Thorns, spines and prickles are among the rich arsenal of antiherbivore defence mechanisms that plants have evolved. Many of these thorns are aposematic, that is, marked by various types of warning coloration. This coloration was recently proposed to deter large herbivores. Yet, the mechanical defence provided by thorns against large herbivores might be only the tip of the iceberg in a much mor...

specific example of “a world aswarm with viral zoonoses”), anthrax, smallpox, brucellosis, botulism, and ricin. Information is also provided on genetically-engineered protein toxins, as well as genetic fingerprinting for forensic studies and the use of genomics for the agents of tularemia, brucellosis, and clostridial gas gangrene. Notably, several chapters are devoted to critical topics that a...

Clostridium perfringens (CP) is an anaerobic, Gram-positive bacillus associated with malignant diseases and near-term pregnancies. The necrotic tissue that results from these disease processes fuels the proliferation of CP, leading to gas gangrene and subsequently sepsis. Herein, we report a case of a 41-year-old female patient with a history of invasive molar pregnancy that was further complic...