Concise chapters, written by experts in the field, cover a wide spectrum of topics on lipid and membrane formation in microbes (Archaea, Bacteria, eukaryotic microbes).All cells are delimited by a lipid membrane, which provides a crucial boundary in any known form of life. Readers will discover significant chapters on microbial lipid-carrying biomolecules and lipid/membrane-associated structures and processes.
"Concise chapters, written by experts in the field, cover a wide spectrum of topics on lipid and membrane formation in microbes (Archaea, Bacteria, eukaryotic microbes). All cells are delimited by a lipid membrane, which provides a crucial boundary in any known form of life. Readers will discover significant chapters on microbial lipid-carrying biomolecules and lipid/membrane-associated structures and processes.."--Publisher's website.
Biochemistry of Lipids: Lipoproteins and Membranes, Volume Six, contains concise chapters that cover a wide spectrum of topics in the field of lipid biochemistry and cell biology. It provides an important bridge between broad-based biochemistry textbooks and more technical research publications, offering cohesive, foundational information. It is a valuable tool for advanced graduate students and researchers who are interested in exploring lipid biology in more detail, and includes overviews of lipid biology in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, while also providing fundamental background on the subsequent descriptions of fatty acid synthesis, desaturation and elongation, and the pathways that lead the synthesis of complex phospholipids, sphingolipids, and their structural variants. Also covered are sections on how bioactive lipids are involved in cell signaling with an emphasis on disease implications and pathological consequences. Serves as a general reference book for scientists studying lipids, lipoproteins and membranes and as an advanced and up-to-date textbook for teachers and students who are familiar with the basic concepts of lipid biochemistry References from current literature will be included in each chapter to facilitate more in-depth study Key concepts are supported by figures and models to improve reader understanding Chapters provide historical perspective and current analysis of each topic
Many individual aspects of the dynamics and assembly of biological membranes have been studied in great detail. Cell biological approaches, advanced genetics, biophysics and biochemistry have greatly contributed to an increase in our knowledge in this field.lt is obvious however, that the three major membrane constituents - lipids, proteins and carbohydrates- are studied, in most cases separately and that a coherent overview of the various aspects of membrane biogenesis is not readily available. The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "New Perspectives in the Dynamics of Assembly of Biomembranes" intended to provide such an overview: it was set up to teach students and specialists the achievements obtained in the various research areas and to try and integrate the numerous aspects of membrane assembly into a coherent framework. The articles in here reflect this. Statting with detailed contributions on phospholipid structure, dynamics, organization and biogenesis, an up to date overview of the basic, lipidic backbone of biomembranes is given. Extensive progress is made in the research on membrane protein biosynthesis. In particular the post- and co-translational modification processes of proteins, the mechanisms of protein translocation and the sorting mechanisms which are necessary to direct proteins to their final, intra - or extracellular destination have been characterized in detail. Modern genetic approaches were indispensable in this research area: gene cloning, hybrid protein construction, site directed mutagenesis and sequencing techniques elucidated many functional aspects of specific nucleic acid and amino acid sequences.
Summarizes the current knowledge on the metabolism of membrane lipids, emphasizing the regulatory interactions. Somewhere between a general textbook and a comprehensive review article, for students who want to apply their learning from a basic biochemistry course to problems involving membranes. Also useful to researchers in related fields, whose work sometimes involves membranes. Extensively updated from the 1980 edition. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
A collection of papers that comprehensively describe the major areas of research on lipid metabolism of plants. State-of-the-art knowledge about research on fatty acid and glycerolipid biosynthesis, isoprenoid metabolism, membrane structure and organization, lipid oxidation and degradation, lipids as intracellular and extracellular messengers, lipids and environment, oil seeds and gene technology is reviewed. The different topics covered show that modern tools of plant cellular and molecular biology, as well as molecular genetics, have been recently used to characterize several key enzymes of plant lipid metabolism (in particular, desaturases, thioesterases, fatty acid synthetase) and to isolate corresponding cDNAs and genomic clones, allowing the use of genetic engineering methods to modify the composition of membranes or storage lipids. These findings open fascinating perspectives, both for establishing the roles of lipids in membrane function and intracellular signalling and for adapting the composition of seed oil to the industrial needs. This book will be a good reference source for research scientists, advanced students and industrialists wishing to follow the considerable progress made in recent years on plant lipid metabolism and to envision the new opportunities offered by genetic engineering for the development of novel oil seeds.
The aim of this book is to bring together in one volume the current research and thought on the concept of membrane fluidity as a biological phenomenon. The invited articles are intended to review recent develop ments in the areas of membrane research covered and to summarize the current concepts and theories in those areas. The authors have been given ample opportunity to present their thoughts and speculation on membrane fluidity and related phenomena in a more expanded form than is usually possible in reviews of this type. It is hoped that this approach will have a stimulating effect on research and theoretical development in the biomem brane field. The chapters in this book are arranged in three sections, the first of which covers physical studies of membrane fluidity and related phenomena on the molecular level. Included are chapters on intermolecular hydrogen bonding between membrane lipids, thermal analysis of membranes, appli cation of fluorescence and NMR spectrometry to the study of membrane fluidity, and the effect of drugs and other compounds on membrane stability and fluidity. The second section deals with the regulation of membrane fluidity in microorganisms, plants, and higher organisms by factors such as tem perature, fatty acid chain length, lipid desaturation, and polar head group structure.
