R. Blankenship – Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis (2014)

Автор: R. Blankenship
Название книги: Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Биологические науки
Страницы: 314
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

With the clear writing and accessible approach that have made it the authoritative introduction to the field of molecular photosynthesis, this fully revised and updated edition now offers students and researchers cutting-edge topical coverage of bioenergy applications and artificial photosynthesis; advances in biochemical and genetic methods; as well as new analytical techniques. Chapters cover the origins and evolution of photosynthesis; carbon metabolism; photosynthetic organisms and organelles; and the basic principles of photosynthetic energy storage. The book's website includes downloadable PowerPoint slides.

It is now more than ten years since the first edition
of Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis was
published. In that time, the scientific understanding
of how photosynthesis works has continued
to progress. The success of the first edition has
prompted numerous requests for a second edition,
which I ampleased to provide. I have tried to update
the text to reflect this new understanding. The overall
organization of the second edition is similar to the
first, except that the material in chapters 6 and 7 has
been reorganized significantly to improve the presentation,
and two new chapters have been added.
One is on theuse of chlorophyll fluorescence inphotosynthesis,
while the other is on artificial photosynthesis
and bioenergy applications.
This book is an introduction to the basic concepts
that underlie the process of photosynthesis as well
as a description of the current understanding of the
subject. Because it is such a complex process that
requires some knowledge of many different fields of
science to appreciate, it can be intimidating for a person
who is not already conversant with the basics of
all these fields. For this reason, a brief overview is
provided in the first chapter, introducing and summarizing
themain concepts. This chapter is then followed
by a more in-depth treatment of each of the
main themes in later chapters.
Photosynthesis is perhaps the best possible example
of a scientific field that is intrinsically interdisciplinary.
Our discussion of photosynthesis will
span time scales from the cosmic to the unimaginably
fast, from the origin of the Earth 4.5 billion
years ago, to molecular processes that take only a
few femtoseconds. This is a range of over 32 orders
of magnitude. Appreciating this extraordinary scale
will require us to learn a range of vocabularies and
concepts that stretch from geology through physics
and chemistry, to biochemistry, cell and molecular
biology, and finally to evolutionary biology.Any person
who wishes to appreciate the big picture of how
photosynthesis works, and how it fits into the broad
scope of scientific inquiry, needs to have at least a
rudimentary understanding of all of these fields of
science. This is an increasingly difficult task in this
age of scientific specialization, because no one can
truly be an expert in all areas. This book attempts
to provide the starting point for a broadly based
understanding of photosynthesis, incorporating key
concepts from across the scientific spectrum. The
emphasis throughout the bookwill be onmolecularscale
mechanistic processes.
Many of the concepts that we will explore
throughout the bulk of this book require an understanding
of basic concepts of physical chemistry,
including thermodynamics, kinetics, and quantum
mechanics. It is beyond the scope of our broad,
and therefore necessarily brief, treatment of photosynthesis
to provide a comprehensive background
in these areas that form the core of the mechanistic
aspects of the subject. However, some modest
understanding of these physical principles is essential
to be able to appreciate the essence of the photosynthetic
process. This is addressed in an appendix
that introduces the physical basis of light and energy.
This appendix can either be read as a preface to
the bulk of the book or consulted as needed as a
reference.
The book is aimed towards advanced undergraduates
and beginning graduate students in a range
of disciplines, including life sciences, chemistry, and
physics. An understanding of basic principles of
chemistry, physics, and biology is assumed.