The enormous advances in molecular biology that have been witnessed in . Not recent years have had major impacts on many areas of the biological sciences least of these has been in the field of clinical bacteriology and infectious disease . Molecular Bacteriology: Protocols and ClinicalApplications aims to provide the reader with an insight into the role that molecular methodology has to play in modern medical bacteriology. The introductory chapter ofMolecular Bacteriology: ProtocolsandCli- cal Applications offers a personal overview by a Consultant Medical Microbio- gist of the impact and future potential offered by molecular methods. The next six chapters comprise detailed protocols for a range of such methods . We believe that the use of these protocols should allow the reader to establish the various methods described in his or her own laboratory. In selecting the methods to be included in this section, we have concentrated on those that, arguably, have greatest current relevance to reference clinical bacteriology laboratories; we have deliberately chosen not to give detailed protocols for certain methods, such as multilocus enzyme electrophoresis that, in our opinion, remain the preserve of specialist la- ratories and that are not currently suited for general use. We feel that the methods included in this section will find increasing use in diagnostic laboratories and that it is important that the concepts, advantages, and limitations of each are th- oughly understood by a wide range of workers in the field .

The Impact of Molecular Methods on Clinical Bacteriology
R. C. George

Genomic DNA Digestion and Ribotyping
J. Z. Jordens

Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis
M. E. Kaufmann

Plasmid Analysis
A. P. Johnson and N. Woodford

DNA Amplification
J. P. Clewley and N. Saunders

Arbitrarily Primed PCR Methods for Studying Bacterial Diseases
D. Ralph and M. McClelland

Genomic Fingerprinting by Application of rep-PCR
A. M. Ridley

Molecular Approaches to the Identification of Streptococci
R. E. McLaughlin and J. J. Ferretti

Pneumococcal Diseases
A. M. Smith and K. P. Klugman

Tuberculosis & Other Diseases Caused by Mycobacterium spp
M. Goyal and D. B. Young

Diptheria
A. Efstratiou, K. E. Engler, and A. de Zoysa

Infection Caused by Legionella spp
T. G Harrison and N.K. Fry

Haemophilus Influenzae
M. A. Herbert, D. Crook, and E. R. Moxon

Meningococcal Infection
M. C. J. Maiden

Gonorrhoea
C. A. Ison

Chancroid
S. A. Morse, D. L. Trees, and P. A. Totten

Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma Infection
C. B. Gilroy and D. T. Robinson

Salmonella Infections
E. John Threlfall, M. D. Hampton and A.M. Ridley

Cholera
T. J. Barrett and D. N. Cameron

Diagnosis and Investigation of Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli
J. P. Nataro and J. Martinez

Campylobacter Infection
J. Gibson and R. J. Owen

Helicobacter pylori
R. J. Owen and J. Gibson

Staphylococci
A. Deplano and M. Struelens

Application of Molecular Techniques to the Study of Nosocomial Infection Caused by Enterococci
T. M. Coque, P. Seetulsingh, K. V. Singh, and B. E. Murray

Molecular Approaches for the Detection and Identification of ß-Lactamases
D. J. Payne and C. J.Thomson

Biochemical and Enzyme Kinetic Applications for the Characterization of ß-Lactamases
D. J. Payne and T. H. Farmer

ß-lactam Resistance Mediated by Changes in Penicillin-Binding Proteins
C. G. Dowson and T. J. Coffey

Application of Molecular Techniques for the Study of Aminoglycoside Resistance
K. J. Shaw, F. J. Sabatelli, L. Naples, P. Mann, R. S. Hare, and G. H. Miller

Molecular Investigation of Glycopeptide Resistance in Gram-Positive Bacteria
N. Woodford and J. M. Stigter

Quinolone Resistance
J. Brown and S. G. B. Amyes

Resistance to Tetracyclines, Macrolides, Trimethoprim, and Sulfonamides
M. C. Roberts

Index