Comparative Biochemistry: A Comprehensive Treatise, Volume VI: Cells and Organisms focuses on the complex composition of cells and organisms. The book opens with discussions on the biochemistry of morphogenesis. Bacterial germination and sporulation; seed germination; egg development of sea urchins; sporulation of cellular slime mold; and amphibian differentiation are described. The volume looks at the comparative aspects of metabolic control, biochemical basis of chemical needs, biochemistry of insect metamorphosis, and hormones in invertebrates. The text also highlights the presence of protein hormones in vertebrates. The differences between neurohypophyseal and melanocorticotropic hormones are identified. The book ends with discussions on the comparative biochemistry of digestive mechanisms and detoxication. Digestion in special physiological and systematic groups of vertebrates, carnivorous plants, and invertebrates; detoxication and adoption of terrestrial habitat; and the developmental aspects of detoxication are discussed. The book is a good source of data for readers wanting to explore the complex composition of organisms and cells.
This volume provides a novel insight to the evolutionary and comparative aspects of nitric oxide- nitric oxide synthase system as a central regulator of invertebrate and vertebrate homeostasis. By critically selecting and summarizing the ever–increasing number of original studies, these presentations review a variety of important signalling and modulatory roles played by nitric oxide at molecular, cell, organ and organ system levels. It addresses not only specialists and graduate students in the field, but also all biologists concerned with how this unique, gaseous, pleiotropic molecule has been employed by living systems, uncovering a new dimension of the wonders of life.
