This title is an essential primer for all students who need some background in microbiology and want to become familiar with the universal importance of bacteria for all forms of life.

Written by Gerhard Gottschalk, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and one of the most prominent microbiologists in our time, this text covers the topic in its whole breadth and does not only focus on bacteria as pathogens.

The book is written in an easy-to-read, entertaining style but each chapter also contains a `facts' section with compact text and diagrams for easy learning. In addition, more than 40 famous scientists, including several Nobel Prize winners, contributed sections, written specifically for this title. The book comes with color figures and a companion website with questions and answers.

Key features:

Unique, introductory text offering a comprehensive overview of the astonishing variety and abilities of BacteriaEasy-to-read, fascinating and educationalWritten by one of the best known microbiologists of our timeColor images throughoutEach chapter has a compact tutorial part with schemes on the biochemistry and metabolic pathways of BacteriaComes with a companion website with questions and answers

A chemist by training, Gerhard Gottschalk received his PhD in microbiology in 1963 from the University of Gottingen, Germany, before becoming a post-doc at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1970 he was made a full professor for microbiology in Gottingen, where he also served as president between 1975 and 1976. He was a visiting professor in UC Davis in 1973 and UC Berkeley in 1979, and head of the Laboratory for Genome Analysis at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics in Gottingen from 1999 to 2007. He has received numerous awards, including the Philip Morris Prize for cutting-edge technology, the Winogradsky Medal, the Emil von Behring Prize and the first class German National Medal of Honor. Professor Gottschalk is a member of the Gottingen Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, an honorary member of the Israeli Society of Microbiology, and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He was president of All European Academies (ALLEA) from 1998 to 2000 and president of the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities from 2003 to 2007.

Preface Prologue READING SECTION 1 Extremely small but incredibly active 2 Bacteria are organisms like you and me 3 My name is LUCA 4 From the Big Bang to LUCA 5 O2 6 Life in boiling water 7 Life in the Dead Sea 8 Bacteria and archaea are everywhere 9 The power of photosynthesis, even in almost complete darkness 10 Man and his microbes 11 Without bacteria there is no protein 12 Napoleon's victory gardens 13 Alessandro Volta's and George Washington's combustible air 14 Microbes as climate makers 15 How a state was founded with the aid of Clostridium acetobutylicum 16 Pulque, wine, and biofuel 17 Energy conservation from renewable resources 18 Cheese and vinegar 19 The periodic table of bioelements 20 Bacterial sex life 21 Bacteria can also catch viruses 22 Antibiotics: from microorganisms, against microorganisms 23 Plasmids and resistances 24 Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a genetic engineer par excellence 25 Eco R1 and PCR - molecular biology at its finest 26 Interbacterial relationships 27 From life as a nomad to life as an endosymbiont 28 Bacteria as production factories 29 Plants, animals, and humans as food resources of bacteria 30 Viruses, chemicals causing epidemics? 31 The "-omics" era 32 Incredible microbes Epilogue STUDY GUIDE Overview to the Study Guide Microbial growth Molecules that make up microbes Evolution, from the RNA world to the tree of life Archaea Bacterial diversity Membranes and energy Carbon metabolism Regulation of microbial metabolism Genomes, genes, and gene transfer In-depth study of four special topics Selected literature Glossary Subject index of figures and tables Index