Cytochrome c fulfills a central role in biological electron transport. This book draws together information from diverse disciplines in order to provide a common base for further research. The comprehensive treatment of this subject does not neglect to show the diversity of biological respirations and photosyntheses. But it also defines their unifying principles. This overview presents the evolutionary relatedness in bioenergetic systems. Such systems are discussed at the experimental level with emphasis on the interpretation of results and the methodological approaches used. No other text provides a broad survey of this central area of biology. Researchers on cytochrome c are presented with information on the impact and importance of other disciplines on their area of investigation. Advanced students gain a balanced account of biological electron transport and will be encouraged to seek new directions of research.

This volume is based on the proceedings of an International Symposium on "Cytochrome Systems: Molecular Biology and Bioenergetics" that was held at Selva di Fasano near Bari, Italy, between April 7 and 11,1987. It contains papers covering the subjects discussed at the Symposium, contributed both by participants of the meeting and by some invited speakers who were not able to attend. The aim of the Symposium was to bring together experts in various rese arch strategies currently being applied to the study of cytochrome systems, including molecular genetics, protein chemistry, enzymology of electron transfer and protonmotive activity in energy-transducing biological mem branes. Because of the high degree of complexity of cytochrome systems and the increasing sophistication in recent years of the different experimen tal approaches, there has been a growing specialization - sometimes even a tendency to "over-specialization" - among scientists working in this field. This in itself seemed to justify a meeting where representatives of various disciplines could exchange their results and discuss their conclusions. In addition, and perhaps even more importantly, it was felt that meetings of this kind provide an opportunity for a "cross-fertilization" of approaches and ideas among representatives of various fields of science. The present meeting proved to be an ample illustration of the success of such an inter action.

Frontiers of Biological Energetics, Volume II: Electrons to Tissues contains most of the papers presented at the International Symposium on "Frontiers of Biological Energetics: Electrons to Tissues," held at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 20-21, 1978. The symposium provided a forum for discussing the common problems of biological energetics from different perspectives and from various levels of cellular organization. Comprised of 84 chapters, this volume begins with a section on electrons and oxygen and covers topics ranging from the chemical constitutions and subunit function of cytochrome oxidase polypeptides to the structure and function of copper atoms in cytochrome oxidase. The next section deals with structural-functional approaches to membrane energetics and includes chapters that explore rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin in model membranes; the mechanism of free energy utilization for active transport of calcium ions; and the regulation of cytoplasmic calcium by liver mitochodria. The final section focuses on nondestructive measurements of tissue function, paying particular attention to phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance of diseased muscle and extracellular oxygen gradients in shock, among other topics. This book should be of interest to scientists from a variety of disciplines, including medicine and biology.

The goal of this book is to give a systematic description of the main principles of affinity modification and applications, consideration of possibilities, and restrictions of the method. Modification within specific complexes is a special case of chemical modification which is widely used in the nonaddressed version in biochemistry and related areas. Therefore, we have included in the first introductory paper chapter of the book general considerations of chemical modifications of biopolymers and the application of biopolymers.