Molecular Biology of Parasitic Protozoa / Edition 1

by Deborah F. Smith, Marilyn Parsons

Overview

Protozoans are interesting creatures for several reasons, not least of which is their ability to live inside or among the cells of their host while resisting the host's cellular defences. The rigours of their lifestyle have resulted in the evolution of some remarkable adaptation at the biochemical level; many parasites have dispensed with entire metabolic pathways, and have evolved complex mechanisms for transmission to new hosts. Parasitic protozoa cause some of the major infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals. In recent years, new molecular biological techniques have opened up the study of the biology of these parasites, and tremendous advances have been made. This book covers this interesting and fast-moving field at an advanced level for which there is no other up-to-date book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199636013
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/25/1996
Series:	Frontiers in Molecular Biology , #13
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Smith, Deborah F. (Imperial Coll of Science, Technology and Medicine, London); Parsons, Marilyn (Univ of Washington)

The contributors represent the specialties of pathology, public health/community medicine, biological chemistry, immunology/microbiology, internal medicine, and infectious disease. Most come from academic medical centers in the U.S. Institutions prominently represented include Univ of Cambridge, Johns Hopkins Univ, UCSF, Washington Univ, Yale Univ, UCLA, and Univ of Washington.

Table of Contents

1. Trypanosomatid genetics2. The three genomes of Plasmodium3. Toxoplasma as a model genetic system4. Kinetoplast DNA: structure and replication5. Developmental regulation of gene expression in African trypanosomes6. Trans-splicing in trypanosomatid protozoa7. RNA editing. Post-transcriptional restructuring of genetic information8. Biogenesis of specialized organelles: glycosomes and hydrogenosomes9. Mechanism of drug resistance in protozoan parasites10. Glycosyl-phosphatidylinositols and the surface architecture of parasitic protozoa

Editorial Reviews

"This compendium has eleven chapters written by leading experts in their field and provides current research information on the molecular biology of parasitic protozoans causative agents of a broad spectrum of diseases around the world."—BIOSIS

From the Publisher