A unique and timely review of the emergence of eukaryotic virulence in fungi, oomycetes, and protozoa, as they affect both animals and plants

Evolution of Virulence in Eukaryotic Microbes addresses new developments in defining the molecular basis of virulence in eukaryotic pathogens. By examining how pathogenic determinants have evolved in concert with their hosts, often overcoming innate and adaptive immune mechanisms, the book takes a fresh look at the selective processes that have shaped their evolution.

Introductory chapters ground the reader in principal evolutionary themes such as phylogenetics and genetic exchange, building a basis of knowledge for later chapters covering advances in genetic tools, how pathogens exchange genetic material in nature, and the common themes of evolutionary adaptation that lead to disease in different hosts.

With the goal of linking the research findings of the many disparate scientific communities in the field, the book:

• Assembles for the first time a collection of chapters on the diversity of eukaryotic microorganisms and the influence of evolutionary forces on the origins and emergence of their virulent attributes
• Highlights examples from three important, divergent groups of eukaryotic microorganisms that cause disease in animals and plants: oomycetes, protozoan parasites, and fungi
• Covers how the development of genetic tools has fostered the identification and functional analyses of virulence determinants
• Addresses how pathogens exchange genetic material in nature via classical or modified meiotic processes, horizontal gene transfer, and sexual cycles including those that are cryptic or even unisexual
• Provides a broad framework for formulating future studies by illustrating themes common to different pathogenic microbes

Evolution of Virulence in Eukaryotic Microbes is an ideal book for microbiologists, evolutionary biologists and medical professionals, as well as graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members working on the evolution of pathogens.

Dr. David Sibley, PhD, is a faculty member at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he teaches graduate courses in microbiology and has served on the steering committee for the Molecular Microbiology program for the past 10 years. In addition to authoring over 150 publications,?Dr. Sibley is an associate editor for PLoS Pathogens, edits reviews for Cellular Microbiology, and serves on the board of reviewing editors for Science.

Dr. Barbara Howlett, PhD, is a Professor in the School of Botany at the University of Melbourne, specializing in fungal diseases of plants. She serves in an editorial capacity for PLoS Pathogens, Eukaryotic Cell, and the European Journal of Plant Pathology.

Dr. Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD is currently Chair of the Dept of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University. Dr. Heitman has co-authored four other books on the topics of eukayrotic function and pathogenesis, and serves as an editor for numerous?publication includingEukaryotic Cell, Virulence, and the Journal of Molecular Medicine.