Main description:

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.

Feature:

Unique synopsis of the state-of-the-art of scientific research

Numerous examples of broadly applicable bioinformatic techniques

Illustrates the connections between scientific information from the molecular to ecosystem levels

Back cover:

Recent advances in the genomics of photosynthetic organisms, coupled with increased understanding photosynthetic mechanisms, provides new perspectives on the function and evolution of the photosynthetic mechanisms.  Correspondingly, a central theme of the book is the application of comparative methods that exploit the explosive growth in biological sequence data to inform our understanding of the operation and evolution of photosynthetic mechanisms.  Since many of the relevant structures and pathways are increasingly well-understood, a goal is to integrate the genomics with this structural and mechanistic knowledge.

Contents:

From the Series Editor.- Contents.- Preface.- The Editors.- Contributors.- Author Index.- 1. Functional Genomics in an Ecological and Evolutionary Context: Maximizing the Value of Genomes in Systems Biology; David M. Ward et al.- 2. Probing Functional Diversity of Thermophilic Cyanobacteria in Microbial Mats; Devaki Bhaya.- 3. Comparative and Functional Genomics of Anoxygenic Green Bacteria from the Taxa Chlorobi, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria; Donald A. Bryant et al.- 4. Recent Functional Genomics Studies of Marine Synechococcus; Brian Palenik.- 5. Functional Analysis of the Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 Genome; You Chen et al.- 6. Understanding Photosynthetic Electron Transport using Chlamydomonas: The Path from Classical Genetics to High Throughput Genomics; Arthur R. Grossman; Shaun Bailey et al.- 7. Functional Genomics Dissection of Photosynthetic Mechanisms in Arabidopsis thaliana; Wei Chi, Lixin Zhang.- 8. Evolutionary Integration of Chloroplast Metabolism with the Metabolic Networks of the Cell; Marc Linka, Andreas P.M. Weber.- 9. Phototrophic CO2 Fixation: Recent Insights into Ancient Metabolisms; Thomas E. Hanson et al.- 10. Evolutionary Relationships among Antenna Proteins of Purple Phototrophic Bacteria; Andrew S. Lang et al.- 11. The Extended Light-Harvesting Complex (LHC) Protein Superfamily: Classification and Evolutionary Dynamics; Johannes Engelken et al.- 12. The Evolution of Type I Reaction Centers: The Response to Oxygenic Photosynthesis; Bharat Jagannathan et al.- 13. Patterns of Structural Conservation and Divergence of the Photosystem II complex; Aparna Nagajajan, Robert L. Burnap.- 14. Bioinformatic Identification and Structural Characterization of a New Carboxysome Shell Protein; Fei Cai et al.- 15. The Physiology and Functional Genomics of Cyanobacterial Hydrogenases and Approaches toward Biohydrogen Production; Jens Appel. Index.