Current Topics In Photobiology And Photochemistry

Photophysiology: Current Topics in Photobiology and Photochemistry, Volume VI is a collection of papers that discusses photobiological phenomena found on cells of organisms. The papers in this collection deal with specialized areas of photobiology. One paper describes the instruments used in measuring the course of chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo that occurs when a chlorophyll molecule, stimulated by a light source, returns to its ground state from a previous first singlet state, resulting in a light emission lasting for a few nanoseconds. Another paper discusses the mechanism of light-induced carotenoid synthesis in nonphotosynthetic plants, including temperature-independent photochemical reactions, which results in the organism's producing carotenoids on subsequent incubations in darkness. One paper also explains photosensitization observed in mutant cells resulting from exposure to specific wavelength of light in the presence of a natural sensitizer. This paper points out that there are four main groups of photosensitizers, namely, the hypericins, chlorophylls, porphyrins, and psoralens. This book can prove valuable for cell biologists, micro-biologists, students, and researchers involved in the fields of photobiology and photochemistry.

The only combined organic photochemistry and photobiology handbookAs spectroscopic, synthetic and biological tools become more and more sophisticated, photochemistry and photobiology are merging-making interdisciplinary research essential. Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessors, the CRC Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Pho

Recent Progress in Photobiology contains the proceedings of the Fourth International Photobiology Congress, held in Oxford on July 26-30, 1964 and organized by a committee set up by the British Photobiology Group. Contributors explore the developments in photobiology, particularly with respect to biological structures, chemical changes, and molecular energy. This volume is organized into 10 sections encompassing 33 chapters and begins with an overview of basic photochemical processes that have direct implications on photobiology. The next chapters discuss the photochemistry of nucleic acids and their derivatives, with some reference to their biological significance. The book also studies the visual processes in humans and animals; the structure, pigment chemistry, and function of photoreceptor systems of plant and animal cells; and receptor mechanisms in human vision. The natural photoenvironment and its influence on life and development is also explained, emphasizing how light shapes the ultimate fate of an organism in its habitat. The remaining chapters focus on energy conversion and photosynthesis; micro-irradiation of cells; photochemistry and photobiology of space research; light and melanin pigmentation of the skin; and the effect of light on plant and animal cells. This book will be of interest to biologists and physiologists, as well as to anyone engaged in photobiological research.

Although there are several excellent books covering a few of the specialized areas of photobiology, at the present time there is no book that covers all areas of the science of photobiology. This book attempts to fill this void. The science of photobiology is currently divided into 14 subspecialty areas by the American Society for Photobiology. The first 14 chapters of this book deal with those subspecialty areas, each written by a leader in the field. Chapter 15, entitled "New Topics in Photobiology," highlights areas of research that may be desig nated sUbspecialties of photobiology in the future. This book has been written as a textbook to introduce the science of photobiology to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The chapters are written to provide a broad overview of each topic. They are designed to contain the amount of information that might be presented in a one-to two-hour general lecture. The references are not meant to be exhaustive, but key refer ences are included to give students an entry into the literature. Frequently a more recent reference that reviews the literature will be cited rather than the first paper by the author making the original discovery. Whenever practical, a classroom demonstration or simple laboratory exercise has been provided to exemplify one or more major points in a chapter.