Biological adhesives
Many plants, animals, and microbes use adhesive polymers and structures to attach to inert substrates, to each other, or to other organisms. This is the first major review that brings together research on many of the well-known biological adhesives. Emphasizing the diversity of biological adhesives and associated adhesion processes, it deals with bacteria, fungi, algae, and marine and terrestrial animals. It bridges a variety of disciplines including biochemistry, molecular biology, biomechanics, bioengineering, microbiology, organism structure and function, and ultrastructure. As we learn more about the molecular and mechanical properties of these adhesives, we begin to understand why they adhere so well and how they develop cohesive strength. With this understanding comes the prospect of developing synthetic or semi-synthetic adhesives with broad applications in areas such as medicine, dentistry, and biotechnology. The book is suitable for both industrial and academic researchers.
Bacterial Physiology : A Molecular Approach
The application of new molecular methodologies in the study of bacterial behaviour and cell architecture has enabled new revolutionary insights and discoveries in these areas. While this has also raised a number of scientific mysteries about bacteria, it certainly improved our understanding of these organisms as complex and adaptive entities rather than just simple tiny buckets of enzymes. The value of this recent knowledge in bacterial physiology is not only restricted to fundamental biology, but it also extends to biotechnology and drug-discovery disciplines where understanding cell behaviour and structure is essential for better exploitation of useful bacteria and effective eradication of harmful ones. This makes a new text accommodating recent developments in bacterial physiology highly relevant to a wide range of readership including those interested in basic and applied knowledge.

