Photosynthesis Physiology And Metabolism

Photosynthesis: Physiology and Metabolism is the we have concentrated on the acquisition and ninth volume in theseries Advances in Photosynthesis metabolism of carbon. However, a full understanding (Series Editor, Govindjee). Several volumes in this of reactions involved in the conversion of to series have dealt with molecular and biophysical sugars requires an integrated view of metabolism. aspects of photosynthesis in the bacteria, algae and We have, therefore, commissioned international cyanobacteria, focussing largely on what have been authorities to write chapters on, for example, traditionally, though inaccurately, termed the ‘light interactionsbetween carbon and nitrogen metabolism, reactions’(Volume 1, The Molecular Biology of on respiration in photosynthetic tissues and on the Cyanobacteria;Volume2,AnoxygenicPhotosynthetic control of gene expression by metabolism. Photo- Bacteria, Volume 3, Biophysical Techniques in synthetic carbon assimilation is also one of the most Photosynthesis and Volume 7, The Molecular Biology rapid metabolic processes that occurs in plant cells, of the Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Chlamy- and therefore has to be considered in relation to domonas). Volume 4 dealt with Oxygenic Photo- transport, whether it be the initial uptake of carbon, synthesis: The Light Reactions, and volume 5 with intracellular transport between organelles, inter- Photosynthesis and the Environment, whereas the cellular transport, as occurs in plants, or transport structure and function of lipids in photosynthesis of photosynthates through and out of the leaf. All was covered in Volume 6 of this series: Lipids in these aspects of transport are also covered in the Photosynthesis: Structure, Function and Genetics, book.

This book focuses on the fundamentals of plant physiology for undergraduate and graduate students. It consists of 34 chapters divided into five major units. Unit I discusses the unique mechanisms of water and ion transport, while Unit II describes the various metabolic events essential for plant development that result from plants’ ability to capture photons from sunlight, to convert inorganic forms of nutrition to organic forms and to synthesize high energy molecules, such as ATP. Light signal perception and transduction works in perfect coordination with a wide variety of plant growth regulators in regulating various plant developmental processes, and these aspects are explored in Unit III. Unit IV investigates plants’ various structural and biochemical adaptive mechanisms to enable them to survive under a wide variety of abiotic stress conditions (salt, temperature, flooding, drought), pathogen and herbivore attack (biotic interactions). Lastly, Unit V addresses the large number of secondary metabolites produced by plants that are medicinally important for mankind and their applications in biotechnology and agriculture. Each topic is supported by illustrations, tables and information boxes, and a glossary of important terms in plant physiology is provided at the end.

M. GIBBS and E. LATZKO In the preface to his Experiments upon Vegetables, INGEN-Housz wrote in 1779: "The discovery of Dr. PRIESTLEY that plants have a power of correcting bad air . . . shows . . . that the air, spoiled and rendered noxious to animals by their breath ing in it, serves to plants as a kind of nourishment. " INGEN-Housz then described his own experiments in which he established that plants absorb this "nourishment" more actively in brighter sunlight. By the turn of the eighteenth century, the "nourishment" was recognized to be CO . Photosynthetic CO2 assimilation, the 2 major subject of this encyclopedia volume, had been discovered. How plants assimilate the CO was a question several successive generations 2 of investigators were unable to answer; scientific endeavor is not a discipline in which it is easy to "put the cart before the horse". The horse, in this case, was the acquisition of radioactive isotopes of carbon, especially 14c. The cart which followed contained the Calvin cycle, formulated by CALVIN, BENSON and BASSHAM in the early 1950's after (a) their detection of glycerate-3-P as the first stable product of CO fixation, (b) their discovery, and that by HORECKER 2 and RACKER, of the COz-fixing enzyme RuBP carboxylase, and (c) the reports by GIBBS and by ARNON of an enzyme (NADP-linked GAP dehydrogenase) capable of using the reducing power made available from sunlight (via photo synthetic electron transport) to reduce the glycerate-3-P to the level of sugars.

Provides a simplified description of the partial process of photosynthesis at the molecular, organelle, cell and organ levels of organization in plants, which contribute to the complete process. It surveys effects of global environmental change, carbon dioxide enrichment and ozone depletion.

In recent years, molecular biology has infiltrated into all branches of botany. This is particularly true of plant physiology. This book attempts to provide an introduction to the metabolic and developmental physiology of higher plants from a molecular biological point of view. Starting from the heterocatalytic function of DNA the first ten chapters deal with metabolism; development is presented in the last nine, starting from the autocatalytic functions of DNA and including certain topics oriented more toward metabolic physiology. Both fields of plant physiology are so closely linked that an in tegrated presen tation of this kind seemed not only possible but desirable. In contrast to other accounts, an attempt has been made to give equal weight to metabolism and development. In particular, the so-called "sec ondary" plant materials, which are of considerable interest to the phar macist, the nutrition technologist, the plant breeder, and the agriculturalist, as well as to the biologist, are treated sufficiently. It is ob vious that the wealth of material made an illustrative style of presentation necessary. The book is intended for beginners, and so it has had, in part, to be simplified. Even so it has not been possible to write it without mentioning hypotheses that anticipate much more research. The beginner ought also to learn how working hypotheses are first postulated on the basis of cer tain facts and then must either be proved or refuted.

Plant Metabolism was first published in 1990 under the title of 'Plant Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology'. This edition has been thoroughly revised, reorganised and updated, incorporating the latest developments in this exciting field. The text is divided into ten sections, each dealing with a particular aspect of plant metabolism. Section I deals with the fundamentals of the control of metabolism. This includes new chapters on protein synthesis and the molecular biology of plant development. Section II contains new chapters on the cell wall, structure, communication and defense. Sections III to IX cover all other major processes and pathways of plant metabolism and have been revised and updated to incorporate recent changes and advances in the field. The final section of the book contains new chapters on the manipulation of carbon allocation in plants and on the biochemical basis for plant improvement. Key Features: - Provides up to date information by authors who are actively engaged in research, so that each chapter presents the latest ideas in every area covered by the book- Plant biochemistry, molecular biology and physiology are integrated, rather than being pres