Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2008

Amann and Fuchs provide an update on recent methodological improvements to fluorescencein situhybridization protocols, with a particular focus on whether the original group-specific probes,

which were mostly developed more than 10 years ago, are still valid.

The development of lactic acid bacteria as delivery vehicles for therapeutics, anti-infectives and vaccines at mucosa is discussed in this Review. Engineered LAB could be deployed to treat

conditions such as allergy and inflammatory bowel disease, and might also be adopted in the fight against pathogens, including HIV-1 infection.

Many viruses induce the formation of altered membrane structures upon replication in host cells. This Review examines how viruses modify intracellular membranes, highlights similarities

between the structures that are induced by viruses from different families and discusses how these structures could be formed.

Rickettsiae are obligate parasites that cause sometimes deadly human infections, including epidemic typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. David Walker and Nahed Ismail review the early

and late events in pathogenesis and immunity, including virulence mechanisms and rickettsial manipulation of host cells.

DNA acquisition and loss have important roles in bacterial genome evolution. Jörg Hacker and colleagues look at how this genomic fluidity can be harnessed in the development of new

diagnostics and molecular epidemiological methods.

Although Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children in the developed world, its aetiology remains unknown. In this Opinion, Anne Rowley and

colleagues discuss evidence, including recently identified cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, which suggests that KD is caused by an infectious agent.

Robert Ridley and Elaine Fletcher review the past 30 years of activity by TDR and the key achievements of the programme in tropical-disease research.