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Any good recommendations for textbooks(other than the ones on soinc)

NagaSol wrote: ↑September 11th, 2023, 7:08 pm Any good recommendations for textbooks(other than the ones on soinc)

I used to use Microbiology: an Introduction by Tortora, Funke, and Case a lot as well as Microbiology: Principles and Exploration by Black. They covered mostly the same material and in retrospect I'm not really sure why I have both.

NagaSol wrote: ↑September 11th, 2023, 7:08 pm Any good recommendations for textbooks(other than the ones on soinc)

hey sorry a bit late!

quick question though - what about openstax's microbiology do you not like? it's been my go to textbook for a long time.

Prescott/Brock are both pretty good textbooks for microbiology though

NagaSol wrote: ↑September 11th, 2023, 7:08 pm Any good recommendations for textbooks(other than the ones on soinc)

I like using Murray medical microbiology. Very thorough explanation of topics.

Can someone explain: "Phylogenetic methods to detect horizontal gene transfer (i.e., comparing gene and species
phylogenies)" or provide a helpful resource for this?

Bi0B0y wrote: ↑February 23rd, 2024, 6:17 pm Can someone explain: "Phylogenetic methods to detect horizontal gene transfer (i.e., comparing gene and species
phylogenies)" or provide a helpful resource for this?

A little bit late, but for the sake of completeness: horizontal gene transfer happens when an organism transfers genetic information to another organism despite not being parent and offspring; in other words, an organism is passing on its genes without reproduction. The most relevant example for Microbe Mission is probably how bacteria can acquire antibiotic resistance by picking up genes from both conspecifics (member of their own species) as well as from other species of bacteria, but this has likely also happened with macroorganisms too.

I can't tell what the rules mean when they say "comparing gene and species phylogenies," but I presume most test writers are interpreting that as broadly related to phylogeny (i.e. the study of the family tree of species). For instance, let's say scientists are sequencing DNA for a clade of fungi. It may turn out that one of the species has a sequence that's radically different from any DNA sequences in the other species—so much so that it seems improbable that the gene arose purely through random chance and natural selection alone. The scientists could then see whether this DNA sequence is expressed as a protein, and if yes, do other species outside this clade of fungi also express the same protein? Perhaps the scientists realize some bacteria expresses a remarkably similar protein, with only a few differences here and there. This could be the "aha!" moment they need to infer that the genes may have transferred horizontally, either from fungus to bacterium, or vice versa.

I'm no microbiologist, but I first learned about horizontal gene transfer via Campbell's Biology, which is also one of my favorite resources for another biology-related. If you're looking for a resource that's more specific to methods of how scientists detect horizontal gene transfer, try to see whether you can find a relatively recent microbiology book at your local library or from the bookshelf of a bio teacher at your school. Happy studying!

Microbe Mission Text book.
Hello, I am Beginner. please suggest a good text book. Looking to learn through basics to next level.
I got Openstax MB text book. Looking for additional resources from experts here.