The use of fermentation in food processing was originally developed as amethodforpreserving foodandhasprobablybeen practisedsince mankind has been living in settlements. Nowadays food biotechnology involves a lot more than simply preventing spoilage and ranges from improving salub- ousness, improving texture to enriching foodstuffs with substances that are favourable to health and well-being and the prevention of illness. The basic principle of fermentation is mostly to exploit the metabolism of a speci?c microorganism.The activityofthese microorganismstakes place inthe fo- stuff itself or in the intestine (probiotica), whereby they produce primary or secondary metabolites via the fermentation process. Naturally, probiotica or metabolites in particular can be produced as pure cultures or as pure s- stances and can then be administered as pharma productsor foodadditives. The foodbiotechnology?eldis extremely broadandis developing rapidly. An important factor is that the average age of humans is increasing, but the age of well-being, that is how long one feels 't and healthy, is stagnating. It has been shown that this so-called age of well-being can be in?uenced by individual nutrition habits and, complemented by genetic predisposition, can even be increased. In addition, common diseases and illnesses such as the prevalence of being overweight or diabetes can even be prevented through food, pro- and prebiotica and food additives. One emphasis of this volume is onthis area.

The use of fermentation in food processing was originally developed as amethodforpreserving foodandhasprobablybeen practisedsince mankind has been living in settlements. Nowadays food biotechnology involves a lot more than simply preventing spoilage and ranges from improving salub- ousness, improving texture to enriching foodstuffs with substances that are favourable to health and well-being and the prevention of illness. The basic principle of fermentation is mostly to exploit the metabolism of a speci?c microorganism.The activityofthese microorganismstakes place inthe fo- stuff itself or in the intestine (probiotica), whereby they produce primary or secondary metabolites via the fermentation process. Naturally, probiotica or metabolites in particular can be produced as pure cultures or as pure s- stances and can then be administered as pharma productsor foodadditives. The foodbiotechnology?eldis extremely broadandis developing rapidly. An important factor is that the average age of humans is increasing, but the age of well-being, that is how long one feels 't and healthy, is stagnating. It has been shown that this so-called age of well-being can be in?uenced by individual nutrition habits and, complemented by genetic predisposition, can even be increased. In addition, common diseases and illnesses such as the prevalence of being overweight or diabetes can even be prevented through food, pro- and prebiotica and food additives. One emphasis of this volume is onthis area.

The possession of plasmids was for a long time recognized only in the bacteria. It is now evident that plasmids, or replicative forms of DNA structurally and experimentally comparable to bacterial plasmids, exist in eukaryotic organisms as well. Such plasmids are in fact common among fungi and higher plants. The present review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive account of the data available on plasmids found in eukaryotic organisms. This review will not consider plasmids of prokaryotic origin, even though certain bacterial plasmids, such as the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmids of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, may be intimately associated with transformation of the eukaryotic host. This book, moreover, does not consider transformation experiments in eukaryotic hosts involving viral DNA as vectors, although indeed such vectors have been developed for use in plant and animal systems. After a general introduction, providing historical perspective on the nature and role of plasmids, a list of eukaryotic plasmids will be presented according to their origin. This is followed by a detailed discussion of known structure and function. In subsequent chapters the practical implications of eukaryotic plasmids for molecular cloning and biotechnology will be discussed. This latter part traces the development of interest'in biotechnical genetics and gives special consideration to the use of eukaryotic systems for gene cloning. The terminology biotechni cal genetics is introduced to the reader and is used in a general sense as equivalent to genetic engineering. Biotechnical genetics includes, but is not limited to, gene cloning through recombinant DNA technology."

Im Rahmen einer sinnvollen Neugliederung des Biologiestudiums ist man an den meisten Universitaten vom Schema der beiden klas- sischen ganztagigen GroBpraktika (Phanerogamen und Kryptogamen) abgegangen, und zwar in Bezug auf Umfang wie auch Inhalt. Es erscheint im Hinblick auf eine funktionsbezogene Betrachtungs- weise angebracht, den Erwerb von Grundkenntnissen in den Paktika nicht nur auf ein morphologisch-anatomisches Studium der ein- zelnen Taxa zu beschranken, sondern dabei die Entwicklung und den funktionellen Zusammenhang der verschiedenen Fortpflanzungs- Systeme zu erarbeiten. Auf diese Weise dUrfte die Relevanz der Kryptogamen fUr physiologische und genetische Probleme deutlich werden, zu deren Bearbeitung sie schon seit einiger Zeit in immer groBerem Umfange verwendet werden. Unter diesen Gesichtspunkten haben wir versucht, unsere bisherige Praktikums-Erfahrung mit Kryptogamen zusammenzustellen. Auf der Basis eines straff gefaBten lehrbuchartigen Textes werden Ubungs- anleitungen vorgelegt, die als EinfUhrung in die Kryptogamen- kunde gedacht sind. Die Bakterien werden nicht behandelt, da diese nach den neueren Studienplanen in mikrobiologischen Kursen angeboten werden. Der Stoff ist als ein Maximalprogramm anzu- sehen, das dem Studenten eine Ubersicht Uber den morphologisch- anatomischen Aufbau und Uber die wichtigsten Aspekte der Fort- pflanzung dieser Pflanzengruppe vermitteln, dem Veranstalter des Kurses die Moglichkeit zur Auswahl bestimmter Objekte bie- ten solI. Ferner solI das Buch erste Anleitungen bei der Einar- beitung in ein neues Forschungsobjekt aus dem Bereich der nie- deren Pflanzen vermitteln.