in the series, highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors. Topics covered include Whole genome transplantation in Mollicutes, Natural transformation as a tool in Acinetobacter baylyi: evolution by amplification of gene copy number, Natural transformation as a tool in Acinetobacter baylyi: streamlined engineering and mutational analysis, Methods to characterize cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces, Genome engineering in bacteria: current and prospective applications, Tools for activation and identification of cryptic biosynthesis pathways in Streptomyces.