Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Energy metabolism and phylogenetic diversity of sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 2 Molecular strategies for studies of natural populations of sulphate-reducing microorganisms
- 3 Functional genomics of sulphate-reducing prokaryotes
- 4 Evaluation of stress response in sulphate-reducing bacteria through genome analysis
- 5 Response of sulphate-reducing bacteria to oxygen
- 6 Biochemical, proteomic and genetic characterization of oxygen survival mechanisms in sulphate-reducing bacteria of the genus Desulfovibrio
- 7 Biochemical, genetic and genomic characterization of anaerobic electron transport pathways in sulphate-reducing Delta proteobacteria
- 8 Dissimilatory nitrate and nitrite ammonification by sulphate-reducing eubacteria
- 9 Anaerobic degradation of hydrocarbons with sulphate as electron acceptor
- 10 Sulphate-reducing bacteria from oil field environments and deep-sea hydrothermal vents
- 11 The sub-seafloor biosphere and sulphate-reducing prokaryotes: their presence and significance
- 12 Ecophysiology of sulphate-reducing bacteria in environmental biofilms
- 13 Bioprocess engineering of sulphate reduction for environmental technology
- 14 Bioremediation of metals and metalloids by precipitation and cellular binding
- 15 Enzymatic and genomic studies on the reduction of mercury and selected metallic oxyanions by sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 16 Sulphate-reducing bacteria and their role in corrosion of ferrous materials
- 17 Anaerobic metabolism of nitroaromatic compounds and bioremediation of explosives by sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 18 Sulphate-reducing bacteria and the human large intestine
- Index
- Plate section
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Energy metabolism and phylogenetic diversity of sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 2 Molecular strategies for studies of natural populations of sulphate-reducing microorganisms
- 3 Functional genomics of sulphate-reducing prokaryotes
- 4 Evaluation of stress response in sulphate-reducing bacteria through genome analysis
- 5 Response of sulphate-reducing bacteria to oxygen
- 6 Biochemical, proteomic and genetic characterization of oxygen survival mechanisms in sulphate-reducing bacteria of the genus Desulfovibrio
- 7 Biochemical, genetic and genomic characterization of anaerobic electron transport pathways in sulphate-reducing Delta proteobacteria
- 8 Dissimilatory nitrate and nitrite ammonification by sulphate-reducing eubacteria
- 9 Anaerobic degradation of hydrocarbons with sulphate as electron acceptor
- 10 Sulphate-reducing bacteria from oil field environments and deep-sea hydrothermal vents
- 11 The sub-seafloor biosphere and sulphate-reducing prokaryotes: their presence and significance
- 12 Ecophysiology of sulphate-reducing bacteria in environmental biofilms
- 13 Bioprocess engineering of sulphate reduction for environmental technology
- 14 Bioremediation of metals and metalloids by precipitation and cellular binding
- 15 Enzymatic and genomic studies on the reduction of mercury and selected metallic oxyanions by sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 16 Sulphate-reducing bacteria and their role in corrosion of ferrous materials
- 17 Anaerobic metabolism of nitroaromatic compounds and bioremediation of explosives by sulphate-reducing bacteria
- 18 Sulphate-reducing bacteria and the human large intestine
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Recognition of the biological nature of sulphate reduction in natural environments, and identification of the bacterial species involved dates to the latter part of the nineteenth century, and the seminal work of such giants of the early days of microbiology as Beijerinck and Winogradsky. The central role of environmental studies in highlighting the issues to be addressed and the problems to be solved, has remained to this day a constant theme in microbiological analyses of the sulphate reducers.
The modern era of such analyses, however, can be said to date from the period around 1960 when the demonstrations by Postgate and Peck, respectively, of the presence of cytochromes and of phosphorylation linked to anaerobic respiration in sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB), fundamentally altered our view of the biochemical nature of these organisms and, in particular, of their mechanisms of energy conservation.
There then followed a period of intense activity centred on: elucidation of the metabolic pathways of substrate utilisation and the mechanisms of energy generation; cultural techniques and the identification of an ever-increasing number of new species; and the appreciation of their significant role in maintaining, or disrupting, the biological balance of many natural and man-made ecosystems.
These themes of biochemistry and cell physiology, phylogeny, and ecology remain central to the understanding of SRB themselves, and of their interactions with other components of the biosphere. In recent years, however, their study has undergone a further paradigm shift with the introduction of the many powerful experimental techniques and analytical approaches of molecular biology.
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- Sulphate-Reducing BacteriaEnvironmental and Engineered Systems, pp. xvii - xviiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007