneficial microbes in offering sustainable and alternative solutions to the use of chemicals in agriculture. The beneficial microbes presented here are capable of contributing to nutrient balance, growth regulators, suppressing pathogens, orchestrating immune response and improving crop performance. The book also offers insights into the advancements in DNA technology and bioinformatic approaches which have provided in-depth knowledge about the molecular arsenal involved in mineral uptake, nitrogen fixation, growth promotion and biocontrol attributes.

We are in the midst of a revolution. It is a scientific revolution built upon the tools of molecular biology, with which we probe and prod the living world in ways unimaginable a few decades ago. Need to track a bacterium at the root of a hospital outbreak? No problem: the offending germ's complete genetic profile can be obtained in 24 hours. We insert human DNA into E. coli bacteria to produce our insulin. It is natural to look at biotechnology in the 21st century with a mix of wonder and fear. But biotechnology is not as 'unnatural' as one might think. All living organisms use the same molecular processes to replicate their genetic material and the same basic code to 'read' their genes. The similarities can be seen in their DNA. Here, John Archibald shows how evolution has been 'plugging-and-playing' with the subcellular components of life from the very beginning and continues to do so today. For evidence, we need look no further than the inner workings of our own cells. Molecular biology has allowed us to gaze back more than three billion years, revealing the microbial mergers and acquisitions that underpin the development of complex life. One Plus One Equals One tells the story of how we have come to this realization and its implications.