Coxiella burnetii is the agent of Q fever, or “query fever,” a zoonosis first described in
Australia in 1937. Since this first description, knowledge about this pathogen and its …

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria with high G+ C DNA content that constitute one of
the largest bacterial phyla, and they are ubiquitously distributed in both aquatic and …

Protists include all eukaryotes except plants, fungi and animals. They are an essential, yet
often forgotten, component of the soil microbiome. Method developments have now …

Bacterial culture was the first method used to describe the human microbiota, but this
method is considered outdated by many researchers. Metagenomics studies have since …

Among the many genera of free-living amoebae that exist in nature, members of only four
genera have an association with human disease: Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia …

SUMMARY A pure bacterial culture remains essential for the study of its virulence, its
antibiotic susceptibility, and its genome sequence in order to facilitate the understanding …

Why do bacteria have shape? Is morphology valuable or just a trivial secondary
characteristic? Why should bacteria have one shape instead of another? Three broad …

Numerous bacteria utilize molecular communication systems referred to as quorum sensing
(QS) to synchronize the expression of certain genes regulating, among other aspects, the …

Acanthamoeba is an opportunistic protozoan that is widely distributed in the environment
and is well recognized to produce serious human infections, including a blinding keratitis …

Acanthamoeba is a free-living protist pathogen, capable of causing a blinding keratitis and
fatal granulomatous encephalitis. The factors that contribute to Acanthamoeba infections …