Metabolomics : The frontier of systems biology
Metabolism is the sum of the chemical reactions in cells that produce life-sustaining chemical energy and metabolites. In the post-genome era, metabolism has taken on new significance for biological scientists: metabolites are the chemical basis of phenotypes that are final expressions of genomic information. This book covers research on metabolomics, ranging from the development of specialized chemical analytical techniques to the construction of databases and methods for metabolic simulation. The authors have been directly involved in the development of all the subject areas, including capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, metabolic databases, and metabolic simulation. Breakthrough achievements and the future of metabolome studies are described, making this book a valuable source for researchers in metabolomics in diverse fields, such as plant, animal, cellular, microbial, pharmaceutical, medical, and genetic sciences.
Gene Expression and Regulation
This book offers a comprehensive look into the science of gene expression and regulation. Focusing on topics such as actions of nuclear receptors, RNA processing, and DNA methylation and imprinting, Gene Expression and Regulation is edited by a leading biologist and includes contributions by experts in the field. Presented in the following five sections, this book covers a full spectrum of topics: The History; The Machinery; The Regulators; The Genome; and Special Topics. The Machinery section covers the transcriptional apparatus and general transcription factors. The Regulators section examines selected gene-specific transcription factors important to regulating gene expression. The Genome section covers issues relevant to the behavior of the genome in relation to gene regulation. The Special Topics section discusses several selected topics ranging from bacterial and plant gene expression to DNA topology and interference RNA. The book’s focus is on scientific concepts and issues, rather than specific organisms or experimental approaches.
Endosperm : Developmental and Molecular Biology
This book is the first comprehensive overview of the developmental and molecular biology of endosperm. The text covers cereal endosperm development from fertilization to maturity, including molecular and cell biology of the syncytial phase, the cellularization process and cell fate specification of the embryo surrounding region cells, the basal transfer cells, the starchy endosperm and aleurone cells. In addition, endosperm development in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana is covered, along with recent progress in endosperm in vitro culture. Special features of endosperm, such as imprinting, polyploidy, programmed cell death and anthocyanin biosynthesis, are described in separate chapters. Finally, the genes and pathways for the main nutritional components of endosperm, storage proteins and starch are covered in detail.


