The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes [Hardcover]

David White (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195125797 | ISBN-13: 978-0195125795 | Publication Date: September 2, 1999 | Edition: 2

Ideal for graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in microbial physiology and biochemistry, The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes, 2/e, covers the basic principles of prokaryotic physiology, biochemistry, and cell behavior. Concise and detailed, it discusses a broad range of topics including intermediary metabolism, macromolecular synthesis, cell growth and division, and responses to changes in external growth conditions. Metabolic and behavioral activities of different bacteria and archaea are described and compared with each other. The text is organized by topic--as opposed to by organism--to help students comprehend the general principles of physiology and metabolism. It is extensively referenced and includes endnotes that provide students with additional information such as the experimental bases for several of the major conclusions. Each chapter concludes with a summary emphasizing the major points covered and a set of study questions.
Revised and updated throughout, this second edition features new chapters on macromolecular synthesis and the response of bacteria to environmental stress. It also includes new material on cell division and extracellular polysaccharide synthesis and expands the chapter on signaling. The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes, 2/e, provides more detail on the diversity of microbial systems and how they work than all similar texts. It can be used in conjunction with a laboratory manual, Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory: A Quantitative Approach, coauthored by David White and George D. Hegeman (OUP, 1997).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent. Comprehensive."--Jon Takemoto, Utah State University

"Most readable and organized text available."--Franklin R. Champlin, Mississippi State University

About the Author

David White, Professor of Microbiology, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (September 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195125797
• ISBN-13: 978-0195125795
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A difficult but useful book, July 31, 2005

By 

Larissa Parsley "incurable bookworm" (Alabama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes (Hardcover)

Although it seems impossible to have just one text on the huge field of microbial physiology, this book makes a very valiant effort to be just that. The details are painstakingly researched, the text is concise and clear (no fluff anywhere!), and for such a small book, the author does a masterful job of presenting a huge amount of useful information.

Of course, every book has its downfalls, the main one of this book being its lack of helpful illustrations. Sometimes you just MUST HAVE some help visually to understand something (e.g. mixed acid fermentation, sporulation) and this book often didn't offer that. (Even if there WAS a figure, it was so hard to decipher that you'd be better off with nothing at all.) Also, some huge areas of microbial physiology were completely left out like bacterial stress response.

Overall, not the best but not the worst. It's certainly not a waste of money, but you might want to have some sort of companion book to supply your diagrams and illustrations.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old School vs. New School Bacterial Metabolism, February 15, 2008

By 

Major Microbe (Santa Barbara, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes (Hardcover)

As the review title suggests, I come from the old school of studying bacterial metabolism. My choice, still all these years after grad school and years of research & work, is H.W. Doelle's Bacterial Metabolism (unfortunately out of print). However, I discovered White's text while visiting the University of Oklahoma 2 years ago (the 2nd edition). The 3rd edition is an improvement with better diagrams and drawings. The collection of symbols and equations at the front of the book is very usefull with having it all in one place. However, Doelle'a approach is in some ways more stimulating with the first 2 chapters dealing with the thermodynamics, enzymology, and growth kinetics immediately. If you are weak in the areas of bacterial structures and dynamics, White gives an excellent approach to all of the cellur structures of prokaryotes. Doelle on the other hand concentrates exclusively on the actual chemistry of bacterial metabolism. Another strength of White is his introduction to solute & protein transportation. Along with this, White's final 2 chapters on adaptation and environmental stress response are very valuable additions. Without White's approach to increasing the reader's understanding the environment and its impact on the microbe, the study of metabolism is only an esoteric exercise. One of my major frustrations with White's work was the lack of extensive references of the various metabolic pathways and types with specific genus and/or species of bacteria. It is left up to the reader to find alternate sources for this application. Doelle, on the other hand, provides copious references. In the end, I believe White's work to be a central addition to the understanding and manipulation of the microbial metabolic processes. With the microbial world being "our enemy - our friend," White's work will go along way in helping us fragile humans to compete and coexist with this diverse group that co-inhabits this singular orb with us.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good information, poor illustrations, December 22, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes (Hardcover)

I used this text as a supplement for my microbial physiology class and found the explantions good, if not complete. The problem I had was that the graphic representations used to show varying processes were either very lacking, or completely absent. Most good science texts use detailed illustrations and colored ink. This text provides neither and would probably serve the more experienced bacterial physiologist as a good reference.