Microbial Endocrinology

Microbial endocrinology represents a newly emerging interdisciplinary field that is formed by the intersection of the fields of neurobiology and microbiology. This book will introduce a new perspective to the current understanding not only of the factors that mediate the ability of microbes to cause disease, but also to the mechanisms that maintain normal homeostasis. The discovery that microbes can directly respond to neuroendocrine hormones, as evidenced by increased growth and production of virulence-associated factors, provides for a new framework with which to investigate how microorganisms interface not only with vertebrates, but also with invertebrates and even plants. The reader will learn that the neuroendocrine hormones that one most commonly associates with mammals are actually found throughout the plant, insect and microbial communities to an extent that will undoubtedly surprise many, and most importantly, how interactions between microbes and neuroendocrine hormones can influence the pathophysiology of infectious disease.The book is intended for anyone who is interested in the interaction of microbes with both the animal and plant kingdoms. This book is an interdisciplinary effort that will cover the presence of neuroendocrine hormones in vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and microorganisms themselves and how the ability of bacteria to directly respond to these neuroendocrine hormones introduces completely new paradigms in understanding infectious disease pathogenesis.

Prof. Mark Lyte, Ph.D., M.S., MT(ASCP) is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and adjunct Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Prof. Lyte conducted experiments in 1991 that subsequently led him shortly thereafter to propose and found the field of microbial endocrinology. In addition to.having served on scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health and other worldwide agencies, Prof. Lyte has been awarded the Joseph Susman Memorial Award for Surgical Infectious Disease Research and was named a finalist for the National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award.
Dr. Primrose P.E. Freestone, BSc(Hons), PhD, PGCE is a Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology, in the Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester. Dr. Freestone was the first to identify tyrosine phosphorylation as a regulatory mechanism in bacteria, and to elucidate the mechanisms by which stress hormones induce bacterial growth. She is also an inventor in the fields of microbial diagnostics and dietary bioactives, and has been awarded Fellowships to develop entrepreneurial activities in life science biotechnology.