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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.

  • Microbial Technology

    Microbial Processes
    • 2nd Edition
    • D. Perlman
    • English
    Microbial Technology: Microbial Processes, Volume 1, describes the production and uses of economic bacteria, yeast, molds, and viruses, and reviews the technologies associated with products of microbial metabolism. It is part of a two-volume set that emerged from a worldwide survey of industrial microbiology and its contributions to agriculture, industry, medicine, and environmental control. The book contains 17 chapters that cover the development of bioinsecticides and the large-scale bioprocessing of concentrated lactic acid bacteria with emphasis on the commercial use of the resulting culture. It includes discussions of the production of single-cell protein for use in food or feed; production of yeasts and yeast products; production of butanol-acetone by fermentation; microbial production of amino acids; microbial production of antibiotics; production of microbial enzymes; microbial production of nucleosides; and production of organic acids by fermentation nucleotides. The remaining chapters cover plant cell suspension cultures and their biosynthetic potential; polysaccharides; microbial transformation of steroids and sterols; the production of vitamin B12; microbial process for riboflavin production; and the production of carotenoids.
  • The Biology of Amoeba

    • 1st Edition
    • Kwang Jeon
    • English
    The Biology of Amoeba discusses the general biology, morphology, movement and related phenomena, and biochemical and physiological studies of amoeba. This book is organized into five parts, encompassing 21 chapters that primarily focus on large free-living amoeba. After briefly discussing the highlights of studies involving amoeba, the book goes on describing the biological aspects of amoeba, including its taxonomy, phylogeny, culture, and maintaining methods. The second part describes the general morphology, ultrastructure, and cellular membrane of amoeba. The third part includes discussions on the movement of Chaos-Amoeba group; the amoeboid behavioral and motile responses; the molecular mechanism of amoeboid movement and cytoplasmic streaming; and the mechanism of endocytosis in the freshwater amoeba. Part 4 covers the effects of various groups of mutagens, antibiotics, radiation, and high pressure on phenotype change and cell activities of amoeba. The concluding part deals with the isolation and purification of amoeba's nucleic acids, as well as physical and chemical characterizations of these compounds. This part also describes the characteristics of structural features of amoeba's cell surface and the chemistry of tripartite surface. Discussions on cell cycle, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, nuclear-nuclear interactions, genetics, and strain specificity in amoeba are also covered. The book is intended as a comprehensive literature source for students in cell biology as well as for those who are using amoeba as research organisms.
  • Reconstitutions of Transporters, Receptors, and Pathological States

    • 1st Edition
    • Efraim Racker
    • English
    Reconstitutions of Transporters, Receptors, and Pathological States presents 12 lectures on the resolution and reconstitution of transporters, receptors, and pathological states. Lecture 1 discusses the reconstitution of soluble pathways, and the resolution and reconstitution of membrane complexes. Lecture 2 covers the solubilization and purification of membrane proteins. Lecture 3 explains the functions of protein and phospholipid components; the role of asymmetry; and measurement of scrambling during reconstitution. Lecture 4 presents analyses of reconstituted vesicles while Lectures 5 and 6 examine the properties of F1 and E1E2 pumps, respectively. Lecture 7 focuses on ATP-driven H+ fluxes in organelles and ATP-driven ion pumps of microorganisms and plants. Lecture 8 covers the reconstitution of the mitochondrial electron transport chain; reconstitution of photosynthetic electron transport pathways; and bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin. Lecture 9 discusses the transporters of plasma membranes, mithchondria, and organelles. Lecture 10 deals with plasma membrane receptors. Lecture 11 focuses on the malignant transformation of cells while Lecture 12 speculates on the future of reconstitutions.
  • Germination Control. Metabolism, and Pathology

    • 1st Edition
    • T.T. Kozlowski
    • English
    Seed Biology, Volume II: Germination Control, Metabolism, and Pathology is a part of a three-volume treatise, which aims to bring together a large body of important information on seed biology. Organized into five chapters, this book begins with a discussion on environmental control of germination and its biological significance. Separate chapters follow that discuss physiology and metabolism of seeds with specific dormancy and anomalous storage history, as well as those germinated under abnormal conditions. This work will be useful to various groups of research biologists and teachers, including agronomists, plant anatomists, biochemists, ecologists, entomologists, foresters, horticulturists, plant pathologists, and plant physiologists.
  • Transgenic Plants

    Present Status and Social and Economic Impacts
    • 1st Edition
    • English
    Volumes 1 and 2 of Transgenic Plants assemble important information on transgenic crops which has appeared scattered in many different publications. These two volumes are a significant milestone in plant/agricultural biology, promote the practical application of recombinant DNA technology, and assist in transforming the agricultural industry.
  • Humoral Factors in Host Defense

    • 1st Edition
    • Yuichi Yamamura
    • English
    Humoral Factors in Host Defense contains the proceedings of the First Takeda Science Foundation Symposium on Bioscience, held on October 28-30, 1982, in Kyoto, Japan. The symposium focused on the humoral factors regulating immune responses, with emphasis on T cell-derived immunoregulatory molecules; molecular mechanisms of interferons; factors involved in differentiation and activation of immunocytes; and the use of the molecular genetics approach to host defense factors. Organized into four parts encompassing 22 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of interleukin-2 and T cell-replacing factors, along with their immunological functions and biochemical features. It then discusses antigen-specific T cell factors; immunoregulatory molecules from human monoclonal T cells; physiological and pathological roles of lymphokines; regulation of the immune system by monoclonal T cell peptides; production of a glycosylated human protein by recombinant DNA technology; and molecular genetics of immunoglobulin genes and the major histocompatibility antigen. Geneticists and biologists will find this book extremely useful.
  • The Cell Nucleus V1

    • 1st Edition
    • Harris Busch
    • English
    The Cell Nucleus, Volume I reports the basic concepts of cell nucleus, including nuclear structure, the interaction between the nucleus and cytoplasm, and the chromatin. This volume first describes the nucleus’ morphological structures and relates these structures to its functions. It then discusses nuclear organization in plant cells; morphology and biochemistry of the slime mold nucleus; and structure, function, and properties of nuclear envelope. In addition, it addresses the molecular movements between nucleus and cytoplasm against a concentration gradient, presents experiments with animal cell heterokaryons, and explains the genome in specialized cells. It also explores the organization of the chromatin fiber; the human chromosome structure before and after banding; and the ultrastructure and function of heterochromatin and euchromatin.
  • Chromosome Microdissection and Cloning

    A Practical Guide
    • 1st Edition
    • Nabil Hagag
    • English
    Chromosome Microdissection and Cloning: A Practical Guide is a straightforward guide to chromosome microdissection and cloning. It presents an overview of the procedures and briefly reviews a few areas of research in which these techniques are applied. Topics range from preparation of chromosomes for microdissection to molecular cloning of microdissected chromosomal DNA. Methods of chromosome microdissection, including video microscope method and oil chamber method, are described. Comprised of five chapters, this book begins with an overview of the structure and organization of chromosomes, followed by a description of methods for preparing and preserving chromosomal DNA in a manner that is useful for cloning and direct analysis. Microdissection of metaphase chromosomes and isolation of fragments can be accomplished in one of the three ways described in the next chapter: by microdissection using an upright microscope and glass capillaries in an oil chamber; by laser microbeam; and with the use of an inverted microscope equipped with a video camera and high magnification-high resolution lenses. A step-by-step guide to these techniques and solutions for common problems are given following each method. Protocols for cloning and identifying genetic sequences from defined chromosome regions, particularly using the polymerase chain reaction, are also discussed. The final chapter focuses on applications of chromosome microdissection, such as cloning of disease-specific genes and generating "sequence tagged sites" to be used in large DNA sequencing projects. This monograph will be particularly helpful to investigators setting up microdissection systems de novo.
  • Chilling, Freezing, and High Temperature Stresses

    • 2nd Edition
    • J Levitt
    • English
    Responses of Plants to Environmental Stresses, Second Edition, Volume I: Chilling, Freezing, and High Temperature Stresses encompasses essentially all the environmental stresses that have been intensively investigated. However, this edition does not include mineral deficiencies, which comprise too broad and involve a field to be incorporated with other stresses. This book attempts to analyze the possibilities of developing unified concepts of stress injury and resistance. Organized into four parts, this edition first discusses the stress concepts, particularly the stress and strain terminologies, as well as the nature of stress injury and resistance. Stresses at chilling, freezing, and high-temperatures are addressed separately.
  • Eukaryotic Cell Genetics

    • 1st Edition
    • John Morrow
    • English
    Eukaryotic Cell Genetics reviews the state of knowledge in somatic cell genetics. The book begins by discussing the development of somatic cell genetics, focusing on the estimation of mutation rates in mammalian cells, with frequent reference to the use of drug resistance as a selective character. It then considers some of the specific properties of such variants in order to understand their molecular basis. The subsequent chapters examine the properties of specific types of auxotrophic variants; the means by which eukaryotic cells may be reassembled to give rise to viable cellular composites; gene regulation in eukaryotic organisms; and chromosome mapping. The discussions also include differentiation in cultured cells; neoplastic transformation; the modulation of gene expression in cultured cells; mutation induction in cultured cells; applications of cell culture; and the mechanism of cellular aging. This book is intended for researchers in the fields of genetics and molecular biology, nonspecialists interested in what is happening in a very exciting area of biology, and students at the graduate level in cell biology.