Four years ago The Blue Light Syndrome was published as the Proceed ings of the 1 st International Conference on the Effect of Blue Light in Plants and Microorganisms. Subsequently the interest in this fascinating and growing field of re search has further increased, as is reflected by numerous publications. Blue light effects cover such a wide spectrum of organisms, responses and methods that communication among scientists with backgrounds in biology, biochemistry, and biophysics is particularly necessary. These facts not only justified, but demanded calling the "Blue Light Family" together again. In spite of many fmancial problems, the second confer ence attracted 113 active members from 19 countries. The 2nd International Conference on The Effect of Blue Light in Plants and Microorganisms was held in July 1984, like the first at the University of Marburg. The organizer could again rely on the help of the International Advisory Committee (W. Briggs, Stanford; M. Furuya, Tokyo; J. Gressel, Rehovot; S. Miyachi, Tokyo; W. Rau, Miinchen; J. Schiff, Waltham; P .-S. Song, Lubbock). The very generous financial as sistance from the DFG and the support of the Philipps-Universitat Mar burg and its Sonderforschungsbereich "Zellenergetik and Zelldifferen zierung" were the prerequisites to organizing the conference. The present book consists of 56 original papers. The partitioning into eight chapters is always a problem. The grouping of different aspects of the papers into these chapters has not always been obvious, so that one or the other contribution could possibly fit in another chapter.

Investigations on the specific effects of blue light on plants began some fifty years ago. In re cent years the growing awareness of blue-light-in duced phenomena in plants, microorganisms, and animals has accelerat ed and expanded this research into an ever-increasing variety of blue light effects in biological systems. In 1977, J .A. Schiff and W .R. Briggs proposed a specific meeting to present and summarize the various blue-light effects and to discuss their mechanisms and possible photoreceptors. In view of the variety of re sponses and the range of organisms affected by blue light the term Blue Light Syndrome seemed to be the only appropriate one for the meeting. With the help of the International Advisory Committee (W.R. Briggs, Stanford; J. Gressel, Rehovot; W. Kowallik, Bielefeld; S. Miyachi, To kyo; W. Rau, Munich, and J.A. Schiff, Waltham), and the very generous financial support provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft as well as by the Bundesministerium fur Forschung und Technologie, the Kultusminister des Landes Hessen, and the Philipps-Universitat Marburg, the "International Conference on the Effect of Blue Light in Plants and Microorganisms" was held in July 1979 in the Philipps-Universitat Mar burg."

This book is based on the lectures given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Sensory Perception and Transduction in Aneural Organisms" held in Volterra (Pisa. Italy) from the third to the fourteenth of September. 1984. The Advanced Study Institute was planned as a high level course dealing with several aspects and problems of sensory perception and transduction of diverse environmental stimuli in aneural organisms. Scientists from different fields and cultural backgrounds were present at the meeting. both as lecturers and as students. The lectures and the discussions that followed represented a well integrated interdisci plinary approach to the questions considered. At the end of the Advanced Study Institute course. it was quite clear that. notwith standing the apparent heterogeneity of the topics dealt with. unifying concepts and ideas already existed, among the most important being the role of membranes and their physicochemical properties. All this should be reflected in the content of this book. We gratefully acknowledge the financial sponsorship of the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO (Brussels), that made both the Advanced Study Institute on "Sensory Perception and Transduction in Aneural Organisms" and this book possible. Finally. we are also indebted to Ms. Pat Parham Morgan who expertly retyped all the chapters of the book and Ms. Leslie Schmidt of Plenum Publishing Co. provided us valuable advice and suggestions on the preparation of this book. G. Colombetti F. Lenci P. S.

Photobiology is an interdisciplinary science which has undergone a dramatic development in the past few years. This comprehensive new textbook brings together all the information required by workers and students in the field, from the atomic to the organismal level. The initial chapters comprise a comprehensive introduction to the terminology and include a detailed description of the photochemical reactions involved. The main part of the book covers all the classical photochemical topics and whilst not trying to be encyclopedic in coverage, does present numerous relevant examples. By bringing together the wide breadth of knowledge involved in the understanding of photobiology, this book will be of immense use to all those involved.

The goals of the science of photobiology can be divided into four categories: to develop (I) ways to optimize the beneficial effects of light on man and his environment, (2) methods to protect organisms, including man, from the detrimental effects of light, (3) photochemical tools for use in studies of life processes, and (4) photochemical therapies in medicine. To achieve these goals will require the knowledgeable collaboration of biologists, chemists, engineers, mathematicians, physicians, and physicists; because photobiology is a truly multidisciplinary science. While a multidis ciplinary science is more intellectually demanding, it also has a greater potential for unexpected breakthroughs that can occur when data from several areas of science are integrated into new concepts for theoretical or practical use. Photochemical and Photobiological Reviews continues to provide in depth coverage of the many specialty areas of photobiology. It is hoped that these reviews will provide an important service to the younger scientists in the field and to senior scientists in related fields, because they provide a ready access to the recent literature in the field, and more importantly, they frequently offer a critical evaluation of the direction that the field is taking, or suggest a redirection when appropriate. Since it is important that this review series remain responsive to the needs of photochemists and photobiologists, the Editor would value com ments and suggestions from its readers.