Search

This book describes the biochemistry and genetics of aerobic degradation of hydrocarbons and lipids by bacteria and yeasts, as well as the functional genomics of the best-known microorganisms involved in these processes. It forms part of the Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Series, a definitive resource of current knowledge on the diverse aspects of the interactions of microbes with hydrocarbons and lipids. Chapters are mainly focused on the new discoveries of recent years. It is aimed to scientists and others interested in different aspects of the microbiology of hydrocarbons.

For the majority of the world's population, medicinal and aromatic plants are the most important source of life-saving drugs. Biotechnological tools represent important resources for selecting, multiplying and conserving the critical genotypes of medicinal plants. In this regard, in-vitro regeneration holds tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicines, while cryopreservation – a long-term conservation method using liquid nitrogen – provides an opportunity to conserve endangered medicinal and aromatic plants. In-vitro production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported for various medicinal plants, and bioreactors represent a key step toward the commercial production of secondary metabolites by means of plant biotechnology. Addressing these key aspects, the book contains 29 chapters, divided into three sections. Section 1: In-vitro production of secondary metabolites Section 2: In-vitro propagation, genetic transformation and germplasm conservation Section 3: Conventional and molecular approaches

The genus Pseudomonas represents a large group of medically and envi­ ronmentally important bacteria. Interest in these bacteria is reflected in the extensive number of publications devoted to original research, re­ views, and books on this subject. In this volume selected areas of Pseu­ domonas research are presented in depth by persons who have been active in their fields over many years. The extensive reviews presented are an effort to provide a balanced perspective in a number of areas not readily available in the current literature. In the style of the previous Biotechnology Handbooks most of these topics have not been reviewed at all, and several are also presented from a new direction. For example, in addition to structural and compositional aspects, the chapter on lipids provides shifts in lipid parameters that result from environmental changes. This information will be invaluable to a cross section of Pseu­ domonas researchers in pathogenesis and bioremediation. The chapters presented include basic aspects of plasmid biology and carbohydrate metabolism and regulation. A major emphasis is placed on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa cell surface. Chapters cover lipo­ polysaccharide, capsular polysaccharide and alginate, the outer mem­ brane, transport systems, and the flagellum. Uptake of iron is also neces­ sarily an important portion of the chapter on iron metabolism.

In the mid-1980s the European Journal of Biochemistry set out to publish review articles. The enterprise proved successful resulting in high-level reviews written by well- known scientists appearing in the Journal. The reviews represent emerging and rapidly growing fields of research in fundamental as well as applied areas of biochemistry, such as medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and nutrition. Novel methodological andtechnological approaches which stimulate biochemical research are also included. The authors of the reviews are explicitly asked to be critical, selective, evaluative and interdisciplinarily oriented. The reviews should encourage young scientists toward independent and creative thinking, and inform active investigators about the state of the art in a given field.

A coordinated approach using biochemical and immunological tools has given us a better understanding of the structure of the eukaryotic surface membrane. From such studies has emerged the fluid mosaic model of membrane structure and this volume contains a collection of articles written by noted workers in this field. A major emphasis in this area of research concerns the changes brought about on virus-induced and carcinogen-induced tumor cells. The first chapter comes from a laboratory that was one of the first to visualize the distribution of transplantation antigens on cell membrane surfaces. Various methods are described for visualizing these antigens by electron microscopy. Davis and his colleagues then proceed to show how the antibody-induced redistribution of antigenic macromolecules led to the formulation of the fluid mosaic model. From Hakomori's labora­ tory comes a methodological paper describing a novel method of labeling the carbohydrate portions of the membrane glycoproteins that are exposed on the outer surfaces of cells. The two chapters reviewing the changes found on carcinogen-induced and virus-induced malignant cells complete the survey of the structures associated with surface mem­ branes. Thanks are due to Mrs. Carol Garafolo who helped immeasurably with the preparation of the index for this volume.

It is perhaps obvious to any student of Biology that the discovery of chemical processes in whole organisms has usually preceded the elucidation of the compo­ nent steps. However, it is perhaps less obvious that the unravelling of the se­ quences in which those chemical steps occur in living matter, of the precise mechanisms involved, and of the manner in which they are regulated, would have been achieved neither by the study of intact plants and animals nor even of extracts derived from them. Our ability to understand the nature and regulation of metabolism rests on two main premises: the postulate that life processes can indeed be validly investigated with individual cells and cell-free extracts, and the thesis that there is an essential'unity in biochemistry'(as Kluyver put it, 60 years ago) that enables events in one organism to be legitimately studied in another. Of particular utility in this latter respect has been the use of cultures of single-celled organisms, growing in defined media-especially prokaryotes, such as Escherichia coli, and eukaryotes, such as Neurospora and Sac­ charomyces sp., to which both biochemical and genetical techniques could be applied. It was, of course, Pasteur's observations of bacterial fermentations that first overthrew the belief that oxygen was essential for all energy-yielding pro­ cesses: his recognition that'La fermentation..... c'est La vie sans air'laid the foundations of our knowledge of glycolysis.

Some years ago one of my students and I reported that the acetate kinase reaction is mediated by a phosphorylated form of the enzyme [R. S. Anthony and L. B. Spector, lBe 245, 6739 (1970)]. The reversible reaction between ATP and acetate to give acetyl phosphate and ADP had hitherto been thought to proceed by direct transfer of a phosphoryl group from A TP to acetate in a single-displacement reaction. But now it became clear that acetate kinase was one of that substantial number of enzymes whose mech­ anism is that of the double displacement. For some reason, I began to wonder about the possibility that all enzymes, like acetate kinase, are double­ displacement enzymes, and do their work by covalent catalysis. For one thing, I could not think of a single instance of an enzyme for which single­ displacement catalysis had been proved, and inquiries on this point among knowledgeable friends elicited the same negative response. Moreover, it was long known that the two other kinds of chemical catalysis~homo­ geneous and heterogeneous~occur through the intermediary formation of a covalent bond between catalyst and reactant. I began to feel confident that chemical catalysis by enzymes must happen the same way.

The most valuable service Dr. Gel'man and her colleagues have performed for the many investigators of bacterial membrane systems in producing their first excellent monograph on'The Respiratory Apparatus of Bacteria'in 1966 has been continued and expanded in the preparation of this volume. The au­ thors have brought together in a single volume much of the detail of investiga­ tions of bacterial membranes at the ultrastructura11eve1 and the chemical and biochemical organizationa11eve1s. The approach in bringing together this rap­ idly increasing volume of discovery has been both comprehensive and system­ atic, with a constant awareness of the importance of the molecular and func­ tional properties and relationships existing in various bacterial membranes. The monograph naturally reflects the authors'interest and their own inti­ mate involvement in the elucidation at the molecular level of the respiratory chains organized in the prokaryotic bacterial membrane system. It is entirely appropriate that the chapter devoted to this topic should occupy a substantial proportion of this monograph. Indeed, had this volume been prepared at this very moment, that proportion would have been even greater, as the work in.

This book is written for the research biochemist who needs to know more about the particular field of dioxygen metabolism, whether this be for designing lectures for a graduate level course or for his or her own research needs. We hope researchers in a given area of dioxygen metabolism will gain knowledge of related fields of dioxygen metabolism. We have decided to use the term dioxygen to distinguish molecular oxygen from divalent oxygen in water and organic compounds, dioxygen being a simpler term than molecular oxygen. We do not intend to review the metabolism of all compounds that contain oxygen, since this would include all of biochemistry. An understanding of dioxygen chemistry is essential to the discussion of the biochemistry of dioxygen. While this statement could be made about any biochemical constituent, the chemistry of dioxygen is so unusual that interpre­ tations without detailed chemical background are futile. Prediction of dioxygen reaction products by analogy with other oxidants is impossible. The partial reduction products of dioxygen, superoxide ion and peroxides, develop naturally in the chemistry of dioxygen. It would be difficult to discuss dioxygen biochemistry without first discussing these partial reduction products.

This book was developed from the proceedings of the 2nd North American Tan­ nin Conference held in Houghton, Michigan, June, 1991. The objective of this con­ ference was to bring together people with a common interest in plant polyphenols and to promote interdisciplinary interactions that will lead to a bet ter understand­ ing of the importance of these substances. Another objective of this conference was to extend the'tannin family'by making special efforts to encourage participation by scientists outside the United States, obtain more coverage of the hydrolyzable tannins, and further broaden the scope of coverage from the initial concentration on forestry and forest products. Com­ parison of the contents of this book with'Chemistry and Significance of Condensed Tannins'that resulted from the proceedings of the 1st North American Tannin Conference shows the degree that these objectives were met. In developing the second conference, care was taken to assure that this book extends rather than duplicates the coverage of the first conference. Therefore, the two books should be taken together to obtain an up to date coverage of the broad area of chemistry and significance of plant polyphenols. Our thanks go to the authors who so kindly contributed chapters and so pa­ tiently responded to our requests. We thank the Conference Assistance Staff of Michigan Technological University for their help in planning and conducting the conference.

Lipids are functionally versatile molecules. They have evolved from relatively simple hydrocarbons that serve as depot storages of metabolites and barriers to the permeation of solutes into complex compounds that perform a variety of signalling functions in higher organisms. This volume is devoted to the polar lipids and their constituents. We have omitted the neutral lipids like fats and oils because their function is generally to act as deposits of metabolizable substrates. The sterols are also outside the scope of the present volume and the reader is referred to volume 28 of this series which is the subject of cholesterol. The polar lipids are comprised of fatty acids attached to either glycerol or sphingosine. The fatty acids themselves constitute an important reservoir of substrates for conversion into families of signalling and modulating molecules including the eicosanoids amongst which are the prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leucotrienes. The way fatty acid metabolism is regulated in the liver and how fatty acids are desaturated are subjects considered in the first part of this volume. This section also deals with the modulation of protein function and inflammation by unsaturated fatty acids and their derivatives. New insights into the role of fatty acid synthesis and eicosenoid function in tumour progression and metastasis are presented.

Dramatic advances have been made in recent years in the field of redox enzymology which has resulted in an increase of research activities. This volume will cover the recent milestone developments in this field by leading experts, uniting theory and experiment, and selecting contributions to illustrate important aspects of the mechanisms of electron and radical transfer in proteins. Features: A demonstration of the key principles controlling biological redox reactions; Experimental studies of `simple'soluble systems in various enzyme familiies to illustrate concepts in the control of electron transfer reactions; Detail of advances made in membrane electron transfer through structural descriptions of key membrane-embedded proteins; Appeal to those interested in the design and use of redox enzymes, from academics to industrialists.