eukaryotic microbes
01 august 2002 publication
the lead articles of the august 2002 issue of microbiology today are on eukaryotic microbes; fungal pathogens; dna damage responses; the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes; new hope for the neglected diseases; how do fungi choose what to eat?; survival by camp in social amoebae; and badgers and bovine tb.
eukaryotic microbes: something for everyone (p. 119)
the types of eukaryotic micro-organisms are many and broad-ranging. clive price, convener of the new sgm group set up to promote this field, describes their significance and what the group hopes to achieve.
fungal pathogens - the devil is in the detail (p. 120)
compared with bacterial pathogens, a relatively small number of fungal species cause life-threatening infections in humans. however, these fungal infections are becoming more prevalent, they are harder to treat, and they are often diagnosed too late, as alistair brown explains.
dna damage responses: a combination of maintenance and fire-fighting (p. 123)
the dna in every living cell is constantly subjected to damaging events. fiona benson and antony carr describe how the integrity of genes is maintained.
going green: the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes (p. 126)
the chloroplast is the site of photosynthesis in plant and algal cells. saul purton explains how this important organelle evolved from a photosynthetic bacterium.
new hope for the neglected diseases (p. 129)
there is an urgent need to develop new drugs against protozoan parasites. paul mckean explains how greater understanding of parasite biology and genome sequencing information may lead to a breakthrough.
what's for dinner, what shall i choose? (p. 132)
fungi can metabolise a wide range of compounds, but when a variety is available a sophisticated control system determines the order in which they will be used. mark caddick reveals more.
survival by camp in social amoebae: an intersection between eukaryote and prokaryote signalling systems (p. 136)
dictyostelium has a fascinating strategy for disseminating its spores to ensure survival. pauline schaap describes the sophisticated system of cell communication that enables this to happen.
equal opportunities in microbiology research careers? (p. 140)
liz sockett explores some current equal opportunity issues which affect everyone training and working in microbiology.
going public (p. 146)
joy perkins reports back from the one-day workshop bugs - bad, ugly & good, organised by the school of applied sciences at huddersfield university.
schoolzone (p. 147)
liz sockett welcomed rnib new college sixth formers to her lab in the institute of genetics at nottingham university to experience some practical genetic engineering techniques first hand.
gradline (p. 148)
the society spoke to emma sheppard, medical editor of science press ltd, about jobs in medical editing.
comment - confusion over bovine tuberculosis in badgers, cattle and humans? (p. 166)
tb was virtually eradicated from cattle in the uk by the 1970s, apart from small areas in sw eangland. transmission from badgers was blamed for these and a controversial government-funded culling trial began. the bse crisis of the late 80s and early 90s led to cutbacks in proven measures of controlling bovine tb and the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak led to the suspension of testing. tb in cattle is now rising and spreading rapidly. martin hancox asks, are badgers really to blame?
