Transcriptome Profiling: Progress and Prospects assists readers in assessing and interpreting a large number of genes, up to and including an entire genome. It provides key insights into the latest tools and techniques used in transcriptomics and its relevant topics which can reveal a global snapshot of the complete RNA component of a cell at a given time. This snapshot, in turn, enables the distinction between different cell types, different disease states, and different time points during development. Transcriptome analysis has been a key area of biological inquiry for decades. The next-generation sequencing technologies have revolutionized transcriptomics by providing opportunities for multidimensional examinations of cellular transcriptomes in which high-throughput expression data are obtained at a single-base resolution. Transcriptome analysis has evolved from the detection of single RNA molecules to large-scale gene expression profiling and genome annotation initiatives. Written by a team of global experts, key topics in Transcriptome Profiling include transcriptome characterization, expression analysis of transcripts, transcriptome and gene regulation, transcriptome profiling and human health, medicinal plants transcriptomics, transcriptomics and genetic engineering, transcriptomics in agriculture, and phylotranscriptomics.
Photosynthesis in Action examines the molecular mechanisms, adaptations and improvements of photosynthesis. With a strong focus on the latest research and advances, the book also analyzes the impact the process has on the biosphere and the effect of global climate change. Fundamental topics such as harvesting light, the transport of electronics and fixing carbon are discussed. The book also reviews the latest research on how abiotic stresses affect these key processes as well as how to improve each of them. This title explains how the process is flexible in adaptations and how it can be engineered to be made more effective. End users will be able to see the significance and potential of the processes of photosynthesis. Edited by renowned experts with leading contributors, this is an essential read for students and researchers interested in photosynthesis, plant science, plant physiology and climate change.
Artificial Photosynthesis, the latest edition in the Advances in Botanical Research series, which publishes in-depth and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of topics in the plant sciences features several reviews by recognized experts on all aspects of plant genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, physiology, and ecology.
There is very little in this eleventh volume of Topics in Photosynthesis which could have been written when the first volume was published fifteen years ago. Advances over the last decade have been spectacular, most particularly in our understanding of the photosystems that is the subject of this volume. After a comparative introducution of bacterial and plant photosystems, the book begins with a consideration of what is theoretically possible in energy conversion. This is followed by light harvesting in photosystems II, followed by its molecular biology, protein engineering, thermoluminescence, photoinhibition, the effect of herbicides and heat shock, and, most important function of all and one about which so little is yet understood at the molecular level, the process by which it evolves oxygen. The last three chapters deal with the equivalent processes of photosystem I. The whole volume tells the story of a natural system of incredible ingenuity and complexity, but which as the chapters unfold, is seen to be within our grasp and eventual ability to comprehend.
The availability of the photosynthetic reaction center's structure at an atomic resolution of less than three angstroms has revolutionized research. This protein is the first integral membrane protein whose structure has been determined with such precision. Each volume of the Photosynthetic Reaction Center contains original research, methods, and reviews. Together, these volumes cover our current understanding of how photosynthesis converts light energy into stored chemical energy.Volume II details the electron transfer process; it is oriented to the physical aspects of photosynthesis. It thus primarily discusses bacterial photosynthesis and model compounds. Volume II features the very complex and rapidly evolving issues associated with the theory of electron transfer in the bacterial reaction center, and explores picosecond and femtosecond spectroscopy. This volume also covers holeburning spectroscopy; primary events of bacterial photosynthesis with emphasis on the application of large, external electric fields designed to manipulate and probe mechanisms of the initial chemistry; the role of accessory carotenoid pigments; the techniques of infrared spectroscopy and magnetic resonance as applied to photosynthesis; and the interplay between natural and artificial photosynthesis.
Since photosynthetic performance is a fundamental determinant of yield in the vast majority of crops, an understanding of the factors limiting photosynthetic productivity has a crucial role to play in crop improvement programmes.Photosynthesis, unlike the majority of physiological processes in plants, has been the subject of extensive studies at the molecular level for many years. This reductionist approach has resulted in the development of an impressive and detailed understanding of the mechanisms of light capture, energy transduction and carbohydrate biosynthesis, processes that are clearly central to the success of the plant and the productivity of crops.This volume examines in the widest context the factors determining the photosynthetic performance of crops. The emphasis throughout the book is on the setting for photosynthesis rather than the fundamental process itself.The book will prove useful to a wide range of plant scientists, and will encourage a more rapid integration of disciplines in the quest to understand and improve the productivity of crops by the procedures of classical breeding and genetic manipulation.
The new edition of Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology uses elementary chemistry, physics, and mathematics to explain and develop key concepts in plant physiology. In fundamental ways, all physiological processes that occur in cells, tissues, organs, and organisms obey such relations. Topics include diffusion, membranes, water relations, ion transport, photochemistry, bioenergetics of energy conversion, photosynthesis, environmental influences on plant temperature, and gas exchange for leaves and whole plants. This new edition maintains the unparalleled commitment to clear presentation and improves upon the user friendliness of the previous versions.
Rice yields need to increase in order to keep pace with the growing population of Asia and to alleviate hunger and poverty. There appears, however, to be a biophysical limit associated with conventional photosynthetic pathways. The research presented in this book aims at understanding how the rice plant's photosynthetic pathway could be redesigned to overcome current yield limits. The factors controlling yield are discussed from the agronomic to the molecular level. Prospects for improving rice photosynthesis include using genetic engineering to convert rice into a C4 plant.The various chapters in this book deal with photosynthesis; a comparison of C3 and C4 pathways; genes physiology and function, and also discuss this in the broader context of economic consequences of yield improvements for poverty, the molecular genetics of photosynthesis, and ecophysiological and evolutionary perspectives of photosynthesis in wetlands.Researchers on rice, photosynthesis, agronomy, genetic engineering, and food policy will find much of interest in this book.
The twentieth volume in the series offers articles of interest to a broad range of plant scientists. These vary from consideration of the relationship between vegetation and climate to the biochemistry and uses of commonly used plant metabolites. Woodward and Smith discuss the development of dynamic and mechanistic models to overcome some of the limitations of current, essentially static, approaches to the effect of climate change on natural vegetation and crops.The chapter by Ratcliffe studies the use made of various NMR techniques in the study of physiological and other problems in plants. Van den Ende's article deals with the use of Chlamydomonas, a typical unicellular algal system, for the study of organelle development and the controlling mechanisms involved, in both its vegetative cell cycle and in gametogenesis.The natural roles and basic biochemistry of commonly used plant metabolites are often almost completely misunderstood. The last chapter by Pierpoint looks at an example of these, the salicylates, which are of great importance in medical research and for their medicinal value. Following a summary of the historical background to their study and use, the author considers recent progress towards understanding their biosynthesis and natural roles in the context of their better-understood pharmacological actions in animals.