Biophysics of Photoreceptors and Photomovements in Microorganisms
Biophysics of Photoreceptors and Photomovements in Microorganisms

Author: F. Lenci

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1468459880

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This volume contains the lectures given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Biophysics of Photoreceptors and Photomovements in Microorganisms" held in Tir renia (Pisa), Italy, in September 1990. The Institute was sponsored and mainly funded by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO; the Physical Science Committee and the Institute of Biophysics of National Research Council of Italy also supported the School and substantially contributed to its success. It is our pleasant duty to thank these institu tions. Scientists from very different backgrounds contributed to the understanding of this fast developing field of research, which has seen considerable progress during the last years. The areas of expertise ranged from behavioral sciences, supported by sophi sticated techniques such as image analysis or laser light scattering, to spectroscopy, ap plied, in different time domains, to the study of the primary photoreactions, to electro physiology, biochemistry or molecular biology, with the aim of analyzing the various steps of the transduction chains and how they control the motor apparatus of the cells. The organisms studied covered a wide range, from bacteria to algae, fungi and other eukaryotes. Thus, the ASI represented a successful opportunity for carrying on and imple menting an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the biophysical basis of photore ception and photosensory transduction in aneural organisms, with special attention to the basic phenomena and the underlying molecular events. We hope that this book has caught the spirit in which the ASI was conceived.

Photomovement
Photomovement

Author: D.-P. Häder

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2001-06-19

Total Pages: 959

ISBN-13: 008053886X

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This volume emphasizes the involvement of all facets of biology in the analysis of environmentally controlled movement responses. This includes biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology and as an integral part of any approach to a closer understanding, physiology. The initial euphoria about molecular biology as the final solution for any problem has dwindled and the field agrees now that only the combined efforts of all facets of biology will at some day answer the question posed more than hundred years ago: "How can plants see?". One conclusion can be drawn from the current knowledge as summarized in this volume. The answer will most likely not be the same for all systems.

Biophysics Of Photoreception: Molecular And Phototransductive Events
Biophysics Of Photoreception: Molecular And Phototransductive Events

Author: Cloe Taddei-ferretti

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 1998-01-15

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 9814545759

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This is the first volume of new book series on biophysics and biocybernetics, initiated by the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici.A main problem in biophysics is the interaction of light information with functional living structures, in order to shape the organism's behaviour. Although the processes of photoreception and phototransduction are articulated in various ways in different living beings — as it is seen in the subdivision of the topics in this volume on microorganisms, invertebrates, and vertebrates — general ways of light signal reception and transduction through light energy, i.e., photosensitive molecule interactions, could be observed. Highly sophisticated advanced techniques are employed in this research field.

Advances in Microbial Ecology
Advances in Microbial Ecology

Author: J.G. Jones

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1475790740

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This is the third volume of Advances in Microbial Ecology to be produced by the current editorial board. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank my co-editors for all their efforts, particularly in maintaining a balance of subject matter and geographical distribution of the contributions. Volume 15 is no exception in that we have a balance between the prokaryo tic and eukaryotic organisms and a range of subject matter from applied ecology through process ecology to ecological theory. The response from our readers has been encouraging in the sense that the breadth of coverage is much appreciated, particularly by teachers and postgraduate/postdoctoral researchers. However, we still strive to improve our coverage and particularly to move wider than the North America/Europe axis for contributions. Similarly, we would like to see coverage of the more unusual microbes, perhaps a chapter devoted to the ecology of a particular species or genus. There must exist many ecological notes on "rarer" organisms that have not found their way into the standard textbooks or taxonomic volumes; properly compiled these could provide valuable information for the field ecologist. Ecological theory has, until recently, been the domain of the "macroecolo gist. " Recent advances in molecular techniques will ensure that the microbial ecologist will playa more significant role in the development of the subject. We shall not, therefore, change our policy of encouraging our contributors to specu late, permitting them sufficient space to develop their ideas.

Microbial Responses to Light and Time
Microbial Responses to Light and Time

Author: Society for General Microbiology. Symposium

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-05-07

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780521622868

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An up-to-date review of the importance of light as a biologically active environmental cue.

Light as an Energy Source and Information Carrier in Plant Physiology
Light as an Energy Source and Information Carrier in Plant Physiology

Author: Robert C. Jennings

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1461304091

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A NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Light as Energy Source and Information Carrier in Plant Photo physiology" was held at Volterra, Italy, from September 26 to October 6, 1994, in order to consider the fundamental role that light plays in plant growth and development. This book summarises the main lectures given at this meeting which concentrated on both photochemical energy conversion and signalling (photosensing) aspects. Light harvesting and conversion into chemical energy in photosynthesis occurs at the level of chlorophyll/carotenoid containing photosystems in plants. Pigments are non covalently bound to a variety of polypeptides which serve as a specific scaffolding, necessary to determine the energy coupling between pigments and thus allowing rapid excitation energy trasfer from the antenna to the special reaction centre chlorophylls. Data from transient, time resolved spectroscopies, in the femtosecond and picosecond domain, together with model calculations, suggest that this process occurs in the 20-100 picosecond time span. The special ~ll u~ture of reaction centre complexes, ensures rapid primary charge separation, probably in the order of 1-3 picoseconds, with subsequent charge stabilisation reactions proceeding in the hundreds of picoseconds range. The recently resolved crystallographic structure of LHCII, the principal antenna complex of plants, allows precise determination of pigment-pigment distances and thus permits calculation of approximate chlorophyll-chlorophyll Forster hopping rates, which are in good agreement with time resolved measurements.

Digital Image Analysis of Microbes
Digital Image Analysis of Microbes

Author: M. H. F. Wilkinson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 1998-06-08

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 9780471974406

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Providing specific knowledge in the theory of image analysis, optics, fluorescence, and imaging devices in biomedical laboratories, this timely and indispensable volume focuses on the theory and applications of detection, morphometry, and motility measurement techniques applied to bacteria, fungi, yeasts and protozoa.

Life Under the Sun
Life Under the Sun

Author: Peter A. Ensminger

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0300133529

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Which fungus is as sensitive to light as the human eye? What are the myths and facts about the ozone hole, tanning, skin cancer, and sunscreens? What is the effect of light on butterfly copulation? This entertaining collection of essays explores how various organisms -- including archaebacteria, slime molds, fungi, plants, insects, and humans -- sense and respond to sunlight. The essays in Peter A. Ensminger's book cover vision, photosynthesis, and phototropism, as well as such unusual topics as the reason why light causes beer to develop a "skunky" odor. He introducec us to the kinds of eyes that have evolved in different animals, including those in a species of shrimp that is ostensibly eyeless; gives us a better appreciation of color vision; explains how plowing fields at night may be used to control weeds; and tells about variegate porphyria, a metabolic disease that makes people very sensitive to sunlight and may have afflicted King George III of England. These engaging essays present a complicated yet fascinating subject in an accessible way. The book will be treasured by anyone interested in the wonders of biology.

Gravity and the Behavior of Unicellular Organisms
Gravity and the Behavior of Unicellular Organisms

Author: Donat-Peter Häder

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-01-17

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780521820523

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Unicellular organisms use gravity as an environmental guide to reach and stay in regions optimal for their growth and reproduction. These single cells play a significant role in food webs and these factors together make the effects of gravity on unicellular organisms a fascinating and important subject for scientific study. In addition, they present valuable model systems for studying the mechanisms of gravity perception, a topic of increasing interest in these days of experimentation in space. This book reveals how single cells achieve the same sensoric capacity as multicellular organisms like plants or animals. It reviews the field, discussing the historical background, ecological significance and related physiology of unicellular organisms, as well as various experimental techniques and models with which to study them. Those working on the biology of unicellular organisms, as well as in related areas of gravitational and space science will find this book of value.

Photomorphogenesis in Plants and Bacteria
Photomorphogenesis in Plants and Bacteria

Author: Eberhard Schäfer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-01-24

Total Pages: 728

ISBN-13: 9781402038099

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Plants as sessile organisms have evolved fascinating capacities to adapt to changes in their natural environment. Arguably, light is by far the most important and variable environmental factor. The quality, quantity, direction and duration of light is monitored by a series of photoreceptors covering spectral information from UVB to near infrared. The response of the plants to light is called photomorphogenesis and it is regulated by the concerted action of photoreceptors. The combined techniques of action spectroscopy and biochemistry allowed one of the important photoreceptors – phytochrome – to be identified in the middle of the last century. An enormous number of physiological studies published in the last century describe the properties of phytochrome and its function and also the physiology of blue and UV-B photoreceptors, unidentified at the time. This knowledge was summarized in the advanced textbook “Photomorphogenesis in Plants” (Kendrick and Kronenberg, eds., 1986, 1994). With the advent of molecular biology, genetics and new molecular, cellular techniques, our knowledge in the field of photomorphogenesis has dramatically increased over the last 15 years.