Search

Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobic Gamma-proteobacterium, which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. While being an important constituent of the normal gut microbiota, specialized E. coli clones have acquired genetic elements that allow them to compete with the endogenous commensals, colonise normally sterile niches and cause disease. E. coli pathotypes can cause intestinal and extra intestinal infections (e.g. UTI, sepsis) and associate with mammalian cells while being extra- or intra-cellular. In recent years, E. coli infections have become a serious clinical problem, due to the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance. Thus, infections with intestinal E. coli (e.g. E. coli O104) or extraintestinal pathogenic strains (e.g. E. coli ST131) are becoming difficult to treat and are often lethal. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop alternative control measures, including the identification of new drug targetsand development of vaccines that offer lasting protection. This volume focuses on several types of E. coli infections (intestinal and extraintestinal), virulence factors, and E. coli pandemics. It addresses the problem of antibiotic resistance, and a dedicated chapter discusses the need to develop alternative control measures. Given its depth and breadth of coverage, the book will benefit all those interested in the biology, genetics, physiology and pathogenesis of E. coli, and in related vaccine development.

Revisit the work of a pioneering innovator; this book explores the field of bacterial population genetics by highlighting the work of Thomas S. Whittam, best known for his work with enterohemorrhagic E. coli.

Systems biology is changing the way biological systems are studied by allowing us to examine the cell and organism as a whole. Systems biotechnology allows optimal design and development of upstream to downstream bioprocesses by taking a systems-approach. E. coli has been a model organism for almost all biological and biotechnological studies. This book brings together for the first time the state-of-the-art reviews by the world-leading experts on systems biology and biotechnological applications of E. coli. The topics covered include genomics and functional genomics, resources for systems biology, network analysis, genome-scale metabolic reconstruction, modelling and simulation, dynamic modelling and simulation, systems-level analysis of evolution, plasmids and expression systems, protein synthesis, production and export, engineering the central metabolism, synthetic biology, and systems metabolic engineering of E. coli. This book provides readers with guidance on how a complex biological system can be studied using E. coli as a model organism. It also presents how to perform synthetic biology and systems metabolic engineering studies on E. coli with successful examples, the approaches of which can be extended to other organisms. This book will be a complete resource for anyone interested in systems biology and biotechnology.