A.L. Koch - Böcker

How are bacterial cells, which possess neither actin nor myosin, nevertheless able to achieve their characteristic shapes? Why are not all bacteria spherical? Over the years, Arthur Koch has explored the surface stress theory of cell wall growth along with some of the alternatives. This book is a authoritative summing up of his work in this area. It brings together biochemical, biophysical, and physiological principles, and builds upon both ultrastructural and physiological methodologies. "Bacterial Growth, Evolution and Form" deals with fundamental differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes; the mathematics of growth; protein, cell wall, and nucleic turnover; the surface stress theory; the structure and biosynthesis of peptidoglycan; the biophysical engineering of the cell envelope; the development of poles in key model bacteria such as E coli, B subtilis, and S faecium; the measurement of turgor pressure, osmotic pressure, and wall stress; cell twisting; the inner and outer membrane; and the connection between wall growth and chromosome replication. Concluding chapters discuss evolution, the retention of structural genes, and variable responses to environmental fluctuations.This book should be of interest to microbiologists and professionals in the fields of evolution, cell biology, biochemistry and biophysics.

Mathematical modelling should be regarded as just another tool by microbial ecologists. Unfortunately, they seem to shun mathematical modelling approaches to biological systems. This text, a collaboration between mathematicians and microbial ecologists, attempts to change the state of affairs. It presents approximately a dozen specific applications of mathematical modelling in microbial ecology. Among the areas touched upon are biofilms, biodegradation, bioreactors, the microbes of the gut and rumen, soil systems and nitrogen transformation, and estuarine and benthic systems.

As some of the simplest organisms, bacteria have a close connection to physics and chemistry. This book investigates how these organisms solve their problems. They do so in a way that is adequate but less dependent on the evolution of very sophisticated biological tools that are so prominent in the biology of eukaryotic plants and animals. This simplicity is a consequence of the fact that the domain of bacteria separated from the evolutionary tree earlier than the other two domains. Early parts of the book are devoted to evolutionary processes and mathematics for the study of bacteria growth. Also presented are the physics of osmotic pressure, surface tension, and relevant aspects of biochemistry.

Based on the author's more than 40 years experience, Bacterial Growth and Form examines such important questions as what bacteria were, what they are, and what they do. Particular emphasis is placed on the ability of bacteria to establish their shapes as they grow and divide. By developing an understanding of the properties of these simple and early life forms, especially at the levels of physics and mathematics, the book provides insight into the mechanism used by bacteria to subvert physical forces to their own ends. A major consideration of this work is that prokaryotes do many of the same things that eukaryotes do, but with simpler equipment employed in an extremely sophisticated way. The book illustrates this point by closely examining the basic mechanismof hydrostatic or turgor pressure: how it functions for many of the mechanical purposes in the prokaryote, how it leads to mechanisms for resisting turgor pressure, and how it ultimately led to the development of exoskeletons and endoskeletons, and to the refinement of bacteria. Bacterial Growth and Form brings together biochemical, biophysical, and physiological principles in an authoritative, single-source volume. It provides researchers, and students in biophysics and microbiology with an indispensible reference and a new perspective into the biology of life.

From the Chapman & Hall Microbiology Series this unique resource offers specific experimental and practical applications of mathematical modeling in microbial ecology. The text presents a variety of systems, ranging from subcellular systems to ecosystems, and shows how to test whether the models provide a good representation of the system.