This book places oxygen on the center stage of chemistry in a manner that parallels the focus on carbon by 19th century chemists. One measure of the significance of oxygen chemistry is the greater diversity of oxygen-containing molecules than of carbon-containing molecules. One of the most important compounds is water, containing the properties of being a unique medium for biological chemistry and life, the source of all the dioxygen in the atmosphere, and the moderator of the earth's climate. Sawyer first introduces the biological origins of dioxygen and role of dioxygen in aerobic biology and oxidative metabolism, and in separate chapters discusses the oxidation-reduction thermodynamics of oxygen species, and the nature of the bonding for oxygen in its compounds. Additional chapters focus on the reactivities of specific oxygen compounds. The book will be of interest to chemists and biochemists, as well as graduate students, life scientists, and medical researchers.

This volume surveys oxidation activities in key biological systems, including heme proteins and enzymes, oxygenases and oxidases, photosynthetic systems, and cell and tissue damage.

IR spectroscopy has become without any doubt a key technique to answer questions raised when studying the interaction of proteins or peptides with solid surfaces for a fundamental point of view as well as for technological applications.

Principle, experimental set ups, parameters and interpretation rules of several advanced IR-based techniques; application to biointerface characterisation through the presentation of recent examples, will be given in this book. It will describe how to characterise amino acids, protein or bacterial strain interactions with metal and oxide surfaces, by using infrared spectroscopy, in vacuum, in the air or in an aqueous medium. Results will highlight the performances and perspectives of the technique.
Description of the principles, expermental setups and parameter interpretation, and the theory for several advanced IR-based techniques for interface characterisationContains examples which demonstrate the capacity, potential and limits of the IR techniquesHelps finding the most adequate mode of analysisContains examplesContains a glossary by techniques and by keywords

Research of the past ten years has made it increasingly clear that domestic animals and wild animals differ in their nutritional requirements. Nutritional management, beneficial to domestic animals, may actually be life-threatening to wild ones. This new edition of Wildlife Feeding and Nutrition has been thoroughly updated to reflect recent insights, especially with regard to wildlife nutrition essential to successful management either in the wild or in captivity.
Zoological garden and laboratory personnel, wildlife biologists, ecologists, animal nutritionists, and veterinarians will benefit from this new edition.

This book explores how nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy may be used for spatial structural elucidation of novel compounds from fungal and synthetic sources. Readers will discover the exciting world of NOE (nuclear Overhauser effect), RDC (residual dipolar coupling) and J-coupling constants, both short- and long range. With emphasis on obtaining structural knowledge from these NMR observables, focus is moved from solving a static 3D structure to solving the structural space inhabited by small organic molecules. The book outlines the development and implementation of two Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Correlation-type NMR experiments, and the 3D structural elucidation of multiple known and novel compounds. In addition, a new method of back-calculating RDCs (allowing for more flexible structures to be investigated), and the synthesis and evaluation of novel chiral alignment media for ab initio determination of absolute stereochemistry of small molecules using RDCs are also included. Challenges that 3D structural generation of small compounds face are also covered in this work.

With numerous methods available for the quantification of nitric oxide (NO), this detailed book explores their advantages and disadvantages in order to provide a foundation for further research in plant nitric oxide. After providing a useful practical guide to choosing a technique for measuring NO from plant materials, the book continues with chapters on chemiluminescence, diaminofluorescence (DAF), EPR spectroscopy, a laser-based method, as well as many other topics. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory methods, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Practical and authoritative, Plant Nitric Oxide: Methods and Protocols serves as a valuable guide to all researchers working and intending to work in the field of plant nitric oxide research.

Lipid Membrane Organization and Molecular Partitions: Determination of Lipid Asymmetry and Exchange in Model Membrane Systems (C. Tilcock et al.). Role of Macromolecules on Membrane Interaction: Pegylation of Membrane Surfaces (D. Fisher). Influence of Polar Polymers on the Aggregation and Fusion of Membranes (K. Arnold et al.). Role of Lipids and Proteins on Membrane Adhesion and Fusion: AnnexinPhospholipid Interactions in Membrane Fusion (P. Meers et al.). Evidence for Multiple Steps in Enveloped Virus Binding (A.M. Haywood). Physical Basis Underlying Membrane Adhesion and Fusion: Red Blood Cell Interaction with a Glass Surface (J.K. Angarska et al.). PhysicoChemical Factors Underlying Membrane Adhesion and Fusion (S. Ohki). Nine additional articles. Index.

This fully revised and updated new edition provides a comprehensive look at nitrite and nitrate and their effect on human health and disease. The first section describes the biochemical analysis of nitrite and nitrate and its role in human physiology. The book then shifts to sources of human exposure of nitrite and nitrate, including environmental and dietary. Finally, the last section discusses nitric oxide-based therapeutics and how nitrite and nitrate biochemistry can be safely harnessed to improve human health. Each chapter provides a balanced, evidence-based view and heavily cites the most recent published literature. They follow a strict chapter format which includes keywords, key points, a conclusion highlighting major findings, and extensive references. The second edition contains new chapters on nitrite and nitrate in age medicine, nitrite and nitrate as a treatment for hypertension, and nitrite and nitrate in exercise performance. Additionally, the editors have expanded the biochemistry section to include chapters on nitrate reducing oral bacteria, nitrite mediated S-Nitrosation, epigenetics and the regulation of nitric oxide, and nitrite control of mitochondrial function. Nitrate and Nitrite in Human Health and Disease, 2e, will be of interest to health professionals, nutritionists, dieticians, biomedical scientists, and food scientists.

This detailed volume explores numerous histochemical techniques through a series of lab-tested protocols for the detection of specific molecules or metabolic processes, both at light and electron microscopy. More in detail, the book is divided into six sections covering a variety of chemical targets. It begins with a section on vital histochemistry and continues with chapters on histochemistry as it relates to lectins, proteins, lipids, DNA and RNA, as well as plants. The volume also contains four overview chapters on vital histochemistry, lectin histochemistry, and DNA fluorochromes. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Histochemistry of Single Molecules: Methods and Protocols aims to effectively help scientists in very different research fields to elucidate biological issues though a unique approach to molecular biology in situ.

Now available is the second edition of a book which has been described as ..".an exceptionally lucid, easy-to-read presentation... would be an excellent addition to the collection of every analytical chemist. I recommend it with great enthusiasm." (Analytical Chemistry)

N.R. Draper reviewed the first edition in Publication of the International Statistical Institute ..".discussion is careful, sensible, amicable, and modern and can be recommended for the intended readership."

The scope of the first edition has been revised, enlarged and expanded. Approximately 30% of the text is new. The book first introduces the reader to the fundamentals of experimental design. Systems theory, response surface concepts, and basic statistics serve as a basis for the further development of matrix least squares and hypothesis testing. The effects of different experimental designs and different models on the variance-covariance matrix and on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are extensively discussed. Applications and advanced topics (such as confidence bands, rotatability, and confounding) complete the text. Numerous worked examples are presented.

The clear and practical approach adopted by the authors makes the book applicable to a wide audience. It will appeal particularly to those with a practical need (scientists, engineers, managers, research workers) who have completed their formal education but who still need to know efficient ways of carrying out experiments. It will also be an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students following courses in chemometrics, data acquisition and treatment, and design of experiments.

This book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on another planet.

Nature, by dint of its constitution, harbors many unassuming mysteries broadly manifested by its constituent cohorts. If physics is the pivot that holds nature and chemistry provides reasons for its existence, then the rest is just manifestation. Nanoscience and technology harbor the congruence of these two core subjects, whereby many phenomenon may be studied in the same perspective. That nature operates at nanoscale-obeying the principles of thermodynamics and supramolecular chemistry-is a well understood fact manifested in a variety of life processes: bones are restored after a fracture; clots potentially leading to cerebral strokes can be dissolved. The regeneration of new structures in our system follows a bottom-up approach. Be it a microbe (benign or pathogenic), plant (lower or higher), plant parts/organs, food beneficiaries, animal (lower), higher animal processing wastes, these all are found to deliver nanomaterials under amenable processing conditions. Identically, the molecules also seem to obey the thermodynamic principles once they get dissociated/ionized and the energy captured in the form of bonding helps in the synthesis of a myriad of nanomaterials. This edited volume explores the various green sources of nanomaterial synthesis and evaluates their industrial and biomedical applications with a scope of scaling up. It provides useful information to researchers involved in the green synthesis of nanomaterials in fields ranging from medicine to integrated agricultural management.

Bioremediation refers to the clean-up of pollution in soil, groundwater, surface water, and air using typically microbiological processes. It uses naturally occurring bacteria and fungi or plants to degrade, transform or detoxify hazardous substances to human health or the environment. For bioremediation to be effective, microorganisms must enzymatically attack the pollutants and convert them to harmless products. As bioremediation can be effective only where environmental conditions permit microbial growth and action, its application often involves the management of ecological factors to allow microbial growth and degradation to continue at a faster rate. Like other technologies, bioremediation has its limitations. Some contaminants, such as chlorinated organic or high aromatic hydrocarbons, are resistant to microbial attack. They are degraded either gradually or not at all, hence, it is not easy to envisage the rates of clean-up for bioremediation implementation. Bioremediation represents a field of great expansion due to the important development of new technologies. Among them, several decades on metagenomics expansion has led to the detection of autochthonous microbiota that plays a key role during transformation. Transcriptomic guides us to know the expression of key genes and proteomics allow the characterization of proteins that conduct specific reactions. In this book we show specific technologies applied in bioremediation of main interest for research in the field, with special attention on fungi, which have been poorly studied microorganisms. Finally, new approaches in the field, such as CRISPR-CAS9, are also discussed. Lastly, it introduces management strategies, such as bioremediation application for managing affected environment and bioremediation approaches. Examples of successful bioremediation applications are illustrated in radionuclide entrapment and retardation, soil stabilization and remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, plastics or fluorinated compounds. Other emerging bioremediation methods include electro bioremediation, microbe-availed phytoremediation, genetic recombinant technologies in enhancing plants in accumulation of inorganic metals, and metalloids as well as degradation of organic pollutants, protein-metabolic engineering to increase bioremediation efficiency, including nanotechnology applications are also discussed.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the microbiological fundamentals and biotechnological applications of methanotrophs: aerobic proteobacteria that can utilize methane as their sole carbon and energy source. It highlights methanotrophs' pivotal role in the global carbon cycle, in which they remove methane generated geothermally and by methanogens. Readers will learn how methanotrophs have been employed as biocatalysts for mitigating methane gas and remediating halogenated hydrocarbons in soil and underground water. Recently, methane has also attracted considerable attention as a potential next-generation carbon feedstock for industrial biotechnology, because of its abundance and low price. Methanotrophs can be used as biocatalysts for the production of fuels, chemicals and biomaterials including methanobactin from methane under environmentally benign production conditions. Sharing these and other cutting-edge insights, the book offers a fascinating read for all scientists and students of microbiology and biotechnology.

Rapid progress has been made in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cell growth and oncogenesis during the past decade. Special attention has been given to the presentation of the frequently neglected close correlation between changes in signal transduction and metabolic pathways during oncogenesis. This book advances the knowledge of mechanisms regulating metabolism and functioning of vitamin A and offers the most recent results of research on the clinical efficiency of retinoids in skin disorders and cancer. The book presents recent findings on the regulation of cell growth in normal and neoplastic tissues by growth factors including hormones, and by the activation and inactivation of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, respectively. It also offers a survey of the molecular and cell biochemistry of retinoids. Basic researchers in biochemistry, pharmacology and cell biology as well as clinicians will find this book very informative and up-to-date. This book advances the knowledge of mechanisms regulating metabolism and functioning of vitamin A and offers the most recent results of research on clinical efficiency of retinoids in skin disorders and cancer. Basic researchers in biochemistry, pharmacology, cell biology, and clinicians will find this book very informative and up-to-date. The chapters, organized in six sections, are contributed by leading scientists who have been working in the retinoid field for decades. Their experience and competence is aknowledged worldwide.

This book discusses the latest developments in plant-mediated fabrication of metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles, and their characterization by using a variety of modern techniques. It explores in detail the application of nanoparticles in drug delivery, cancer treatment, catalysis, and as antimicrobial agent, antioxidant and the promoter of plant production and protection. Application of these nanoparticles in plant systems has started only recently and information is still scanty about their possible effects on plant growth and development. Accumulation and translocation of nanoparticles in plants, and the consequent growth response and stress modulation are not well understood. Plants exposed to these particles exhibit both positive and negative effects, depending on the concentration, size, and shape of the nanoparticles. The impact on plant growth and yield is often positive at lower concentrations and negative at higher ones. Exposure to some nanoparticles may improve the free-radical scavenging potential and antioxidant enzymatic activities in plants and alter the micro-RNAs expression that regulate the different morphological, physiological and metabolic processes in plant system, leading to improved plant growth and yields. The nanoparticles also carry out genetic reforms by efficient transfer of DNA or complete plastid genome into the respective plant genome due to their miniscule size and improved site-specific penetration. Moreover, controlled application of nanomaterials in the form of nanofertilizer offers a more synchronized nutrient fluidity with the uptake by the plant exposed, ensuring an increased nutrient availability. This book addresses these issues and many more. It covers fabrication of different/specific nanomaterials and their wide-range application in agriculture sector, encompassing the controlled release of nutrients, nutrient-use efficiency, genetic exchange, production of secondary metabolites, defense mechanisms, and the growth and productivity of plants exposed to different manufactured nanomaterials. The role of nanofertilizers and nano-biosensors for improving plant production and protection and the possible toxicities caused by certain nanomaterials, the aspects that are little explored by now, have also been generously elucidated.

Retinoids have received considerable attention in recent years and due cognizance has been given to their versatility as biological response modifiers, as evidenced by the virtually explosive growth of literature in this field in the past few years. This volume has been designed to give a current state-of-the-art picture of retinoids. The perceived potential of retinoids in the treatment of certain disease stated has initiated attempts at identifying and synthesizing new retinoid derivatives with definable and selective effects on aberrant biological phenomena. Appropriately, therefore, we begin with the chemistry of retinoids and their derivatives together with discussions of their biological activity. Major advances have been made in understanding the mechanisms by which retinoids modulate physiological and phenotypic traits of cells. The transduction of retinoid signaling by the mediation of nuclear receptors of the steroid/thyroid receptor superfamily has now been studied extensively and the cloning and defining the characteristics of these receptors has been a focus of discussion in this volume. Retinoids also markedly modulate the transduction of extracellular signals such as those imparted by growth factors and hormones, and thus actively influence and control cellular proliferative patterns. Retinoids can alter epidermal growth factor receptor expression (Kawaguchi et al., 1994), responsiveness to thyroid hormone (Esfandiari et al., 1994; Pallet et al., 1994), inhibit the proliferative responses of hematopoietic progenitor cells to granulocyte colony stimulating factor (Smeland et al., 1994), and modulate secretion on interleukins by leukaemic cells (Balitrand et al., 1994), among other things. This has obvious implications for pharmacological manipulation of deregulated growth (Dickens and Colletta, 1993; Mulshine et al., 1993). Apoptosis is another component in the regulation of growth control. Apoptotic cell death is influenced by several agents and retinoids may function by interfering with apoptotic pathways of regulation of growth control and quite legitimately, therefore, the importance of this aspect of retinoid function has been duly recognized here.