Fruit flies are enormously important economic pests, as California has learned over the past few years (remember the Mediterranean Fruit Fly?). The problem is expected to get worse, and issues of both basic research and control measures are very important for this pest. This book is the edited, camera-ready proceedings of a recent international symposium on fruit flies of economic importance. It covers current knowledge of fruit fly physiology, genetics, morphology and behavior. It discusses action programs for controlling and using fruit flies in agronomy, as well as the problem of fruit flies in the fruit growing industry.

The authoritative overviews in this volume provide a wealth of practical information on current approaches to the study of insect-plant interactions. Methods described include direct behavioral observation; assays of host finding, oviposition, and feeding behavior of insect herbivores; post-ingestion physiological effects; measurement of food quality and sensory responses of insects to plant stimuli; chemical isolation and identification of active phytochemicals; evaluation of plant resistance to insects; and the biochemistry of allelochemic interactions.

Tree based production systems abound especially in the tropics. Despite the pervasiveness of such multipurpose trees-outside-forest resources, they have not attracted adequate attention in the development paradigms of many nation states. These multispecies production systems impact the ecosystem processes favourably. Yet, our understanding of the diversity attributes and carbon dynamics under agroforestry is not adequate. This book focuses on the role of multispecies production systems involving tree and crop species as a means for carbon sequestration and thereby reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Sixteen chapters organized into three broad sections titled: Measurement and Estimation, Agrobiodiversity and Tree Management, and Policy and Socioeconomic Aspects represent a cross section of the opportunities and challenges in current research and emerging issues in harnessing carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry systems. "

Nitrogen Fixation by symbiotic organisms is considered an important contribution to the solution of food problems throughout the world. For manyyears, Chinese scientists have focused their research in this area. Today more than half of the total nitrogen fertilizers applied are from biological fixation sources. The editor is an international renowned scientist at the Chinese Academy of sciences. He has brought together contributions from various research fields in China and Europe.Together they present the state-of-the-art in nitrogen-fixation research. The studies range from actino- mycete fixation induced in various genera andspecies of plants, mechanisms and chemical modeling of enzyme systems togenetical engineering of organisms.

The papers in this volume were presented at the Symposium on Steroid Hormone Receptor Systems held October 18-20, 1978, at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Mass. The meeting was organized to review, discuss, and disseminate new knowledge about the regulation and function of the receptor proteins which mediate estrogen, progestin, glucocorticoid, and androgen action. The symposium brought together leading scientists whose interests span the spectrum of biological organization. On this occasion, Drs. Elwood V. Jensen and Etienne E. Baulieu were honored as recipients of the Tenth Annual Gregory Pincus l1emorial Award for their pioneering studies of steroid hormone receptors. The material covered in this book focuses on the molecular mechanisms which control receptor site availability and function. The topics discussed include recent work on receptor antibodies, antiestrogen action, receptor heterogeneity, nuclear binding and processing of receptor, receptor activation and inactivation mechan isms, interactions between receptor systems, influence of biological rhythms, membrane binding sites, and the evolution of steroid-bind ing proteins. Although studies on steroid receptors have led to the development of new approaches for cancer therapy and contraception, much remains to be discovered in this rapidly expanding field. Hope fully, this book will provide added impetus to the quest for a full understanding of steroid receptor systems by drawing attention to the unresolved questions yet to be answered. Hhile the book is intended primarily for those interested in hormone action, it should be of value to a more general audience including cell, molecular, and developmental biologists."

An extraordinary development of the knowledge, concepts and biomedical applications has occurred during the past two decades in the biological sciences, including the Reticuloendothelial Sys- tem (RES). For example, it is now widely recognized that distinct classes of cells are involved in the recognition of "exogenous" invaders of the body such as microorg~nisms and other foreign an- tigens, as well as of "endogenous" parasites represented by trans- formed neoplastic cells and altered "self" antigens. Prominent among cell populations involved in such recognition of antigens and subsequent immune responses are those constituting the RES. In recent years, there has been much discussion and indeed contro- versy as to what constitutes such a system and even whether the term "RES" is appropriate. Some investigators feel that the phago- cytes are the most important cells of the RES as they playa major role in the defense mechanism of the host. Mononuclear phagocytes include tissue macrophages as well as circulating monocytes and their precursors. Although phagocytosis is a major functional ac- tivity, it is only one of their several functions. The important role of phagocytes and other mononuclear cells in antibody forma- tion, cell-mediated immunity, specific and non-specific resistance to microorganisms and tumor cells, as well as homeostatic adjust- ments in general has become the focus of attention for many inves- tigators.

Advances in Microbial Ecology was established by the International Commis sion on Microbial Ecology to provide a vehicle for in-depth, critical, and, it is hoped, provocative reviews on aspects of both applied and basic microbial ecol ogy. In the five years of its existence, Advances has achieved recognition as a major source of information and inspiration both for practicing and f"

Experts in herbicide research and development - chemists and plant physiologists -, have written 15 chapters that review all aspects pertinent to peroxidizing herbicides, compounds of topical interest since extremely low use rates ensure high environmental safety. Topics covered include structure-activity relationships, relevant patent literature, preparative methods, modes of action, greenhouse screening, laboratory assays, plant pigment biochemistry, and enzymology of the decisive target enzyme of this class of herbicides. This comprehensive review will be welcomed as a unique and timely compilation of the current status of peroxidizing herbicide research and development. It will be of interest to professional chemists and biologists in agrochemical companies, universities and agricultural colleges.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis, Bong. Carr. ) was planted extensively on northern Vancouver Island (B. C. , Canada) to regenerate slashburned clearcuts previously occupied by old-growth Thuja p1icata, Donn, Tsuga heterophy11a, Raf. Sarg. , and an ericaceous unders tory shrub salal (Gaul ther ia sha11on, Pursh [CH sites 1 ) . The planted Sitka spruce grew well initially on these sites, but experienced nutritional stress and reduced growth 8 to 14 yr after planting (Germain, 1985; Weetman et a1. , 1990a,b). Accompanying the onset of the nutritional stress was the reestablishment of a complete ground cover of salal, and it has been suggested that there is a causal connection between these two temporally synchronous events (Weetman et al. , 1990a,b). Other ericaceous species have been implicated in nutritional stress in conifer plantations (Mallik, 1987; Robinson, 1972; Handley, 1963; Rose et a1. , 1983). Three hypotheses to explain this nutritional stress were tested in the study reported in this paper: (1) that salal competition for N can provide an adequate explanation for the observed nutritional stress; (2) that salal inhibits the availability of nutrients to seedlings by interfering with their mycorrhizae; and (3) that the fertility of these CH sites declines after 8 yr following clearcutting and slashburning due to the termination of the flush of nutrients (or "assart effect") associated with this disturbance. A series of pot and field experiments was carried out to test these hypotheses. 1 2.

The book reviews the literature on the ecological succession of plants on fallowed swiddens in tropical forests. Patterns of ecological succession in tropical forests are insufficiently understood, partly because results are scattered through a large number of case studies reported in academic articles. So far, no publication has attempted to bring these different case studies together to identify common patters and trends. The goal of the book is to review the different case studies, and identify common patterns of ecological succession in fallowed swiddens, as well as to pinpoint the factors that cause ecological succession in some areas to differ from those in other areas. The book is organised in four different sections: forest structure, forest diversity, species composition, and the factors that contribute to differences in forest recovery rates (the number of times the field was burned, the length of fallow period, the type of soil, and the type of forest). This book is an important contribution to tropical forestry and shifting cultivation. Deforestation and forest degradation are the largest sources of CO2, and shifting cultivation is one of the main culprits. For this (and other economic and political) reason governments attempt to curtail shifting cultivation by shortening the years the fields can be left fallow, or outright outlawing the farming practice. Yet, there is insufficient understanding of the processes of ecological succession in fallows, which raises the questions as to whether the policy fulfils its objectives. "

The connection between the study of insects. their development. behaviour and biochemistry. and chromatography is perhaps not immediately obvious. However. this connection exists and it is of fundamental importance to our understanding of many areas of insect physiology. Insects range in size from small to minute and consequently the amounts of hormones or pheromones they produce are equally minute. Ultimately any attempt at understanding the processes which control development, social behaviour or the biochemistry of insects requires some means of isolating the tiny quantities of the hormones and pheromones responsible in sufficient quantity and purity for identification. The ability to devise novel techniques to separate these materials from frequently complex biological mixtures including precursors and metabolites and to devise detection systems for them is vital. Methods for the quantification of these substances at different stages in the life cycle. or in response to environmental change or stress. are then essential. Chromatography. both as a means for isolation and as a method for quantitative analysis. has "been an essential tool in these studies. This volume represents the outcome of a joint international symposium organized by the Chromatographic and Royal Entomological Societies at the University of Reading between the 21st and 23rd March 1989 aimed specifically at discussing the chromatography and isolation of insect hormones. pheromones and related substances.The papers presented at that meeting. and collected together here. covered many aspects of the subject including the chromatography of juvenile hormones. ecdysteroids. peptides. pheromones and semio chemicals."

The recogmuon recogmtIon of the microcirculation as an ideal interdisciplinary meeting place for the life sciences is really a postwar phenomenon. The European and the American Societies more than any other organizations launched the idea, and the success of the European Society's International Meetings gave impetus to a growth of interest from a handful of specialists to the wide interdisciplinary study which microcirculation now represents. The meeting held in Canada in June 1975 was, however, the first truly international meeting devoted to the microcirculation. It, too, was a success from every point of view, and the exchange of knowledge and new ideas was rewarding. It is our present hope that the tradition of European meetings with their characteristic European flavor will continue, but larded by larger, international congresses conceived on a worldwide basis. For the present conference we were fortunate in the presence of Dr. B. Zweifach. He was once referred to as the "father of the microcircula tion." This claim, unfortunately, I cannot accept. That honor probably belongs to Harvey, who by one of the most brilliant strokes of inductive reasoning in medical history inferred the existence of capillaries though he could not see them. Ben Zweifach's role was rather that of the midwife, presiding at the birth rather than the conception. The baby he delivered long years ago has since thriven lustily and its growth is in no small measure due to the continuing zeal of Zweifach and his associates.

Although over 40 years have passed since Jacobs (1945) convincingly established the basic radial pattern of residual growth stress in growing trees, yet this phenomenon is still not widely appreciated in wood science and technology circles. This is in spite of the fact that the presence of these stresses of sizeable magnitudes has long been recognized as a primary cause of shakes and splits in logs as well as the warping of lumber sawn in the green condition. The presentation of the subject of growth stresses in trees presents some special problems due to the wide range of specialists who potentially might have an interest in the subject. For example, tree physiologists interested in questions such as the relation of mechanical stress to stem taper and the role of reaction wood and gravity forces in determining tree crown form encounter growth stress models. Silvi culturists interested in the relation ofthinning practices to wood quality find that wood properties are correlated with growth stress levels which are in turn significantly changed by cutting practices. Wood techno logists interested in the relation of residual growth stress gradients in green logs to the dimensional quality of sawn and seasoned lumber are forced to take a more quantitative approach to the effect of growth stresses than might have been the case in the past."

Howard G. Knuttgen of Biology, Boston University, 2 Cummington Department Street, Boston, 02215 Massachusetts, USA The relationship of the formation of lactate acid to skeletal muscle energy release in exercising humans was first explored by A. V. Hill and co-workers (2l, 22). The term "oxygen debt" was suggested by them to describe the excess oxygen consumption of recovery which they felt was closely related. A combination of their work and the earlier work of Krogh and Lindhard (35) re sulted at that time in the belief that a certain amount of energy release during the transition from rest to exercise was provided by a non-aerobic source, glycolysis. The resulting accumulation of lactic acid (as lactate) in the body required an extra con sumption during recovery for its oxidative removal. Jervell (24) subsequently showed that, in exercise, the greatest accumulation in blood took place during the first few minutes. He felt that the blood lactate increase was due to a shortage of oxygen during the transition period. The observation was also made for the first time that the increased level of lac tate due to exercise could be made to fall faster if mild exercise was employed by the subjects in place of sedentary recovery. The work of Margaria, Edwards and Dill (40) appeared in 1933. They observed that exercise (treadmill running) could be carried on at low levels without significant changes in resting levels of blood lactate.

Progress in the field of plant cell and tissue culture has made this area of research one of the most dynamic and promising not only in plant physiology, cell biology and genetics but also in agriculture, forestry, horticulture and industry. Studies with plant cell cultures clearly have bearing upon a variety of problems as yet unsolved in basic and applied research. This was the compelling reason for assembling such a comprehensive source of information to stimulate students, teachers, and research workers. This book comprises 34 articles on regeneration of plants, vegetative propagation and cloning; haploids; cytology, cytogenetics and plant breeding; protoplasts, somatic hybridization and genetic engineering; plant pathology; secondary products and a chapter on isoenzymes, radiobiology, and cryobiology of plant cells. Particular attention has been paid to modern , fast-growing and fascinating disciplines - e.g. the induction of haploids, somatic hybridization and genetic manipulation by protoplast culture, which possess an enormous potential for plant improvement.

It is an honor and pleasure for me to write the foreword of this book comprising the of Forest Resources for proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Improvement Recyclable Forest Products. The symposium was organized by Dr. Toshihiro Ona, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan, as part of the "Development of Forest Resources with High Performance for Paper Recycling" research project. This was supported by the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) team at the Japan Science and Technology Agency Foundation (lST) and by Kyushu University. As a colleague of Dr. Ona, I commend his efforts in organizing the symposium and editing this book. In the forest, there is a multitude of resources, including trees, herbal plants, fruits, fungi, mammals, birds, insects, fishes, reptiles, water, landscapes, and tourist attractions. Nowadays, even the environment is regarded as a kind of forest resource. These resources can provide a diversity of forest products, such as timber for buildings, pulp and paper, charcoal, herbal medicines, wild vegetables, animal protein, edible mushrooms, and nonwoody fibers. From these resources, major forest products are produced using various species of trees. For example, softwood is suitable as building material, while hardwood is suitable for furniture production; pulp and paper are produced from both softwood and hardwood. Therefore, forest locations and forest management methods should vary according to the tree species used for production of different forest products.

By way of a summary of all the data collected by the mapping teams, I will review what is entered on each of the data sheets. The map sheet was already de scribed in some detail (Fig. 2.2.1A), and includes a circle or a point for the location of each tree and the tree's tag number (the last three or four digits) written next to it. The range of tag numbers used in the quadrat should be written at the top of the sheet. The main data sheet is where most other information about each individual is recorded (Fig. 2.2.1B). As for all sheets, the quadrat number, the first date a quadrat is censused, and the mappers' names are recorded at the top. For each plant, there are blanks for the following information: subquadrat number, tag number, species name, dbh, codes, and problems. Subquadrat number and tag number are straight forward. Size in millimeters is entered in the dbh column, except for multiple stemmed plants or big trees, which get a blank dbh on the main data sheet. Species identification will be handled by separate taxonomy teams (chapter 2.3), but map pers should enter a species name if they know it."

Central Amazonian floodplain forests are an unique and endangered ecosystem. The forests grow in areas that are annually flooded by large rivers during mean periods of up to 8 months and at depths of up to 10 m. Despite this severe stress, these forests consist of over 1,000 species and are by far the most species-rich floodplain forests worldwide. The trees show a broad range of morphological, anatomical, physiological, and phenological adaptations that enable them not only to survive the adverse environmental conditions, but also to produce large amounts of biomass when the nutrient levels in water and soils are sufficiently high. This is the case in the floodplains of white-water rivers, which are used for fisheries, agriculture, and cattle-ranching but which also have a high potential for the production of timber and non-timber products, when adequately managed. Latest research on ecophysiology gives insight how tree species adapt to the oscillating flood-pulse focusing on their photosynthesis, respiration, sap flow, biochemistry, phenology, wood and leave anatomy, root morphology and functioning, fruit chemistry, seed germination, seedling establishment, nitrogen fixation and genetic variability. Based on tree ages, lifetime growth rates and net primary production, new concepts are developed to improve the sustainability of traditional forest managements in the background of an integrated natural resource management. This is the first integrative book on the functioning and ecologically oriented use of floodplain forests in the tropics and sub-tropics.It provides fundamental knowledge for scientist, students, foresters and other professionals on their distribution, evolution and phytogeography. "This book is an excellent testimony to the interdisciplinary collaboration of a group of very dedicated scientists to unravel the functioning of the Amazonian Floodplain forests. They have brought together a highly valuable contribution on the distribution, ecology, primary production, ecophysiology, typology, biodiversity, and human use of these forests offering recommendations for sustainable management and future projects in science and development of these unique wetland ecosystems. It lays a solid scientific foundation for wetland ecologists, foresters, environmentalists, wetland managers, and all those interested in sustainable management in the tropics and subtropics." Brij Gopal, Executive Vice President International Society for Limnology (SIL).

A century of research on heterostylous plants has passed since the publication of Charles Darwin's book "The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species" in 1877 summarizing his extensive observations and experiments on these complex breeding systems involving genetic polymorphisms of floral sex organs. Since then heterostylous plants have provided a rich source of material for evolutionary biologists and today they represent one of the classic research paradigms for approaches to the study of evolution and adaptation. The present book is the first modern and comprehensive accont of the subject. In 10 chapters it is concerned with the evolution, genetics, development, morphology, and adaptive significance of heterostyly. Broad syntheses of research on heterostyly as well as new theoretical ideas and experimental data are included.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Phytotoxins and Plant Pathogenesis held at Capri, Italy, May 30 - June 3, 1988

Advances in basic biological research have proceeded rapidly in recent years. The fields of molecular genetics and immunology have experienced dramatic breakthroughs, capturing the imagination of both the scientific community and the general public. With less public notice, receptor biology has brought a cascade of new discoveries and insights. The entire science of pharmacology has been virtually rewritten in terms of receptor phenomenology. In particular, the discovery of specific receptors for steroid and protein hormones has been of seminal importance. With this new information, we have advanced our understanding of the mechanism and specifity of hormone action. We can now explain how hormones interact selectively with specific target cells and how hormones alter biochemical events within the target cells. These facts have already impacted on applied problems of clinical medicine, particularly in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and some metabolic diseases. Now, a new and important application of basic receptor biology and chemistry looms ahead. Within a few short years since the discovery of the progesterone receptor, chemists have synthesized molecules with a greater affinity for the receptor than progesterone itself and which, while occupying the receptor, fail to trigger the events which transform a target cell from the unstimulated to the stimulated state. This is the basis of the competitive inhibitory action of the anti-progestational agent, synthesized by the chemists at Roussel Uc1af, Paris, and designated RU 486.

Genetic Engineering, Volume 24 contains discussions of contemporary and relevant topics in genetics, including: -Gene silencing: principles and applications, -Integrins and the myocardium, -Plant virus gene vectors: biotechnology and applications in agriculture and medicine, -Novel approaches to controlling transcription, -Use of DNA polymorphisms in genetic mapping, -Application of FLP/FRT site-specific DNA recombination system in plants. This principles and methods approach to genetics and genetic engineering is essential reading for all academics, bench scientists, and industry professionals wishing to take advantage of the latest and greatest in this continuously emerging field.

Contraceptive research has entered the new age of vaccines. Realistic prospects exist for the development of an entirely new battery of vaccines for use in human and veterinary medicine. Among them may be anti-fertility vaccines, based on physiological mechanisms applicable to either the female or male. This volume is a comprehensive review - a status report - of the subjects including fundamental work on the search for useful epitopes and ranging to applied vaccinology. One vaccine to prevent pregnancy, for use by women, has already been studied extensively. G.P. Talwar, the volume's editor and his colleagues in New Oelhi, India, published in 1976 a landmark series of papers describing the immunological properties of a preparation consisting of the alum-precipitated beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) chemically linked to tetanus toxoid. The principle of enhancing antigenicity of a self-protein by linkage of the epitope to a carrier protein was employed and tested clinically. These trials, carried out under the auspices of the Indian Council for Medical Research, were the first application of the carrier protein concept for a vaccine for human use. The encouraging results stimulated a wave of research not only on the use of hCG-based vaccines, but on other antigens as well.