Bacteriophages

• Bacteriophage Isolation.- Methods for the Isolation of Viruses from Environmental Samples.- Bacteriophage Enrichment from Water and Soil.- Isolation of Phage via Induction of Lysogens.- Isolation of Cyanophages from Aquatic Environments.- Isolation of Viruses from High Temperature Environments.- Isolation of Novel Large and Aggregating Bacteriophages.- Bacteriophage Characterization.- Enumeration of Bacteriophages by Double Agar Overlay Plaque Assay.- Enumeration of Bacteriophages by the Direct Plating Plaque Assay.- Enumeration of Bacteriophages Using the Small Drop Plaque Assay System.- Determination of Virus Abundance by Epifluorescence Microscopy.- Enumeration of Bacteriophages Using Flow Cytometry.- Basic Phage Electron Microscopy.- Phage Classification and Characterization.- Phage Host Range and Efficiency of Plating.- Measurement of the Rate of Attachment of Bacteriophage to Cells.- Measurement of the Bacteriophage Inactivation Kinetics with Purified Receptors.- Bacteriophage Plaques: Theory and Analysis.- Practical Methods for Determining Phage Growth Parameters.- Phage Production and Maintenance of Stocks, Including Expected Stock Lifetimes.- Bacteriophage-Host Interactions.- Construction of Phage Mutants.- Modifying Bacteriophage with Recombineering.- Identification and Isolation of Lysogens with Induced Prophage.- Generalized Transduction.- Preparation and Characterization of Anti-phage Serum.- Generalized Transduction by Lytic Bacteriophages.

From the reviews: "This book apart from the numerous texts recently published in the area of bacteriophage biology is the focus on the methodology used in this field. ... This volume focuses largely on the classical protocols - as described by the editors ... . This book should prove to be a valuable resource to even the experienced phage biologist and an essential reference book for postgraduate students and scientists new to the field of phage biology." (Sophie Foley, Microbiology Today, July, 2009)