Written primarily for mid- to upper-level undergraduates, this title the mechanisms of photosynthesis, its role in the evolution of plant-related organisms, from cyanobacteria to flowering plants, and its wider ecological and climatic significance.The primer brings together the latest research to show how the process of photosynthesis has evolved over the last three to four billion years - from its beginnings in bacteria to the various refinements now present in modern land plants.The authors explain how repeated endosymbiotic and gene gain/loss events have led to the evolution of the various algal groups and related non-photosynthetic groups, and how photosynthesis was modified as plants evolved and diversified into different ecological niches around the world. The role ofphotosynthesis in the alteration of the geology and biology of the earth, which enabled the colonisation of the land by plants and animals, is also explored. Finally, this title examines the limitations of photosynthesis and the emerging biotechnological improvements that could make this vitalprocess even more attractive as a source of clean energy, food and other industrial products.Photosynthetic Life is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources.The ebook offers a mobile experience and convenient access: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks.The online resources include:For students:- Self-test questionsFor registered adopters of the book:DT Figures from the book, available to download

Photosynthesis has been an important field of research for more than a century, but the present concerns about energy, environment and climate have greatly intensified interest in and research on this topic. Research has progressed rapidly in recent years, and this book is an interesting read for an audience who is concerned with various ways of harnessing solar energy.Our understanding of photosynthesis can now be said to have reached encyclopedic dimensions. There have been, in the past, many good books at various levels. Our book is expected to fulfill the needs of advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in branches of biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and bioengineering because photosynthesis is the basis of future advances in producing more food, more biomass, more fuel, and new chemicals for our expanding global human population. Further, the basics of photosynthesis are and will be used not only for the above, but in artificial photosynthesis, an important emerging field where chemists, researchers and engineers of solar energy systems will play a major role.

A revelatory journey of discovery into the intricate, beautiful, and often surprising processes that convert energy from the sun into life, and how all-important these are to our survival—and our planet’s future It’s a clunky word for a miracle: Photosynthesis. But there’s no life on Earth without it. For biologist Raffael Jovine, it’s a consuming passion, a great unsung force of nature. He makes his case in How Light Makes Life, a catalog of living wonders—and a blueprint for a better planet. Imagine harvesting pure sunlight to use as fuel, while turning carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. This is what a leaf does every day. And photosynthesis isn’t just for plants: Corals partner with photosynthetic organisms to create the most productive habitat on Earth. Slugs eat chloroplasts as natural green camouflage. Hornets use photosynthesis as an innovative means of air-conditioning—and much more! The revelatory vision of How Light Makes Life is how we ourselves might harness the power of photosynthesis: to repair ecosystems, stabilize the climate, and grow more food sustainably. On this vivid journey, you’ll see how every seed contains the key to our future—through the photosynthetic pigments in your own eyes!

Sixteen topics from the results of the research project "Molecular Mechanisms for Responses of the Photosynthetic Apparatus to the Environment," are documented in this excellent and timely work. Photosynthesis research has a long history in Japan, and many Japanese laboratories working in this field have been very active and productive. Based on the foundation established by these laboratories, the research reflected in this book focuses on elucidating the interactions between photosynthesis and the environment, with special emphasis on the molecular aspects of these interactions. The major purpose of the research was to identify specific genes required for (a) repair of the organisms from stress-induced damage to the photosynthetic machinery and (b) acclimation of photosynthetic processes to specific changes in environmental conditions. Once specific genes were identified, the effects of expression (and overexpression) of these genes in transgenic plants on acclimation processes were analyzed. Through the analysis of transgenic plants and cyanobacteria, the volume clarifies a number of molecular mechanisms by which plants acclimate to environmental variations, and the factors that govern recovery from stress-induced damage, especially with respect to the photosynthetic apparatus. A treatize on stress physiology and photosynthesis, the book also indicates the agricultural usefulness of transgenic plants and microalgae which are produced to study the molecular mechanisms of the tolerance of plants to changes in their environment.

Written primarily for mid-to-upper level undergraduates, this title provides an introduction to the evolution of the photosynthetic organisms that dominate the biosphere and underpin the rest of life on Earth.

Photobiology - the science of light and life - begins with basic principles and the physics of light and continues with general photobiological research methods, such as generation of light, measurement of light, and action spectroscopy. In an interdisciplinary way, it then treats how organisms tune their pigments and structures to the wavelength components of light, and how light is registered by organisms. Then follow various examples of photobiological phenomena: the design of the compound eye in relation to the properties of light, phototoxicity, photobiology of the human skin and of vitamin D, photomorphogenesis, photoperiodism, the setting of the biological clock by light, and bioluminescence. A final chapter is devoted to teaching experiments and demonstrations in photobiology. This book encompasses topics from a diverse array of traditional disciplines: physics, biochemistry, medicine, zoology, botany, microbiology, etc., and makes different aspects of photobiology accessible to experts in all these areas as well as to the novice.

"Read this book and you will learn how photosynthesis was discovered, how it works, and how we can produce more food to feed the world." - PAUL NURSE, Nobel Prize winner and author of What is Life? In Light to Life, biologist Raffael Jovine takes us on a journey of discovery into the intricate, beautiful and often surprising processes that convert energy from the sun into life and how all-important these are to our survival. Despite the unprecedented challenges the Earth faces from global warming, habitat loss, air pollution and population growth; Jovine shows us that there is hope to be found. Photosynthesis is the very source of life: it has the power not just to produce food, but to reshape continents, drive biogeochemical cycles, stabilise the climate and regulate weather. In this exciting, revelatory book, Jovine unveils a blueprint for the future: greening the desert, bringing the ocean on land, planting mangrove forests and oyster banks, growing algae for animal feed, human food and soil carbon... He demonstrates how by harnessing photosynthesis we can regenerate the planet and revise the way we human beings interact with it. This book will help you to see the world in a different way, in all its wonderful detail - through the photosynthetic pigments in your eyes.

New possibilities have been brought about by the stunning number of genomic sequences becoming available for photosynthetic organisms. This new world of whole genome sequence data spans the phyla from photosynthetic microbes to algae to higher plants. These whole genome projects are intrinsically interesting, but also inform the variety of other molecular sequence databases including the recent 'meta-genomic' sequencing efforts that analyze entire communities of organisms. As impressive as they are, are obviously only the beginning of the effort to decipher the biological meaning encoded within them. This book aims to highlight progress in this direction. This book aims toward a genome-level understanding of the structure, function, and evolution of photosynthetic systems and the advantages accrued from the availability of phyletically diverse sets of gene sequences for the major components of the photosynthetic apparatus. While not meant to be fully comprehensive in terms of the topics covered, it does provide detailed views of specific cases and thereby illustrates important new directions that are being taken in this fast-moving field—a field that involves the integration of bioinformatics, molecular biology, physiology, and ecology.