The Blue-Green Algae attempts to assemble a unified picture of blue-green algae as living organisms. It describes the organism's general features of form and structure, cellular organization, cell biology, gas vacuoles, and movements. The book addresses the culture, nutrition, growth, photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, heterotrophy, respiration, nitrogen metabolism, differentiation, reproduction, and life cycles of the blue-green algae. The organisms' freshwater and terrestrial ecology, pathogens, symbiosis, evolution, and phylogeny are also explained. These organisms form a substantial fraction of the biomass in several important types of habitat. Consequently, it is desirable to understand their activities if natural resources are to be conserved and used to best advantage. This book will be useful to students and research workers in this field of interest.

Cyanobacteria make a major contribution to world photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, but are also notorious for causing nuisances such as dense and often toxic `blooms' in lakes and the ocean. The Ecology of Cyanobacteria: Their Diversity in Time and Space is the first book to focus solely on ecological aspects of these organisms. Its twenty-two chapters are written by some thirty authors, who are leading experts in their particular subject. The book begins with an overview of the cyanobacteria - or blue-green algae, for those who are not specialists - then looks at their diversity in the geological record and goes on to describe their ecology in present environments where they play important roles. Why is one of the key groups of organisms in the Precambrian still one of the most important groups of phototrophs today? The importance of ecological information for rational management and exploitation of these organisms for commercial and other practical purposes is also assessed. Accounts are provided of nuisances as well as the ecology of the commercially successful Spirulina and the role of cyanobacteria in ecosystem recovery from oil pollution. Many chapters include aspects of physiology, biochemistry, geochemistry and molecular biology where these help general understanding of the subject. In addition there are three chapters dealing specifically with molecular ecology. Thirty-two pages of colour photos incorporate about seventy views and light micrographs. These features make the book valuable to a wide readership, including biologists, microbiologists, geologists, water managers and environmental consultants. The book complements the highly successful The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria already published by Kluwer.

Owing to their importance as primary producers of energy and nutrition, algae and cyanobacteria are found as symbiotic partners across diverse lineages of prokaryotic and eukaryotic kingdoms.Algal and Cyanobacteria Symbioses presents a compilation of recent, updated research in fields of diverse symbioses, including in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats. It gives a comprehensive overview of algal and cyanobacteria symbioses, including reviews on their diversity and information on symbiotic specificity and stress tolerance. Also covered is a review of regulatory mechanisms in the communication between symbiotic partners.The highly interdisciplinary character of this book is demonstrated through the range of algae and cyanobacteria as energy-providing symbionts in organismal lineages which are discussed. It is a valuable source of knowledge for researchers, university lecturers, professors and students of biology and life sciences, specifically biochemistry, mycology, cell biology and plant-microbe interactions.