The Fourth Edition of Microbial Physiology retains the logical, easy-to-follow organization of the previous editions. An introduction to cell structure and synthesis of cell components is provided, followed by detailed discussions of genetics, metabolism, growth, and regulation for anyone wishing to understand the mechanisms underlying cell survival and growth. This comprehensive reference approaches the subject from a modern molecular genetic perspective, incorporating new insights gained from various genome projects.

Advances in Microbial Physiology

Recent determination of genome sequences for a wide range of bacteria has made in-depth knowledge of prokaryotic metabolic function essential in order to give biochemical, physiological, and ecological meaning to the genomic information. Clearly describing the important metabolic processes that occur in prokaryotes under different conditions and in different environments, this advanced text provides an overview of the key cellular processes that determine bacterial roles in the environment, biotechnology, and human health. Prokaryotic structure is described as well as the means by which nutrients are transported into cells across membranes. Glucose metabolism through glycolysis and the TCA cycle are discussed, as well as other trophic variations found in prokaryotes, including the use of organic compounds, anaerobic fermentation, anaerobic respiratory processes, and photosynthesis. The regulation of metabolism through control of gene expression and control of the activity of enzymes is also covered, as well as survival mechanisms used under starvation conditions.

The rapid growth in biotechnology in recent years has led to an upsurge in interest in microbial technology amongst many biochemists, molecular biologists, geneticists, virologists, endocrinologists, and clinicians. Their objectives may be very diverse, ranging from the isolation of a stableenzyme from a hyperthermophile to the expression of a human protein by a recombinant yeasts or bacterium. Advance in microbial physiology have made possible a rational approach to optimization of product yield based on analysis of cultures, growth kinetics, and biochemical pathways. The applicationof statistical optimization methods, widely used in other fields, also has much to offer microbiology and biotechnology. The choice of material for this book has been influenced by both the need for practical information to enable to the isolation, handling, and culture of organisms and thenecessity to generate and analyse data enabling the development of a process. It therefore contains chapters covering the 'husbandry' of microbiology, the generation of data by chemical and physical analysis, and the interpretation of such data. Data interpretation is considered from two points ofview. Kinetic analyses of growth and product formation have frequently illuminated the development of fermentation processes. More recently, the analysis of the flux of metabolites through intermediate biochemical pathways has shown up important factors in metabolic engineering through theapplication of molecular biology techniques in microbial physiology. Applied Microbial Culture: A Practical Approach is a useful resource and guide to the successful culture of microorganisms in pure form, optimizing the culture conditions, and the scaling-up process to enable more detailedstudy.

AN INTRODUCTION TO MICROBIAL WORLD PROKARYOTIC CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS METABOLISM BIOENERGETICS NUTRITIONAL TYPES OF MICRO ORGANISMS MICROBIAL GROWTH INFLUENCE OF ENVIROMENTAL FACTORS ON GROWTH BACTERIAL ENZYMESGLYCOLYSIS OR EMBDEN–MEYER PATH WAY CITRIC ACID CYCLE, TRICARBOXYLICACID CYCLE OR KREB’S CYCLEHEXOSE MONO PHOSPHATE PATHWAY (HMP SHUNT)CARBOHYDRATE BIOSYNTHESIS PHOTOSYNTHESIS CARBON DIOXIDE FIXATION OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION AND ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN BIOLUMINESCENCEPASTEUR EFFECT AMINO ACID BIOSYNTHESIS PROTEIN SYNTHESIS OR TRANSLATION BIOSYNTHESIS OF MACROMOLECULESLIPID METABOLISM ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION TRANSPORT MECHANISM IN MICROBESNITROGEN CYCLE ASSIMILATION OF NITROGEN AND SULPHUR NITROGEN FIXATION FERMENTATION REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF FUNGI AND BACTERIA APPENDIX

Extensive and up-to-date review of key metabolic processes in bacteria and archaea and how metabolism is regulated under various conditions.

Microbial physiology, biochemistry and genetics allowed the formulation of concepts that turned out to be important in the study of higher organisms. In the first section, the principles of bacterial growth are given, as well as the description of the different layers that enclose the bacterial cytoplasm, and their role in obtaining nutrients from the outside media through different permeability mechanism described in detail. A chapter is devoted to allostery and is indispensable for the comprehension of many regulatory mechanisms described throughout the book. Another section analyses the mechanisms by which cells obtain the energy necessary for their growth, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the tricarboxylic and the anaplerotic cycles. Two chapters are devoted to classes of microorganisms rarely dealt with in textbooks, namely the Archaea, mainly the methanogenic bacteria, and the methylotrophs. Eight chapters describe the principles of the regulations at the transcriptional level, with the necessary knowledge of the machineries of transcription and translation. The next fifteen chapters deal with the biosynthesis of the cell building blocks, amino acids, purine and pyrimidine nucleotides and deoxynucleotides, water-soluble vitamins and coenzymes, isoprene and tetrapyrrole derivatives and vitamin B12. The two last chapters are devoted to the study of protein-DNA interactions and to the evolution of biosynthetic pathways. The considerable advances made in the last thirty years in the field by the introduction of gene cloning and sequencing and by the exponential development of physical methods such as X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance have helped presenting metabolism under a multidisciplinary attractive angle.