Description
Book SynopsisDiscussing the major issues of microbial biodiversity, this book provides readers with a clear perspective of how it differs from that of plants and animals as well as how it has evolved. Bringing together experts from around the world, the book offers a unique source of information that spans the diversity of microbial life.
Trade Review"...memorizing bacterial taxa or biochemical pathways in the absence of an evolutionary framework leaves much to be desired. If you or your students would be more enthusiastic if this were done in association with evolutionary concepts...then you will enjoy learning more about the latest research?this book is an excellent place to start." (
The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 77, No. 3, September 2002)
Table of ContentsPreface.
Contributors.
Perspective: Microbiology in Transition (C. Woese).
PART I: EVOLUTION AND DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS IN ECOSYSTEMS.
A Microbiological Perspective of Biodiversity (J. Staley).
Natural History of Microorganisms Inhabiting Hot Spring Microbial Mat Communities: Clues to the Origin of Microbial Diversity and Implications for Microbiology and Marcobiology (D. Ward, et al.).
Microbial Mats and Biofilms: Evolution, Structure, and Function of Fixed Microbial Communities (A. Teske & D. Stahl).
PART II: PHYSIOLOGICAL AND METABOLIC DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS.
Evolution of Energy Metabolism (J. Leigh).
Evolution and Diversity of Photosynthethic Prokaryotes (B. Pierson).
Diversity of Microbial Heterotrophic Metabolism (J. Perry).
PART III: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY OF MAJOR ECOSYSTEMS.
Exploring the Diversity of SoilA Microbial Rain Forest (D. Buckley & T. Schmidt).
Marine Prokaryote Diversity (M. Suzuki & E. DeLong).
PART IV: BIODIVERSITY AND ROLE OF MICROORGANISMS IN PLANT AND ANIMAL SYMBIOSES.
Plant--Microbe Symbioses: An Evolutionary Survey (R. Goodman & J. Weisz).
Insights from Insect-Microbe Symbioses (M. Kane & U. Mueller).
Getting in Touch with Your Prokaryotic Self: Mammal--Microbe Interactions (A. Salyers & J. Shipman).
PART V: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY OF EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS.
Microbial Diversity of Marine and Terrestrial Thermal Springs (A.-L. Reysenbach, et al.).
And Some Like it Cold: Sea Ice Microbiology (J. Staley, et al.).
The Deep Subsurface Biosphere (T. Stevens).
PART VI: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY, BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE OF BIODIVERSITY.
Exploiting Microbial Diversity (A. Kuo & G. Garrity).
The Future of Microbial Diversity Research (R. Colwell).
Index.
