For some 50 years, Professor Asakawa and his group have focused their research on the chemical constituents of bryophytes and have found that these plants contain large numbers of secondary metabolites, such as terpenoids, acetogenins, and aromatic compounds representative of many new skeletons, which exhibit interesting biological activities. Individual terpenoids, when found as constituents of both a bryophyte and a higher plant, tend to occur in different enantiomeric forms. Professor Asakawa has covered the literature on bryophytes in two earlier volumes of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, namely, Volumes 42 (1982) and 65 (1995). Since the publication of the latter volume, a great deal of new information has appeared on bryophytes. One example is that known sex pheromones of algae have been discovered in two liverworts, indicating that some members of the latter taxonomic group might originate from brown algae. From information provided in this volume, it is suggested that two orders of the Marchantiophyta should be combined.

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is increasingly used in the fields of plant chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Advantages such as speed, versatility, and low cost make it one of the leading techniques used for locating and analyzing bioactive components in plants. Thin Layer Chromatography in Phytochemistry is the first sourc

This second edition of Modern Bacterial Taxonomy has been completely revised and expanded to include detailed coverage of molecular systematics including relevant aspects of nucleic acid sequences, the construction of phylogenetic trees, typing of bacteria by restriction fragment length polymorphisms, DNA hybridization probes and the use of the polymerase chain reaction in bacterial systematics.

Biotechnology is the application of biological agents in either manufacturing industry or service operation. The essence of biotechnology is its multi-disciplinary nature requiring wide range of science and engineering inputs. The ultimate success of biotechnology is dependent upon advances in and support for the fundamental sciences which form its substratum. In this book, some important features of microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, and engineering which have a significant bearing on the education and development of biotechnology are highlighted. This book may stimulate the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents in the service of the most urgent human needs.

For several decades botanists have been impressed by the discovery that the distribution of secondary plant substances follows the general lines of plant relationships. However, it soon became clear that little was to be gained from the study of individual compounds and their natural distribu tion. Therefore, more comprehensive studies were attempt ed in which the secondary chemistry of a major plant group was carefully studied and evaluated in the broader context of comparative phytochemistry. Holger Erdtman's admir able work on Coniferae is the foremost example of this kind. Since then, there has been an upswing in the study of the biosynthesis of secondary plant substances and it has become quite customary to make use of biosynthetic knowledge in interpreting chemosystematic evidence. More over, since taxonomists have insisted that use be made of all potentially available evidence for building classifications, it has been claimed that chemosystematics too should con sider the whole array of constituents present in a major taxon. However, in practice it has proved difficult to utilize fully the potential of natural product chemistry and biosynthetic studies for plant systematics and evolution, because bota nists found themselves rather disorientated by the scattered, often hardly accessible chemical literature and the fact that the chemical evidence was difficult for them to evaluate! Although the pioneering work of E. C.

The powerful, efficient technique of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is essential to the standardization of plant-based drugs, identification of plant material, and creation of new herbal medicines. Filling the void in this critical area, High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Phytochemical Analysis is the first book to give a comp

Plant classifications are based on morphological characters and it is difficult, particularly in small plants and grasses, to identify these below generic level on the basis of these characters using a dissecting microscope. Plant species have intra- and inter-specific variation in secondary metabolites which can be utilized as marker compounds for identification and classification of plants. Secondary metabolites are produced as a result of primary metabolism and the production of these compounds not only involves several genes but also it is an energy dependent process. Hence these products cannot be considered as insignificant for the plant and the environment. Modern tools of molecular biology and secondary metabolites present in them can definitively decide about classification of plants. Absence of correct identification of plant is associated to many problems of resource utilization. Due to wide availability of these tools, interest has revived in systematics and correct classification of plants based on these parameters for their sustainable utilization and resource management. The purpose of this book is to assess the potential of phytochemical and molecular tools in the systematic and classification of plants. The topics covered include species concept, barcoding and phylogenetic analysis, chemotaxonomy use of polyketides, carotenes, cuticular wax, volatile oils, biodiversity of corals, metazoans, Ruta and Echinocereus. It provides comprehensive and broad subject-based reviews, useful for students, teachers, researchers, and all others interested in the field. The field has been kept wide and general to accommodate the wide-ranging topics. This book will be useful to agriculturists, chemists, botanists, industrialists, and those involved in planning of crop plants.