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Many plant-derived bioactive compounds are the foundation effective drugs to cure diseases. Usually, the bioactive compounds in plant biomass are low, and the extraction of bioactive compounds from plants is not eco-friendly, which limits their application in drugs and other industries. With the development of synthetic biology and green biomanufacturing, the biosynthesis of complex bioactive compounds is possible. However, the engineering fundamentals for microbial biosynthetic of plant-derived bioactive compounds is vast. Engineering biology for microbial biosynthesis of plant-derived bioactive compounds summarizes the engineering fundamental biotechnologies for microbial production of plant-derived bioactive compounds, allowing this content to be easily accessed. Coverage includes summaries of key achievements, identification of challenges, current approaches, tips and tricks, and helpful insights into critical bottlenecks. With a comprehensive coverage of the field, Engineering biology for microbial biosynthesis of plant-derived bioactive compounds is of great interest to undergraduate and graduate students, scientists, researchers as well as engineers who work on the microbial production of plant-derived bioactive compounds. - Provides valuable information for engineers, scientists, and industrial researchers who want to obtain microbial strains with the ability of plant-derived bioactive compound production - Guides microbial production of plant-derived bioactive compounds at the laboratory and industrial levels - Ideal resource for anyone who works on the microbial production of plant-derived bioactive compounds

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the cell cycle regulation and development in Alphaproteobacteria. Cell cycle and cellular differentiation are fascinating biological phenomena that are highly regulated in all organisms. In the last decades, many laboratories around the world have been investigating these processes in Alphaproteobacteria. This bacterial class comprises important bacterial species, studied by fundamental and applied research. The complexity of cell cycle regulation and many examples of cellular differentiations in this bacterial group represent the main motives of this book. The book starts with discussing the regulation of cell cycle in alphaproteobacterial species from a system biology perspective. The following chapters specifically focus on the model species Caulobacter crescentus multiple layers of regulation, from transcriptional cascades to proteolysis and dynamic subcellular regulation of cell cycle regulators. In addition, the cell division process, chromosome segregation and growth of the cell envelope is described in detail. The last part of the book covers examples of non-Caulobacter alphaproteobacterial models, such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Brucella species and Sinorhizobium meliloti and also discusses possible applications. This book will be of interest to researchers in microbiology and cell biology labs working on cell cycle regulation and development.

Phylogenomics: A Primer, Second Edition is for advanced undergraduate and graduate biology students studying molecular biology, comparative biology, evolution, genomics, and biodiversity. This book explains the essential concepts underlying the storage and manipulation of genomics level data, construction of phylogenetic trees, population genetics, natural selection, the tree of life, DNA barcoding, and metagenomics. The inclusion of problem-solving exercises in each chapter provides students with a solid grasp of the important molecular and evolutionary questions facing modern biologists as well as the tools needed to answer them.

Myosins are molecular motors that use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to move and exert tension on actin filaments. Although the best-known myosin is myosin II, which powers skeletal muscle contraction, there are at least two dozen classes of myosins, and cells generally express multiple isoforms. Myosins are involved in multiple cellular activities including cell structure, cell migration, intracellular trafficking, and cell-cell contact.Importantly, loss of function and mutation are associated with diseases including myopathies, hearing impairment, glomerulosclerosis, and cancer. Written by international experts in myosin motors and the approaches used to study them, this book is expected to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current status of our understanding of the structure and molecular mechanism of myosins and their cellular roles.

Over the past few decades, chromatin modulation has emerged as an important regulator of gene expression. This second edition provides detailed information on the epigenetic mechanisms in plants, illustrating the value of this research in plants of agronomic importance. It examines recent advances regarding plants'epigenetic regulation in response to abiotic and biotic types of stress; the epigenetic basis of plant immunity; evolution and functions of plant histones; epigenetic variation and plant breeding; and epigenome editing and crop improvement. The content is intended to promote the development of future biotechnologies to manipulate and selectively activate/inhibit proteins and metabolic pathways to counter pathogens, to treat important diseases, and to increase crop productivity. The development of new fields, like epigenome editing and RNA epigenetics, will certainly improve our understanding of currently known epigenetic modifications and their roles in e.g. host-pathogeninteractions, crop productivity, and in response to environmental stimuli. This volume contains twelve new/revised chapters, written by an international team of experts on plant epigenetics, and addresses the needs of researchers and professionals in the fields of agronomics, crop breeding, epigenetics, plant biochemistry, plant developmental biology, and related disciplines.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an acellular three-dimensional network composed of proteins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans and exopolysaccharides. It primarily serves as a structural component in the tissues and organs of plants and animals, or forms biofilms in which bacterial cells are embedded. ECMs are highly dynamic structures that undergo continuous remodeling, and disruptions are frequently the result of pathological processes associated with severe diseases such as arteriosclerosis, neurodegenerative illness or cancer. In turn, bacterial biofilms are a source of concern for human health, as they are associated with resistance to antibiotics. Although exopolysaccharides are crucial for ECM formation and function, they have received considerably little attention to date.The respective chapters of this book comprehensively address such issues, and provide reviews on the structural, biochemical, molecular and biophysical properties of exopolysaccharides. These components are abundantly produced by virtually all taxa including bacteria, algae, plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. They include long unbranched homopolymers (cellulose, chitin/chitosan), linear copolymers (alginate, agarose), peptoglycans such as murein, heteropolymers like a variety of glycosaminoglycans (hyaluronan, dermatan, keratin, heparin, Pel), and branched heteropolymers such as pectin and hemicellulose.A separate chapter is dedicated to modern industrial and biomedical applications of exopolysaccharides and polysaccharide-based biocomposites. Their unique chemical, physical and mechanical properties have attracted considerable interest, inspired basic and applied research, and have already been harnessed to form structural biocomposite hybrids for tailor-made applications in regenerative medicine, bioengineering and biosensor design. Given its scope, this book provides a substantial source of basic and applied information for a wide range of scientists, as well as valuable textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

Cell surface small molecules and macromolecules, such as members of cholesterol family (including steroid hormones), the glycolipid family (sphingolipids), the glycoprotein family (both N-linked and O-linked), and a vast array of other receptors have been shown to be involved in normal and abnormal cellular processes. The 11th International Symposium on Cell Surface Macromolecules, held in Mohali, India, in February 2017 provided a comprehensive update on the major advances in this area. Presenting selected contributions from this meeting, this book comprises 24 chapters, which provide in-depth analyses of data on the role of cell surface macromolecules in cellular function and their alterations associated with pathological conditions. It includes comprehensive research papers and critical overviews of the functional role of cell surface molecules, discussing topics such as biochemical, biophysical, and cell biological approaches to study cell membrane molecules, and metabolism of glycoconjugates.

This second edition of the book on Store-operated Ca2+ Entry Pathways has been updated with the newest discoveries that emerged in the field within the last five years. The crystal structure of the Ca2+ signaling core complex is described which adds to a new understanding of the molecular interactions involved. Each chapter has been revised and extended. The book retains its interdisciplinary approach and supplies biochemists, cell biologists and biophysicists as well as clinicians in immunology, neurology and cardiology with valuable information on Ca2+ signaling mechanisms, functions, dysfunctions and their consequences.

The “omics” era has given a new perspective to the findings on the origin and evolution of the process of translation. This book provides insight into the evolution of the translation process and machinery from a modern perspective. Written by leading experts in molecular biology, this text looks into the origins and evolution of the protein synthetic machinery.

Consists of critical reviews and original research papers from the 2014 International Symposium on the'Biochemical Role of Eukaryotic Cell Surface Macromolecules'. Topics covered include: · neurochemical and biochemical analysis of cell surface glycoconjugates · membrane skeletal organization · GPCRs and other receptors · biophysical approaches to study membrane interactions · glycoconjugate metabolism · dysregulation · molecular mechanisms involved in cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction · glycans in infectious and neurological diseases · cancer and glycosyltransferases as drug targets.

Protein kinase CK2 (formerly casein kinase II or 2) is known to play a critical role in the control of cell growth and cell death and is thus intimately involved in the development of cancer. More specifically, CK2 has been found to be elevated in all cancers examined. While CK2 levels are known to be high in proliferating normal cells, CK2 has also been found to be a potent suppressor of apoptosis and is a link to the cancer cell phenotype, which is characterized by deregulation of both cell proliferation and cell death. Indeed, it would appear that CK2 impacts many of the hallmarks of cancer and it has now gained considerable attention as a potential target for cancer therapy. Protein Kinase CK2 and Cellular Function in Normal and Disease States increases knowledge of the role of CK2 in the development of cellular dysfunction and emphasizes that this protein may serve as a target of drug development for improved cancer therapy. In addition, it is a handy tool that provides cancer researchers, graduate students, and all scientists involved in CK2 research with one main source for the latest advances in CK2 research. ​

This book is dedicated to the channels and pores that belong to an eclectic and ubiquitous class of unconventional - perhaps at times strange - pore-forming molecules, which nevertheless play fundamental roles in various organisms. These non-canonical channels may take on various and sometimes complex architectures, such as large beta-barrels or lipid-containing pores. They may originate from bacteria, viruses or intracellular organelles. For some of them, the physiologically relevant substrate may indeed be ions, and for others folded polypeptides. Some are released by cells in a soluble form that has the ability to insert into biological membranes to exert its permeabilizing effect. Many of these unconventional pores have been investigated by electrophysiology, which, by its virtue of focusing on a few or even a single unit, has provided invaluable insight into the mechanisms and structure-function relationships of these remarkable membrane entities. The chapters of this book highlight a representative set of these interesting investigations.