Phylogenetic And Biochemical Perspectives

This new series on The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Fishes grew out of the demand for state-of-the-art review articles in a rapidly expanding field of research. Up to the present, most research literature on biochemistry involved rats and humans, but new breakthroughs in the piscine setting have indicated that the field is ready for a review series of its own. Because of funding and experimental availability restrictions, most research in the field has dealt with fish and insects. Within the insect field, comparative biochemistry and comparative physiology have proceeded along independent paths as opposed to the piscine field, where the tendency has been for the latter to envelop the former. This volume sets out to make comparative biochemistry and comparative physiology independent of each other within the piscine setting, another important rationale for this review series as well as detailing the phylogenetic evolution of fishes. The goal of the series is to provide researchers and students with an appropriate balance between experimental results and theoretical concepts.

A Biochemical Phylogeny of the Protists covers a wide variety of biochemical characters and their usefulness in phylogenetics. This book is composed of 13 chapters that describe the methods of deducing phylogenies of protists from biochemical data. Protists are morphologically simple forms of life, including bacteria, fungi, many algae, protozoa, and sponges. The first chapters deal with the biochemistry, evolution, and phylogenetics of the protists. The subsequent chapters explore the DNA and RNA structure and the protein and enzyme content of some protists. Considerable chapters describe the various metabolic pathways in the protists. The remaining chapters other biochemical processes, including sulfate reduction, nitrogen utilization, and carbon monoxide production. These chapters also provide a summary of numerous research studies biochemical phylogeny. This book will prove useful to biochemists, microbiologists, researchers, and students.

In 2016, it was 60 years since the eminent Soviet researcher, a disciple and a successor of Ivan Pavlov, Leon Orbeli had proclaimed the birth of a new branch of physiology, evolutionary physiology. In the same year, his ideas were embodied in the foundation in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, of the present Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This anniversary book includes the selected works carried out recently by his followers at the same institute. While addressing some hot aspects of evolutionary physiology and biochemistry, they demonstrate that this branch of physiology really represents a discipline in its own right.

Biological research and recent technological advances have resulted in an enormous increase in research data that require large storage capacities, powerful computing resources, and accurate data analysis algorithms. Bioinformatics is the field that provides these resources to life science researchers. The Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), which has celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2008, is an institution of national importance, recognized worldwide for its state-of-the-art work. Organized as a federation of bioinformatics research groups from Swiss universities and research institutes, the SIB provides services to the life science community that are highly appreciated worldwide, and coordinates research and education in bioinformatics nationwide. The SIB plays a central role in life science research both in Switzerland and abroad by developing extensive and high-quality bioinformatics resources that are essential for all life scientists. Knowledge developed by SIB members in areas such as genomics, proteomics, and systems biology is directly transformed by academia and industry into innovative solutions to improve global health. Such an astounding concentration of talent in a given field is unusual and unique in Switzerland. This book provides an insight into some of the key areas of activity in bioinformatics in Switzerland. With contributions from SIB members, it covers both research work and major infrastructure efforts in genome and gene expression analysis, investigations on proteins and proteomes, evolutionary bioinformatics, and modeling of biological systems.

"The merits of this work are many. A rigorous integration of phylogenetic hypotheses into studies of adaptation, adaptive radiation, and coevolution is absolutely necessary and can change dramatically our collective 'gestalt' about much in evolutionary biology. The authors advance and illustrate this thesis beautifully. The writing is often lucid, the examples are plentiful and diverse, and the juxtaposition of examples from different biological systems argues forcefully for the validity of the thesis. Many new insights are offered here, and the work is usually accessible to both the practiced phylogeneticist and the naive ecologist."—Joseph Travis, Florida State University "[Phylogeny, Ecology, and Behavior] presents its arguments forcefully and cogently, with ample . . .support. Brooks and McLennan conclude as they began, with the comment that evolution is a result, not a process, and that it is the result of an interaction of a variety of processes, environmental and historical. Evolutionary explanations must consider all these components, else they are incomplete. As Darwin's explanations of descent with modification integrated genealogical and ecological information, so must workers now incorporate historical and nonhistorical, and biological and nonbiological, processes in their evolutionary perspective."—Marvalee H. Wake, Bioscience "This book is well-written and thought-provoking, and should be read by those of us who do not routinely turn to phylogenetic analysis when investigating adaptation, evolutionary ecology and co-evolution."—Mark R. MacNair, Journal of Natural History

The Principles of Biology sequence (BI 211, 212 and 213) introduces biology as a scientific discipline for students planning to major in biology and other science disciplines. Laboratories and classroom activities introduce techniques used to study biological processes and provide opportunities for students to develop their ability to conduct research.