Maria José Figueras

Latest work with IntechOpen by Maria José Figueras

Information on the genus Aeromonas appears dispersed in the literature, and many aspects of this genus are still unknown. This book is an important new contribution that highlights the topics in which further research is needed, pretending to inspire researchers to fill the gaps. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the ecology and epidemiology of the genus and emphasizes metagenomic discoveries that show the survival and amplification capacity of Aeromonas in wastewater and sewage systems. This finding highlights the persistence of this bacteria as a water contaminant of ready-to-eat vegetables and other foot products and its impact on aquaculture production, where important losses are due to the fish infections produced by these bacteria. The current understanding and the most recent finding on iron assimilation by either heme utilization or siderophore synthesis in Aeromonas are presented. The molecules and mechanisms involved in iron acquisition as tools for developing new vaccines or as novel antimicrobial agents with applicability in medicine and the industry are presented. Siderophores synthetic derivatives are already employed in treating malaria and cancer and may have other applications in the near future. Among the 5 Aeromonas integron classes described and reviewed, class 1 integrons are of paramount importance because they carry antibiotic-resistant genes that may hamper effective infection treatments. Genome analysis indicates that class-4 is the second most abundant integron despite few studies investigating them. Further research on the functionality and expression of these genetic elements may shed light on their role in Aeromonas. Newly developed techniques are also addressed in the book, MALDI-TOF as a fast identification method that, despite its efficiency, still has certain limitations; the bacteria-biocontrol strategy using bacteriophages or the use of a newly discovered molecular tool like CRISPR-Cas, which is a relevant in vitro and in vivo genome editing solution for many experiments, making it quick and easy to generate mutants.