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The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria summarizes more than a decade of progress in analyzing the taxonomy, biochemistry, physiology, cellular differentiation and developmental biology of cyanobacteria by modern molecular methods, especially molecular genetics. During this period cyanobacterial molecular biologists have been `studying those things that cyanobacteria do well', and they have made cyanobacteria the organisms of choice for detailed molecular analyses of oxygenic photosynthesis. Part 1 contains chapters describing the molecular evolution and taxonomy of the cyanobacteria, as well as chapters describing cyanelles and the origins of algal and higher plant chloroplasts. Also included are chapters describing the picoplanktonic, oceanic cyanobacteria and prochlorophytes, `the other cyanobacteria'. Part 2 is devoted to a detailed description of structural and functional aspects of the cyanobacterial photosynthetic apparatus. Included are chapters on thylakoid membrane organization, phycobiliproteins, and phycobilisomes, Photosystem I, Photosystem II, the cytochrome b6f complex, ATP synthase, and soluble electron carriers associated with photosynthetic electron transport. Structure, as it relates to biological function, is heavily emphasized in this portion of the book. Part 3 describes other important biochemical processes, including respiration, carbon metabolism, inorganic carbon uptake and concentration, nitrogen metabolism, tetrapyrrole biosynthesis, and carotenoid biosynthesis. Part 4 describes the cyanobacterial genetic systems and gene regulatory phenomena in these organisms.
Emphasis is placed on responses to environmental stimuli, such as light intensity, light wavelength, temperature, and nutrient availability. Cellular differentiation and development phenomena, including the formation of heterocysts for nitrogen fixation and hormogonia for dispersal of organisms in the environment, are described.
The book comprises 28 chapters written by leading experts from Europe, Israel, Japan, and the United States.
1. Molecular Evolution and Taxonomy of the Cyanobacteria; A. Wilmotte. 2. The Oceanic Cyanobacterial Picoplankton; N.G. Carr, N.H. Mann. 3. Prochlorophytes: the `Other' Cyanobacteria? H.C.P. Matthijs, G.W.M. van der Staay, L.R. Mur. 4. Molecular Biology of Cyanelles; W. Loffelhardt, H.J. Bohnert. 5. Chloroplast Origins and Evolution; S.E. Douglas. 6. Supramolecular Membrane Organization; E. Gantt. 7. Phycobilisome and Phycobiliprotein Structures; W.A. Sidler. 8. The Use of Cyanobacteria in the Study of the Structure and Function of Photosystem II; B.A. Barry, R.J. Boerner, J.C. de Paula. 9. The Cytochrome b6f Complex; T. Kallas. 10. Photosystem I in Cyanobacteria; J.H. Golbeck. 11. The F-type ATPase in Cyanobacteria: Pivotal Point in the Evolution of the Universal Enzyme; W.D. Frasch. 12. Soluble Electron Transfer Catalysts of Cyanobacteria; L.Z. Morand, R.H. Cheng, D.W. Krogmann, Kwok Ki Ho. 13. Cyanobacterial Respiration; G. Schmetterer. 14. The Biochemistry and Molecular Regulation of Carbon Dioxide Metabolism in Cyanobacteria; F.R. Tabita. 15. Physiological and Molecular Studies on the Response of Cyanobacteria to Changes in the Ambient Inorganic Carbon Concentration; A. Kaplan, R. Schwarz, J. Lieman-Hurwitz, M. Ronen-Tarazi, L. Reinhold. 16. Assimilatory Nitrogen Metabolism and its Regulation; E. Flores, A. Herrero. 17. Biosynthesis of Cyanobacterial Tetrapyrrole Pigments: Hemes, Chlorophylls, and Phycobilins; S.I. Beale. 18. Carotenoids in Cyanobacteria; J. Hirschberg, D. Chamovitz. 18. Genetic Analysis of Cyanobacteria; T. Thiel. 20. The Transcription Apparatus and the Regulation of Transcription Initiation; S.E. Curtis, J.A. Martin. 21. The Responses of Cyanobacteria to Environmental Conditions: Light and Nutrients; A.R. Grossman, M.R. Schaefer, G.G. Chiang, J.L. Collier. 22. Short-Term and Long-Term Adaptation of the Photosynthetic Apparatus: Homeostatic Properties of Thylakoids; Y. Fujita, A. Murakami, K. Aizawa, K. Ohki. 23. Light-Responsive Gene Expression and the Biochemistry of the Photosystem II Reaction Center; S.S. Golden. 24. Thioredoxins in Cyanobacteria: Structure and Redox Regulation of Enzyme Activity; F.K. Gleason. 25. Iron Deprivation: Physiology and Gene Regulation; N.A. Straus. 26. The Cyanobacterial Heat-Shock Response and the Molecular Chaperones; R. Webb, L.A. Sherman. 27. Heterocyst Metabolism and Development; C.P. Wolk, A. Ernst, J. Elhai. 28. Differentiation of Hormogonia and Relationships with Other Biological Processes; N. Tandeau de Marsac.
