Algae have become the favoured object for a whole range of studies in various areas of biology. This first volume in the new series Experimental Phycology comprises 16 contributions presented at the Gottingen algal symposium in September 1989. The articles are centered around several major themes of current interest to algologists and cell biologists. Topics reviewed cover: - "cell walls and " "surfaces" cellulose biosynthesis, scale structures, algal symbionts in ciliates and lichens, cell wall autolysins, marine biofouling, - "reproduction" cell differentiation in "Volvox," the polyspermy block, mitosis in diatoms, nuclear behaviour and cytokinesis in green algae, - "algal evolution" ribosomal RNA sequences, chloroplast evolution, and - "photosynthesis: " phycobilisomes, chlororespiration, thylakoid architecture, electron transfer."