With the clear writing and accessible approach that have made it the authoritative introduction to the field of molecular photosynthesis, this fully revised and updated edition now offers students and researchers cutting-edge topical coverage of bioenergy applications and artificial photosynthesis; advances in biochemical and genetic methods; as well as new analytical techniques. Chapters cover the origins and evolution of photosynthesis; carbon metabolism; photosynthetic organisms and organelles; and the basic principles of photosynthetic energy storage. The book's website includes downloadable PowerPoint slides.

To address the environmental, socioeconomic, and geopolitical issues associated with increasing global human energy consumption, technologies for utilizing renewable carbon-free or carbon-neutral energy sources must be identified and developed. Among renewable sources, solar energy is quite promising as it alone is sufficient to meet global human demands well into the foreseeable future. However, it is diffuse and diurnal. Thus effective strategies must be developed for its capture, conversion and storage. In this context, photosynthesis provides a paradigm for large-scale deployment. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria and has evolved over 3 billion years. The process of photosynthesis currently produces more than 100 billion tons of dry biomass annually, which equates to a global energy storage rate of ~100 TW. Recently, detailed structural information on the natural photosynthetic systems has been acquired at the molecular level, providing a foundation for comprehensive functional studies of the photosynthetic process. Likewise, sophisticated spectroscopic techniques have revealed important mechanistic details. Such accomplishments have made it possible for scientists and engineers to construct artificial systems for solar energy transduction that are inspired by their biological counterparts. The book contains articles written by experts and world leaders in their respective fields and summarizes the exciting breakthroughs toward understanding the structures and mechanisms of the photosynthetic apparatus as well as efforts toward developing revolutionary new energy conversion technologies. The topics/chapters will be organized in terms of the natural sequence of events occurring in the process of photosynthesis, while keeping a higher-order organization of structure and mechanism as well as the notion that biology can inspire human technologies. For example, the topic of light harvesting, will be followed by charge separation at reaction centers, followed by charge stabilization, followed by chemical reactions, followed by protection mechanisms, followed by other more specialized topics and finally ending with artificial systems and looking forward. As shown in the table of contents (TOC), the book includes and integrates topics on the structures and mechanisms of photosynthesis, and provides relevant information on applications to bioenergy and solar energy transduction.

Recounting the compelling story of a scientific discovery that took more than a century to complete, this trail-blazing monograph focuses on methodological issues and is the first to delve into this subject. This book charts how the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of photosynthesis were teased out by succeeding generations of scientists, and the author highlights the reconstruction of the heuristics of modelling the mechanism—analyzed at both individual and collective levels. Photosynthesis makes for an instructive example. The first tentative ideas were developed by organic chemists around 1840, while by 1960 an elaborate proposal at a molecular level, for both light and dark reactions, was established. The latter is still assumed to be basically correct today. The author makes a persuasive case for a historically informed philosophy of science, especially regarding methodology, and advocates a history of science whose narrative deploys philosophical approaches and categories. She shows how scientists’ attempts to formulate, justify, modify, confirm or criticize their models are best interpreted as series of coordinated research actions, dependent on a network of super- and subordinated epistemic goals, and guided by recurrent heuristic strategies. With dedicated chapters on key figures such as Otto Warburg, who borrowed epistemic fundamentals from other disciplines to facilitate his own work on photosynthesis, and on more general topics relating to the development of the field after Warburg, this new work is both a philosophical reflection on the nature of scientific enquiry and a detailed history of the processes behind one of science’s most important discoveries.

Photosynthesis is a process on which virtually all life on Earth depends. To answer the basic questions at all levels of complexity, from molecules to ecosystems, and to establish correlations and interactions between these levels, photosynthesis research - perhaps more than any other discipline in biology - requires a multidisciplinary approach. Congresses probably provide the only forums where progress throughout the whole field can be overviewed. The Congress proceedings give faithful pictures of recent advances in photosynthesis research and outline trends and perspectives in all areas, ranging from molecular events to aspects of photosynthesis on the global scale. The Proceedings Book, a set of 4 (or 5) volumes, is traditionally highly recognized and intensely quoted in the literature, and is found on the shelves of most senior scientists in the field and in all major libraries.

Photosynthesis, Photorespiration, and Plant Productivity provides a basis for understanding the main factors concerned with regulating plant productivity in plant communities. The book describes photosynthesis and other processes that affect the productivity of plants from the standpoint of enzyme chemistry, chloroplasts, leaf cells, and single leaves. Comprised of nine chapters, the book covers the biochemical and photochemical aspects of photosynthesis; respiration associated with photosynthetic tissues; and photosynthesis and plant productivity in single leaves and in stands. It provides illustrated and diagrammatic discussion and presents the concepts in outlined form to help readers understand the concepts efficiently. Moreover, this book explores the rates of enzymatic reactions and the detailed structure and function of chloroplasts and other organelles and their variability. It explains the mechanism of photosynthetic electron transport and phosphorylation and the importance of diffusive resistances to carbon dioxide assimilation, especially the role of stomata. It also discusses the importance of dark respiration in diminishing productivity; the differences in net photosynthesis that occur between many species and varieties; and the influence of climate to photosynthetic reactions. The book is an excellent reference for teachers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in biology, plant physiology, and agriculture. Research professionals working on the disciplines of plant production and food supply will also find this book invaluable.

A thorough understanding of the mechanisms of photosynthesis, regulation of structure and function and the adaptive strategies of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms is central to any effort directed at improving crop productivity and providing sustainable agriculture. Photosynthesis is the most widely researched topic in plant science. Further probing of its mechanisms, regulation and adaptation, employing a variety of modern tools and techniques, is imperative to gain a better insight of this very intricate process. Unravelling the cause of stress impairments and stress tolerance in plants would help in ensuring the optimum production of food, fibres and fuels. Probing Photosynthesis represents the state-of-the-art on photosynthesis and provides details of experimental approaches that have been adopted to understand the complex regulatory and adaptive processes. Its twenty seven chapters have been divided into four sections: Evolution, structure and function; Biodiversity metabolism and regulation; Stress and adaptations; and Techniques. With contributions from leading subject experts from Australia, Canada, France, Germnay, India, Israel, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and USA, this comprehensive treatise shall interest researchers and students from all disciplines of plant science and provide a useful reference for courses in plant biochemistry, crop physiology, plant biotechnology and environmental botany.