Phages: Their Role in Bacterial Pathogenesis and Biotechnology
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
"Sir, I am entirely lysed!" shouted a technician in André Lwoff's laboratory at the Institut Pasteur in 1949, describing cells undergoing lysogenic induction. Phages (short for bacteriophages) are DNA or RNA viruses that infect only specific bacteria. Phages have colorful names, such as , T4, SopE, Mu, Q, P1, or X174; they come in many shapes and sizes (e.g., tailed or nontailed, icosahedral, filamentous, and enveloped or nonenveloped); they have many different lifestyles (e.g., lytic or temperate); and they can carry genes that increase the pathogenesis of bacteria. They are among the most intensely studied viruses and are perhaps best understood in a molecular sense. This book is essentially a treatise on phages that in 22 chapters, prepared by 52 authors from six countries, describes our current knowledge of these unique viruses and their role in bacterial pathogenesis and biotechnology.
The book is divided into three interesting sections. In the first section, the authors review the history and biology of phages, their life cycles, and aspects of phage evolution and ecology, as well as phage lysis. The second section provides the reader with valuable information about the role of selected phages in the virulence of bacterial infections, such as the lambdoid phages of salmonella and Escherichia coli, the tailed mycobacteriophages, phages of streptococci and staphylococci, the bacteriophages of vibrio and mollicutes (mycoplasmas), and some of the more than 400 phages that have been isolated from listeria species. In this section, the authors give the reader a clear understanding of how phages integrate their genetic material into the host genome and alter the virulence of bacteria. For example, the virulence of Vibrio cholerae is largely dependent on infection by the bacteriophage CTX, in that the cholera toxin is encoded within the genome of this temperate and nonlytic filamentous phage and only strains of vibrio infected by CTX are capable of causing epidemic disease. Another fascinating example includes the many toxins of staphylococci that are phage-encoded and that contribute to the pathogenic versatility of these bacteria.
Phages were discovered independently by the English scientist Frederick Twort in 1915 and the French scientist Félix d'Herelle in 1917. d'Herelle thought of these invisible microbes as "ultraviruses" and termed them bacteriophages (meaning "eaters of bacteria") because they invade bacteria and multiply at their expense. It was quickly realized that phages have the potential to kill bacteria that cause many infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. Before the discovery of penicillin and other chemical antibiotics in the 1940s, antiplague phages were used to treat bacterial infections such as the bubonic plague and anticholera phages were used to treat cholera. After a period of abandonment, interest in phage therapy has increased in recent years.
The third section of this book presents new information regarding the application of phages in diagnosis and therapy, as well as in biotechnology, including their use in the degradation of bacterial polysaccharides and as cloning vectors to insert DNA into bacteria under controlled conditions.
The information about phages in this book goes beyond what a clinician or a scientist typically learns about this subject while studying at an academic institution. This treatise is exceptionally well written and is also well illustrated with line drawings and fascinating electron micrographs of various morphologic features of phages. Phages can be used as a textbook not only by phage specialists, but also by general microbiologists and infectious-disease clinicians, bacteriologists, virologists, and evolutionary biologists, as well as geneticists and molecular biologists. The material presented is easy to read and understand, despite the use of many unique terms and acronyms and the inclusion of genomic organization charts. The numerous references to historic documents and the almost humorous quotations from famous phage researchers are so successfully inserted into the book that it is a pleasure to read. Furthermore, the book has an excellently developed index that makes searches by key words easy and fast. In conclusion, the editors of this book invite the reader to take part in a journey through the fascinating world of bacteriophages. I highly recommend joining this delightful and exciting journey.
Christian T.K.-H. Stadtl?nder, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN 55403
ctstadtlande@stthomas.edu(Edited by Matthew K. Wald)
The book is divided into three interesting sections. In the first section, the authors review the history and biology of phages, their life cycles, and aspects of phage evolution and ecology, as well as phage lysis. The second section provides the reader with valuable information about the role of selected phages in the virulence of bacterial infections, such as the lambdoid phages of salmonella and Escherichia coli, the tailed mycobacteriophages, phages of streptococci and staphylococci, the bacteriophages of vibrio and mollicutes (mycoplasmas), and some of the more than 400 phages that have been isolated from listeria species. In this section, the authors give the reader a clear understanding of how phages integrate their genetic material into the host genome and alter the virulence of bacteria. For example, the virulence of Vibrio cholerae is largely dependent on infection by the bacteriophage CTX, in that the cholera toxin is encoded within the genome of this temperate and nonlytic filamentous phage and only strains of vibrio infected by CTX are capable of causing epidemic disease. Another fascinating example includes the many toxins of staphylococci that are phage-encoded and that contribute to the pathogenic versatility of these bacteria.
Phages were discovered independently by the English scientist Frederick Twort in 1915 and the French scientist Félix d'Herelle in 1917. d'Herelle thought of these invisible microbes as "ultraviruses" and termed them bacteriophages (meaning "eaters of bacteria") because they invade bacteria and multiply at their expense. It was quickly realized that phages have the potential to kill bacteria that cause many infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. Before the discovery of penicillin and other chemical antibiotics in the 1940s, antiplague phages were used to treat bacterial infections such as the bubonic plague and anticholera phages were used to treat cholera. After a period of abandonment, interest in phage therapy has increased in recent years.
The third section of this book presents new information regarding the application of phages in diagnosis and therapy, as well as in biotechnology, including their use in the degradation of bacterial polysaccharides and as cloning vectors to insert DNA into bacteria under controlled conditions.
The information about phages in this book goes beyond what a clinician or a scientist typically learns about this subject while studying at an academic institution. This treatise is exceptionally well written and is also well illustrated with line drawings and fascinating electron micrographs of various morphologic features of phages. Phages can be used as a textbook not only by phage specialists, but also by general microbiologists and infectious-disease clinicians, bacteriologists, virologists, and evolutionary biologists, as well as geneticists and molecular biologists. The material presented is easy to read and understand, despite the use of many unique terms and acronyms and the inclusion of genomic organization charts. The numerous references to historic documents and the almost humorous quotations from famous phage researchers are so successfully inserted into the book that it is a pleasure to read. Furthermore, the book has an excellently developed index that makes searches by key words easy and fast. In conclusion, the editors of this book invite the reader to take part in a journey through the fascinating world of bacteriophages. I highly recommend joining this delightful and exciting journey.
Christian T.K.-H. Stadtl?nder, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN 55403
ctstadtlande@stthomas.edu(Edited by Matthew K. Wald)