FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Edited By: Dieter Haas

Impact Factor: 11.796

ISI Journal Citation Reports © Ranking: 2010: 6/107 (Microbiology)

Online ISSN: 1574-6976

Associated Title(s): FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, FEMS Microbiology Letters, FEMS Yeast Research

Recently Published Issues

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Current Issue:March 2012
Volume 36, Issue 2
January 2012
Volume 36, Issue 1
November 2011
Volume 35, Issue 6
September 2011
Volume 35, Issue 5
Special Issue: Antibiotic Resistance
July 2011
Volume 35, Issue 4

FEMS reviews and minireviews

Read reviews and minireviews from our sister journals here!

Lateral Gene Transfer and antibiotic resistance evolution

One of the most important factors in the development of resistance to antibiotics is the remarkable ability of bacteria to share genetic resources via Lateral Gene Transfer (LGT), which occurs on a global scale. In theory, any gene in any organism anywhere in the microbial biosphere might be mobilized and spread. With sufficiently strong selection, any gene may spread to a point where it establishes a global presence. From an antibiotic resistance perspective, this means that a resistance phenotype can appear in a diverse range of infections around the globe nearly simultaneously. This review discusses the forces and agents that make this LGT possible and argues that the problem of resistance can ultimately only be managed by understanding the problem from a broad ecological and evolutionary perspective. READ MORE

Thematic Issues

Access the new freely available Thematic Issue:

Microbial Development Not long ago, bacteria were considered to be primitive organisms, without a true cytoskeleton and without important forms of development. This simplistic picture has changed dramatically in recent years and, therefore, Gerhard Braus as Editor of FEMS Microbiol. Rev. and Urs Jenal as Guest Editor have commissioned a series of review papers – 13 in total – that describe important aspects of microbial development. READ MORE