One of the greatest public health achievements during the twentieth century was the dramatic reduction in the incidence of infectious diseases due to the development of improved hygiene, vaccines and antimicrobial agents. However, new infectious diseases are emerging and bacteria-induced illnesses, such as tuberculosis, whooping cough and typhoid fever, are still a major cause of global mortality. In recent decades the development of molecular biology and genetic tools has led to extensive studies on the molecular and cellular aspects of the virulence properties of pathogenic bacteria. In this book, a group of distinguished scientists from eight different countries and three continents, under the expert guidance of the editors Camille Locht and Michel Simonet, overview the molecular and cellular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis. The fifteen chapters are organized into five sections: approaches to the study of bacterial pathogenesis; bacterial adhesion to the cell surface and extracellular matrix of host tissues; poisoning the host by toxins; cellular invasion by bacterial pathogens; and bacterial evasion of host defences. The authors comprehensively describe the most relevant and up-to-date information on pathogenic features across the bacterial world. Aimed at the entire scientific community from students to senior scientists and physicians, the book is relevant to a broad range of people interested in the mechanisms of bacterial infectious diseases and is a recommended text for all microbiology laboratories.
