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Each of the twenty chapters in The Photochemistry of Carotenoids is written by leading experts in the area of carotenoid research and gives a comprehensive overview of a particular topic in the field. The book is organized into five sub-areas: (1) Biosynthetic pathways and the distribution of carotenoids in photosynthetic organisms; (2) Structure of carotenoid-chlorophyll protein complexes; (3) Electronic structure, stereochemistry, spectroscopy, dynamics and radicals; (4) Eco-physiology and the xanthophyll cycle; and (5) Model systems. Correlations between the photochemical behavior of carotenoids in vitro and in vivo are discussed. The various contributions review the basic hypotheses about how carotenoids function and give details regarding testing different molecular models using state-of-the-art experimental methodologies.
The book is intended for use by beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate students and researchers in Plant Physiology, Ecology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Medicine, and will also be extremely useful as a general reference on photochemical processes in Chemistry, Physics and Biology.
List of contents
Biosynthetic Pathways and the Distribution of Carotenoids in Photosynthetic Organisms.- Carotenoids in Photosynthesis: An Historical Perspective.- Carotenoid Synthesis and Function in Plants: Insights from Mutant Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana.- Carotenoids and Carotenogenesis in Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria.- Structure of Cartotenoid-Chlorophyll Protein Complexes.- The Structure and Function of the LH2 Complex from Rhodopseudomonas acidophila Strain 10050, with Special Reference to the Bound Carotenoid.- Carotenoids as Components of the Light-harvesting Proteins of Eukaryotic Algae.- The Structure of Reaction Centers from Purple Bacteria.- Carotenoids and the Assembly of Light-harvesting Complexes.- Electronic Structure, Stereochemistry, Spectroscopy, Dynamics and Radicals.- The Electronic States of Carotenoids.- Cis-Trans Carotenoids in Photosynthesis: Configurations, Excited-State Properties and Physiological Functions.- The Electronic Structure, Stereochemistry and Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Carotenoids.- Electron Magnetic Resonance of Carotenoids.- Carotenoid Radicals and the Interaction of Carotenoids with Active Oxygen Species.- Incorporation of Carotenoids into Reaction Center and Light-Harvesting Pigment-protein Complexes.- Ecophysiology and the Xanthophyll Cycle.- Ecophysiology of the Xanthophyll Cycle.- Regulation of the Structure and Function of the Light Harvesting Complexes of Photosystem II by the Xanthophyll Cycle.- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Xanthophyll Cycle.- Relationships Between Antioxidant Metabolism and Carotenoids in the Regulation of Photosynthesis.- Model Systems.- Novel and Biomimetic Functions of Carotenoids in Artificial Photosynthesis.- Physical Properties of Carotenoids in the Solid State.- Carotenoids in Membranes.
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`...this book can certainly be recommended as a valuable source fo information for researchers, and as a useful introductory text for advanced students.But the broad spectrum represented by the various authors will be appreciated by plant physiologists, biologists, chemists, and physicists working in photosynthesis research and related fields.'
Journal of Plant Physiology, 158 (2001)
`This book is a useful analysis for all scientists interested in the photoprotective role of carotenoids.'
Plant Science, 161(2001)
