F.J. de Bruijn - Böcker

A wide range of microbiologists, molecular biologists, and molecular evolutionary biologists should find this volume of singular interest. It summarizes the present knowledge about the structure and stability of microbial genomes, and it reviews the techniques used to analyze and "fingerprint" them. Maps of approximately 30 important microbes, along with articles on the construction and relevant features of the maps are included. The volume is not intended as a complete compendium of all information on microbial genomes, but rather it focuses on approaches, methods and good examples of the analysis of small genomes.

Recent advances in understanding symbiotic Rhizobium-legume interactions at the molecular level, the discovery of endophytic interactions of nitrogen-fixing organisms with non-legumes and the ability to introduce new genes into rice through transformation have created an opportunity to investigate the possibilities for incorporating N2 fixation capability in rice. During a think-tank workshop organized by IRRI in 1992, the participants reaffirmed that such opportunities do exist for cereals and recommended that rice be used as a model system. Subsequently, IRRI developed a "New Frontier Project" to co-ordinate the worldwide collaborative efforts among research centres committed to reducing dependency of rice on mineral N resources. An international Rice Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) working group was established to review, share research results/materials, and to catalyze research.

Microbes are key drivers of the world's ecosystems. The vast majority of the world's diversity and metabolic potential lies within micro-organisms, yet we are just beginning to understand and utilize this ultimate resource of biological diversity. Critical to our exploration of the microbial world are methods that allow for the analysis of organisms that are invisible to our eyes, difficult to distinguish from each other, and often impossible to grow using available culture methods. The field of microbial ecology has been revolutionized in the past two decades by the introduction of molecular methods into the toolbox of the microbial ecologist. This molecular arsenal has helped to unveil the enormity of microbial diversity across the breadth of the earth's ecosystems, and has revealed that we are only familiar with a very small minority of the organisms that carry out key microbial functions in diverse habitats. The Molecular Microbial Ecology Manual, Second Edition (MMEM-II) provides a detailed and user-friendly description of the methods that have made this revolution in microbial ecology possible.However, what is perhaps most exciting about MMEM-II is that it contains a large number of new chapters, highlighting the newest trends in microbial ecology research, which seek to provide more quantitative and statistically robust data, and means of coupling microbial identity and function. In addition, the majority of the proven methods described in MMEM's first version have undergone significant revisions to provide the most up-to-date applications available. The state-of-the-art methods described in MMEM-II have not only been provided by experts in the field, but in most cases by the laboratories that actually first developed and applied the methods, thus providing the MMEM-II user with unique first-hand tips and insight. The new on-line format available for MMEM-II should also add to the utility of MMEM-II by allowing users to search for key topics throughout the manual, skip between interrelated chapters at the push of a button, and by providing immediate availability to protocol updates and new chapters dedicated to future technical developments.

A wide range of microbiologists, molecular biologists, and molecular evolutionary biologists will find this new volume of singular interest. It summarizes the present knowledge about the structure and stability of microbial genomes, and reviews the techniques used to analyze and fingerprint them. Maps of approximately thirty important microbes, along with articles on the construction and relevant features of the maps are included. The volume is not intended as a complete compendium of all information on microbial genomes, but rather focuses on approaches, methods and good examples of the analysis of small genomes.

For a long time microbial ecology has been developed as a distinct field with­ in Ecology. In spite of the important role of microorganisms in the environ­ ment, this group of 'invisible' organisms remained unaccessable to other ecologists. Detection and identification of microorganisms remain largely dependent on isolation techniques and characterisation of pure cultures. We now realise that only a minor fraction of the microbial community can be cultivated. As a result of the introduction of molecular methods, microbes can now be detected and identified at the DNA/RNA level in their natural environment. This has opened a new field in ecology: Molecular Microbial Ecology. In the present manual we aim to introduce the microbial ecologist to a selected number of current molecular techniques that are relevant in micro­ bial ecology. The first edition of the manual contains 33 chapters and an equal number of additional chapters will be added this year. Since the field of molecular ecology is in a continuous progress, we aim to update and extend the Manual regularly and will invite anyone to deposit their new protocols in full detail in the next edition of this Manual.