Society for Applied Bacteriology – serie

This book considers the rapid microbiological techniques that are now increasingly used in industry as alternatives to more conventional methods. Although many of the pioneering studies in this field have taken place in clinical laboratories, the materials listed and organisms sought for foods, beverages and pharmaceuticals are much more varied. In this volume, leading experts from research and industry review the wide variety of approaches that are needed in an industrial setting. The methods described include electrometric techniques, ATP assay, and immunological methods for a wide range of organisms from salmonellas to viruses, each chapter drawing on the authors direct experience in industry to give a highly practical guide. The book should prove invaluable to those in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, or in research and training, who require an up-to-date survey of the use of rapid microbiological methods.

Bacterial spores are the most resistant and dormant forms of life on earth. Therefore, they are of great fundamental interest. They are the targets for inactivation in some of the largest food and pharmaceutical industries on earth, and are of great practical importance. Many research groups around the world have attempted to unravel the spore's mechanisms of resistance, dormancy and germination. Although complete understanding has not yet been achieved, substantial advances have been made in recent years. The most important of these advances are summarized here by scientists in the forefront of their particular areas of expertise. This volume will be of value to research microbiologists, geneticists, biochemists and physicists who are interested in the fundamentals of the biochemical and physical basis of resistance and dormancy, and in spore science more generally. It will also be of value to those scientists who are concerned with the thoroughly practical problems of spore destruction and control in the food and pharmaceutical industries and in public health.

In recent years there have been many technical developments in immunology that have potential or actual applications in many other branches of the life sciences. These developments include a number of ultrasensitive systems for the detection and assay of a wide range of biological materials, including micro-organisms and their products, as well as techniques for isolating and purifying micro-organisms and other antigenic materials. Two developments in particular have greatly extended the scope and applicability of immunological methods. These are the production of monoclonal antibodies and the introduction of enzyme linked immunoassay as a simple, safe and economical alternative to radioimmunoassay. This book is based on information gathered at the Society for Applied Bacteriology Autumn Demonstration Meeting held at the South Bank Polytechnic, London on October 15th, 1986.