Ullrich (engineering and science, Jacobs U. Bremen, Germany) compiles 19 review articles summarizing current molecular knowledge, innovations, and future trends in research, infection medicine, and industrial applications of bacterial polysaccharides. While the papers are organized into sections on bacterial cell wall structures and polysaccharides, microbial polysaccharides in human pathogens, polysaccharides in pathogens of the oral cavity, polysaccharides and biofilm formation, polysaccharides in plant-associated bacteria, polysaccharides of lactic acid bacteria, and commercial applications of microbial polysaccharides, common themes such as biofilm formation, coupling of polysaccharide synthesis with intracellular metabolic functions, and the embedding of regulatory pathways controlling polysaccharide synthesis in global (often virulence-associated) regulatory hierarchies run throughout the collection. The collection incorporates molecular biology, genomic, transcripteomic, and proteomic perspectives, as well as ecological aspects and systems biology approaches. It is relevant to applications in medicine, the food industry, and renewable energy production. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation 2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
