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Elsevier

Books in Agricultural and biological sciences

The Agricultural and Biological Sciences collection advances science-based knowledge for the improvement of animal and plant life and for secure food systems that produce nutritious, novel, sustainable foods with minimal environmental impact. Food Science titles include not only those products from agriculture but all other aspects from food production to nutrition, health and safety, chemistry to security, policy, law and regulation. Biological Sciences address animal behaviour and biodiversity, organismal and evolutionary biology, entomology, marine biology and aquaculture, plant science and forestry.

  • Light Transducing Membranes

    Structure, Function, and Evolution
    • 1st Edition
    • David Deamer
    • English
    Light Transducing Membranes: Structure, Function, and Evolution covers the proceedings of a joint United States-Australia conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 1977. Organized into four parts encompassing 19 chapters, the book focuses on structural, functional, and evolutionary aspects of light energy transduction by membranes. The first part of the book explores the problems of how membrane-related biomolecules could have evolved prior to the origin of life, how amphiphiles might have become organized in lipid bilayer structures, and what mechanisms may have been available for light energy transduction. The mechanisms by which ions, lipids, and proteins interact in membrane systems are described in the next part of the book. Some chapters in the third part of the book cover the analysis of several bacterial membranes as reconstituted, light transducing systems, providing a new tool for investigating basic mechanisms. Relevant aspects of mitochondrial energy transduction are also covered. Finally, the last part presents mechanism analysis by which intact bacteria and chloroplasts interact with light energy, which represent the end product of several billion of years of evolution. Biological evolutionists, biologists, researchers, teachers, and students who are interested in various aspects of light transducing membranes will greatly benefit from this book.

  • Isozymes in Plant Genetics and Breeding

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1B
    • English
    Developments in Plant Genetics and Breeding, 1: Isozymes in Plant Genetics and Breeding, Part B focuses on the advancements in the processes, methodologies, principles, and approaches involved in the study of isozymes, including its role in plant genetics and breeding. The selection first offers information on maize, hexaploid wheat, and barley. Topics include polymorphism, linkage relations, esterases, evolutionary and crop improvement studies, special applications to genetics and breeding, alcohol dehydrogenase, amylase, catalase, and catechol oxidase. The text then examines Secale and triticale, oats, rice, and tomato. The publication takes a look at potato, peppers, and tobacco. Topics include biochemical characterization of isozymes, isozymes in cell and tissue cultures, glutamate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and xanthine dehydrogenase, potato as a source of enzymes, and data for esterases in basic gels. The manuscript also tackles conifers, eucalyptus, fruit trees, cucurbits, and cole crops. The selection is a valuable reference for researchers interested in the role of isozymes in plant genetics and breeding.

  • The Reproduction of Vertebrates

    • 1st Edition
    • Richard Sadleir
    • English
    The Reproduction of Vertebrates describes the vertebrate reproductive systems in an evolutionary sequence and according to taxonomic classes. This book is divided into seven chapters; each chapter tackles a specific vertebrate class. This text specifically considers fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and man. Discussions in each chapter include these species’ evolutionary history, classification, external indications of sex, mating, fertilization, development, endocrinology, breeding seasons, sexual maturation, migration, response to environmental factors, and economic importance. The concluding chapter presents the comparative aspects of reproduction of these vertebrates. This text is of great value to teachers and students who are interested in the vertebrate reproductive system.

  • Premature Chromosome Condensation

    Application in Basic, Clinical, and Mutation Research
    • 1st Edition
    • P.N. Rao
    • English
    Premature Chromosome Condensation: Application in Basic, Clinical, and Mutation Research emerged from a workshop supported by the International Union against Cancer that reviewed the status of research on premature chromosome condensation and explored future possibilities, not least in relation to cancer. The workshop was held at the Institut für Humangenetik, Freie Universität Berlin, on September 6, 1980. The book begins with a review of the process of premature chromosome condensation. This is followed by separate chapters on the functional and morphological aspects of premature chromosome condensation; the behavior of prematurely condensed chromosomes (PCC) during mitosis in binucleate and multinucleate cells; chromosomes from spermatogenic cells; and micronucleus-derived PCC. Subsequent chapters discuss the application of banding techniques to the study of PCC; the factors involved in the condensation of interphase chromatin into chromosomes; and the induction of premature chromosome condensation in somatic plant cells. This book will be helpful to readers working in basic and applied research or in teaching. These include cytogeneticists, cell biologists, biochemists, and investigators in the field of mutation research.

  • Chromosomal Proteins And Their Role In The Regulation Of Gene Expression

    • 1st Edition
    • Gary Stein
    • English
    Chromosomal Proteins and Their Role in the Regulation of Gene Expression examines how chromosomal proteins take part in the regulation of gene expression. This book also looks at the variety of approaches that are used in studying the structural and functional properties of chromosomal proteins, particularly as they relate to the control of transcription. This text is organized into 15 chapters and begins by analyzing the regulation of histone gene expression during the cell cycle and the role of non-histone chromosomal proteins in such regulation. The following chapters focus on the in vitro transcription of the globin gene in mouse fetal liver chromatin; the involvement of non-histone proteins in both positive and negative controls of gene activity; and the role of phosphorylated proteins as regulators of gene activity. The discussion then shifts to the phosphorylation state of non-histone proteins and its correlation with gene transcription; changes in nuclear proteins during embryonic development and cellular differentiation; and the manner by which histones are deposited onto replicating chromosomes. This book also explains the histone methylation, specific phosphorylation sites in lysine rich (H1) histone, and the separation and characterization of nuclear non-histone proteins by means of DNA columns. This book is of interest to advanced undergraduate students, as well as to graduate students and researchers in genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbiology.

  • Breastfeeding and Food Policy in a Hungry World

    • 1st Edition
    • Dana Raphael
    • English
    Breastfeeding and Food Policy in a Hungry World documents the proceedings of the International Conference on Human Lactation held by the New York Academy of Sciences in March 1977. The contributions made by researchers at the conference are organized into five sections. Section One presents studies on the family contexts of breastfeeding and social myths and economic realities of breastfeeding. Section Two examines cultural factors in infant feeding practices, including breastfeeding practices of women in India, Nigeria, and China. Section Three deals with the economic and commercial aspects of infant weaning foods. It includes studies on economics of food aid programs; the difficult problems involved in developing a dairy industry in warm climates; and the effects on breastfeeding of the present political climate. Section Four presents studies on physiological, psychological, public health, and political considerations in human lactation. Section Five describes several programs designed to improve the health of children. These include nonformal education to help women help themselves and their families, and food subsidies and decentralization of service to improve the health of poor people.

  • The Fine Structure of Algal Cells

    • 1st Edition
    • John D. Dodge
    • English
    The Fine Structure of Algal Cells is a hybrid between a review and a comprehensive descriptive work on fine structure of algae. Such fine structural data are important for any consideration of the classification of algae and for attempting to analyze their phylogenetic relationships. ”Fine-structure” has provided many vital keys to the understanding of the interrelationships and phylogeny of the algae. Notably, the trend in algal fine structure work is toward use of electron microscopy to try to understand the functions of cells and organelles under both normal and experimental conditions. This book brings together information which has been gathered by electron microscopists. It considers 13 classes of algae: Chlorophyceae, Haptophyceae, Prasinophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Chloromonadophyceae, Phaeophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Dinophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae, Cryptophyceae, Xanthophyceae, Rhodophyceae, and Chrysophyceae. It covers the main structural features of the various classes and the organelles present in typical cells. The book also describes the algal cell covering, flagella, pyrenoid, eyespot, nucleus, and ejectile organelles,as well as membranes, envelope, and stroma of algal chloroplasts. Lastly, it also explains the algal cell division. This book will help students visualize and compare algal structure, and at the same time provide enough references so that research workers can enter the literature to find out more precise details from the original sources.

  • Cycling of Mineral Nutrients in Agricultural Ecosystems

    • 1st Edition
    • M Frissel
    • English
    Cycling of Mineral Nutrients in Agricultural Ecosystems contains the papers presented in the first international environmental symposium of the Royal Netherlands Land Development Society held at Amsterdam on 1976. The symposium is cosponsored by the International Association for Ecology and Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. This compilation reflects the exchange of information and ideas by specialists and participants of the symposium. The book is comprised of nine chapters, which cover the following concepts of nutrient cycling in agricultural ecosystems: principles and control of nutrient cycling; description and classification of agro-ecosystems; nutrient cycling data from different countries; and general discussion on nutrient balances, changes in soil pools, manipulations, and future researches. This book also offers potential background and perspectives for further studies on nutrient cycling in agro-ecosystems, presenting a view on what directions future research should take. This volume will be an invaluable reference source for environmental science students and professionals. Research workers in agriculture and other environmental disciplines will also find this book useful.

  • The Cereal Rusts

    Origins, Specificity, Structure, and Physiology
    • 1st Edition
    • William Bushnell
    • English
    The Cereal Rusts, Volume I: Origins, Specificity, Structure, and Physiology presents the historical, evolutionary, taxonomic, structural, genetic, and physiological characteristics of cereal rust fungi and the diseases they cause in cereal crops. The cereal rusts are potentially serious disease threats to cereal crops and have caused widespread losses in wheat, oats, barley, and related crops. This three-part volume brings together in a single reference source the accumulated knowledge, complex, challenging science of cereal rusts. The first chapters of this 16-chapter volume cover the pioneering contributions of early scientists to the knowledge of cereal rusts, the evolution of cereal rusts, and the taxonomy of cereal rust fungi. The book also examines the specificity of cereal rusts including formae speciales, race specificity, pathogen-host genetics, histology and molecular biology of host parasite specificity, and the genetics of rust fungus populations as reflected by virulence frequency. The text further discusses the structure and physiology aspects; the germination of urediospores and differentiation of infection structures; and the infection under artificial conditions. The ultrastructure of hyphae and urediospores; the development and physiology of teliospores; and the obligate parasitism and axenic culture of rust fungi are also explained. This volume also encompasses the structure and physiology of haustoria; structural and physiological alterations in susceptible hosts; and effects of rust on plant development in relation to nutrient translocation. Cereal rust investigators, plant pathologists, agronomists, agriculturalists, research biochemists, cytologists, geneticists, physiologists, taxonomists, epidemiologists, and pathologists will find this book invaluable.

  • Nutrition and Immunity

    • 1st Edition
    • M Gershwin
    • English
    Nutrition and Immunity discusses the interaction between nutrition, immune function, and immunity, based on empirical and epidemiologic point of view. It is organized into 14 chapters that focus on experimental studies on laboratory animals, including animal models to isolate specific factors in the interaction between nutrition and immunity. The book starts with an introduction to the potential impact of nutritional factors on immune responsiveness. Two chapters deal with the evaluation of immune function and nutritional assessment. Other chapters present classic observations on malnutrition and infectious disease, involving field studies as well as studies on the effect of nutritional factors on immune ontogeny. The following chapters examine issues related to caloric intake, proteins, minerals, vitamins, lipids, breast milk, and alcohol, as well as their effects in immune function and immunity. The book’s final chapters cover future directions and the potential role of nutritional modulation in immune dysfunction. Each chapter is meant to be an authoritative review presenting the state of the art as well as providing key illustrations from classic papers in a given field. Nutritionists, immunologists, scientists, and researchers will find this book very helpful in expanding their knowledge in the interrelationship between nutrition and immunity.

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