This book offers authoritative contributions by world experts actively working on different aspects of phototrophic prokaryotes. Providing up-to-date information in this rapidly advancing field, it covers the range of topics that are currently the focus of research with this group of organisms. As essentially single-celled organisms, phototrophic prokaryotes process many environmental signals and use this information to optimize their metabolism, growth rate, DNA replication and cell division. Phototrophic prokaryotes are collectively of great interest for a number of different fundamental and applied perspectives and have long served as models for understanding such basic fundamental biological processes as photosynthesis and respiration. On an ecological/environmental level they are extremely important, being the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on earth and responsible for the majority of the primary productivity in the oceans. They also hold great promise as biotechnological catalysts, being able to couple solar energy conversion through photosynthesis and carbon fixation to the production of biofuels, commodity chemicals and neutraceuticals. The book is recommended to advanced students and scientists dealing with life sciences, especially in genetics, microbiology and molecular biology.

Considers the features common to bacteria that need light to grow, focusing on those features important in nature and useful in industrial applications. Because the species are scattered across the taxonomic chart, they have little in common except the physiology of photosynthesis and ecological dis

The Prokaryotes is a comprehensive, multi-authored, peer reviewed reference work on Bacteria and Achaea. This fourth edition of The Prokaryotes is organized to cover all taxonomic diversity, using the family level to delineate chapters. Different from other resources, this new Springer product includes not only taxonomy, but also prokaryotic biology and technology of taxa in a broad context. Technological aspects highlight the usefulness of prokaryotes in processes and products, including biocontrol agents and as genetics tools. The content of the expanded fourth edition is divided into two parts: Part 1 contains review chapters dealing with the most important general concepts in molecular, applied and general prokaryote biology; Part 2 describes the known properties of specific taxonomic groups. Two completely new sections have been added to Part 1: bacterial communities and human bacteriology. The bacterial communities section reflects the growing realization that studies on pure cultures of bacteria have led to an incomplete picture of the microbial world for two fundamental reasons: the vast majority of bacteria in soil, water and associated with biological tissues are currently not culturable, and that an understanding of microbial ecology requires knowledge on how different bacterial species interact with each other in their natural environment. The new section on human microbiology deals with bacteria associated with healthy humans and bacterial pathogenesis. Each of the major human diseases caused by bacteria is reviewed, from identifying the pathogens by classical clinical and non-culturing techniques to the biochemical mechanisms of the disease process. The 4th edition of The Prokaryotes is the most complete resource on the biology of prokaryotes. The following volumes are published consecutively within the 4th Edition: Prokaryotic Biology and Symbiotic Associations Prokaryotic Communities and Ecophysiology Prokaryotic Physiology and Biochemistry Applied Bacteriology and Biotechnology Human Microbiology Actinobacteria Firmicutes Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria Gammaproteobacteria Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria Other Major Lineages of Bacteria and the Archaea

Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium held in Vienna, Austria, September 6-12, 1997

The newly revised and updated third edition of the bestselling book on microbial ecology in the oceans The third edition of Microbial Ecology of the Oceans features new topics, as well as different approaches to subjects dealt with in previous editions. The book starts out with a general introduction to the changes in the field, as well as looking at the prospects for the coming years. Chapters cover ecology, diversity, and function of microbes, and of microbial genes in the ocean. The biology and ecology of some model organisms, and how we can model the whole of the marine microbes, are dealt with, and some of the trophic roles that have changed in the last years are discussed. Finally, the role of microbes in the oceanic P cycle are presented. Microbial Ecology of the Oceans, Third Edition offers chapters on The Evolution of Microbial Ecology of the Ocean; Marine Microbial Diversity as Seen by High Throughput Sequencing; Ecological Significance of Microbial Trophic Mixing in the Oligotrophic Ocean; Metatranscritomics and Metaproteomics; Advances in Microbial Ecology from Model Marine Bacteria; Marine Microbes and Nonliving Organic Matter; Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry of Oxygen-Deficient Water Columns; The Ocean’s Microscale; Ecological Genomics of Marine Viruses; Microbial Physiological Ecology of The Marine Phosphorus Cycle; Phytoplankton Functional Types; and more. A new and updated edition of a key book in aquatic microbial ecology Includes widely used methodological approaches Fully describes the structure of the microbial ecosystem, discussing in particular the sources of carbon for microbial growth Offers theoretical interpretations of subtropical plankton biogeography Microbial Ecology of the Oceans is an ideal text for advanced undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and colleagues from other fields wishing to learn about microbes and the processes they mediate in marine systems.

Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria is a comprehensive volume describing all aspects of non-oxygen-evolving photosynthetic bacteria. The 62 chapters are organized into themes of: Taxonomy, physiology and ecology; Molecular structure of pigments and cofactors; Membrane and cell wall structure: Antenna structure and function; Reaction center structure and electron/proton pathways; Cyclic electron transfer; Metabolic processes; Genetics; Regulation of gene expression, and applications. The chapters have all been written by leading experts and present in detail the current understanding of these versatile microorganisms. The book is intended for use by advanced undergraduate and graduate students and senior researchers in the areas of microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, biophysics and biotechnology.

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