B.J. Wood - Böcker

Experiments on rocks, minerals, magmas and fluids have contributed to the better understanding of geological processes in recent years. This introduction to experimental geochemistry and petrology is intended to stimulate earth scientists to further experimentation. With the use of case histories illustrating principles and techniques, the authors explain why experiments are useful, what kind of work can be done, what some of the major problems and limitations are and how they can be avoided.

Beginning with an introduction to relevant genetic techniques, chapters cover all major groups of LAB, including the Bifidobacteria; plasmid biology, gene transfer, phage, and sugar metabolism; gene expression of various LAB; applications for genetically engineered LAB, including the emerging field of medical applications; and the legal and consumer issues that arise from such applications. This resource aims to set the benchmark for the state of knowledge of LAB genetics and should be of value to food scientists and other researchers working with LAB in its present and future capacities. Professionals using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for research and/or as working organisms, whether in food and dairy fermentations or in the exciting new field of clinical delivery agents, will find this book invaluable. In addition, professors teaching under- and post-graduates in microbiology, and postgraduate research students will also find this an essential reference work.

This is the second volume in the Lactic Acid Bacteria Series and concentrates on the classification of the genera which has undergone considerable change in recent years. In this volume, a chapter is devoted to each of the principal genera of lactic acid bacteria which are now recognized. These chapters include discussion of the phytogenetic position of the genus in question and its relationship to other genera of lactic acid bacteria, a description of the principal features which are characteristic of the genus, and descriptions of the species in the genus. This book is an essential source of reference for dairy technologists, microbiologists and biotechnologists in the academic and industrial sectors. This book should be of interest to dairy technologists, microbiologists and biotechnologists in the academic and industrial sectors.

This book represents a comprehensive update and considerable expansion of the successful first edition of this title. All the major groups of foodstuffs whose preparation involves a fermentation are discussed, including cheese and other milk products, vegetables, vinegar, bread, sausages and beverages. The emphasis is on the microbiology of fermentation processes but the technology, processing, biochemistry, nutrition, markets and marketing are also covered. Important additions include chapters on the fermented foods of India, the Middle and Far East, and a chapter devoted to shoyu, miso and related products.

This volume, the first in a series on the lactic acid bacteria, offers a series of reviews by carefully selected experts drawn from several countries. Although there have been a number of excellent conferences on the lactic acid bacteria in recent years there is no publication which brings together the topics explored so thoroughly in the present text. Several topics will have particular interest to the agriculture industry, including spoilage in sugar productions, lactic acid bacteria in plant silage and conversation/upgrading of other materials for use in animal feeding, coffee, and cocoa fermentations and the role of sporolactobacilli. A review of factors governing the competitive behavior of lactic acid bacteria in mixed cultures ties together a number of the themes developed in other chapters.

Today large numbers of geoscientists apply thermodynamic theory to solu­ tions of a variety of problems in earth and planetary sciences. For most problems in chemistry, the application of thermodynamics is direct and rewarding. Geoscientists, however, deal with complex inorganic and organic substances. The complexities in the nature of mineralogical substances arise due to their involved crystal structure and multicomponental character. As a result, thermochemical solutions of many geological-planetological problems should be attempted only with a clear understanding of the crystal-chemical and thermochemical character of each mineral. The subject of physical geochemistry deals with the elucidation and application of physico-chemical principles to geosciences. Thermodynamics of mineral phases and crystalline solutions form an integral part of it. Developments in mineralogic thermody­ namics in recent years have been very encouraging, but do not easily reach many geoscientists interested mainly in applications. This series is to provide geoscientists and planetary scientists with current information on the develop­ ments in thermodynamics of mineral systems, and also provide the active researcher in this rapidly developing field with a forum through which he can popularize the important conclusions of his work. In the first several volumes, we plan to publish original contributions (with an abundant supply of back­ ground material for the uninitiated reader) and thoughtful reviews from a number of researchers on mineralogic thermodynamics, on the application of thermochemistry to planetary phase equilibria (including meteorites), and on kinetics of geochemical reactions.

The fifth volume in this series is focused on the chemical and physical interactions between rocks undergoing metamorphism and the fluids that they generate and that pass through them. The recognition that such pro­ cesses can profoundly affect the course of metamorphism has resulted in a number of recent papers and we consider that it is time for a review by some of the interested parties. We hope our selection of contributors provides an adequate cross section and demonstrates some of the flavor of this rapidly developing field. A cursory examination of the volume will reveal that there are widely divergent opinions on the compositions of metamorphic fluids and on the ways in which they interact physically and chemically with the rocks through which they pass. Since our own views are extensively discussed in Chapters 4 and 8, we leave the reader to determine his own brand of the "truth. " We wish to thank D. Bird, S. Bohlen, D. Carmichael, G. Flowers, C. Foster, C. Graham, E. Perry, J. Selverstone, R. Tracy, J. Valley, and R. Wollast for their chapter reviews. Thanks are also due C. Cheverton for her editorial assistance, and the helpful staff at Springer-Verlag New York.

Beginning with an introduction to relevant genetic techniques, chapters cover all major groups of LAB, including the Bifidobacteria; plasmid biology, gene transfer, phage, and sugar metabolism; gene expression of various LAB; applications for genetically engineered LAB, including the emerging field of medical applications; and the legal and consumer issues that arise from such applications. This resource will set the benchmark for the state of knowledge of LAB genetics and should be of value to food scientists and other researchers working with LAB in its present and future capacities. Professionals using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for research and/or as working organisms, whether in food and dairy fermentations or in the exciting new field of clinical delivery agents, will find this book invaluable. In addition, professors teaching under- and post-graduates in microbiology, and postgraduate research students will also find this an essential reference work.

The Lactic Acid Bacteria is planned as a series in a number of volumes, and the interest shown in it appears to justify a cautious optimism that a series comprising at least five volumes will appear in the fullness of time. This being so, I feel that it is desirable to introduce the series by providing a little of the history of the events which culminated in the decision to produce such a series. I also wish to indicate the boundaries of the group 'The Lactic Acid Bacteria' as I have defined them for the present purposes, and to outline my hopes for future topics in the series. Historical background lowe my interest in the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to the late Dr Cyril Rainbow, who introduced me to their fascinating world when he offered me a place with him to work for a PhD on the carbohydrate metabolism of some lactic rods isolated from English beer breweries by himself and others, notably Dr Dora Kulka. He was particularly interested in their preference for maltose over glucose as a source of carbohydrate for growth, expressed in most cases as a more rapid growth on the disaccharide; but one isolate would grow only on maltose. Eventually we showed that maltose was being utilised by 'direct fermentation' as the older texts called it, specifically by the phosphorolysis which had first been demonstrated for maltose by Doudoroff and his associates in their work on maltose metabolism by a strain of Neisseria meningitidis.