Nico M. van Straalen - Böcker

The genomics revolution has expanded from its origins in molecular biology to impact upon every discipline in the life sciences, including ecology. Several lines of ecological research can now be profitably addressed using genomics technology, including issues of nutrient cycling, population structure, life-history variation, trophic interaction, stress responses, and adaptation to environmental change. This new edition addresses a series of fundamental ecological questions: the relationship between community structure and ecological function in ecosystems; how variation in life-history patterns among species can be explained from interaction between the genome and the environment; the molecular responses to changing and toxic environmental conditions; adaptive phenotypes and their relationship to genetic variation. Each of these questions is evaluated in the light of recent advances in genomics research, paying particular attention to data obtained from sequencing and screening of environmental genomes (metagenomics), microarray-based transcription profiling, gene expression directed by signal-transduction pathways, and the analysis of genomic polymorphisms. The chapters covering these key areas are preceded by discussions of genomics methodology (including an overview of next-generation sequencing technologies) and comparative genomics, and the book concludes with a chapter on integrative approaches such as ecological control analysis. The authors also provide a comparative survey of the properties of genomes (genome size, gene families, synteny, and polymorphism) for prokaryotes as well as the main eukaryotic models. An Introduction to Ecological Genomics incorporates a balance of plant, animal, and microbial examples, and continues to define the new and exciting field of ecological genomics.

The genomics revolution has expanded from its origins in molecular biology to impact upon every discipline in the life sciences, including ecology. Several lines of ecological research can now be profitably addressed using genomics technology, including issues of nutrient cycling, population structure, life-history variation, trophic interaction, stress responses, and adaptation to environmental change. This new edition addresses a series of fundamental ecological questions: the relationship between community structure and ecological function in ecosystems; how variation in life-history patterns among species can be explained from interaction between the genome and the environment; the molecular responses to changing and toxic environmental conditions; adaptive phenotypes and their relationship to genetic variation. Each of these questions is evaluated in the light of recent advances in genomics research, paying particular attention to data obtained from sequencing and screening of environmental genomes (metagenomics), microarray-based transcription profiling, gene expression directed by signal-transduction pathways, and the analysis of genomic polymorphisms. The chapters covering these key areas are preceded by discussions of genomics methodology (including an overview of next-generation sequencing technologies) and comparative genomics, and the book concludes with a chapter on integrative approaches such as ecological control analysis. The authors also provide a comparative survey of the properties of genomes (genome size, gene families, synteny, and polymorphism) for prokaryotes as well as the main eukaryotic models. An Introduction to Ecological Genomics incorporates a balance of plant, animal, and microbial examples, and continues to define the new and exciting field of ecological genomics.

While the subject of environmental stress in animals is broad, the available information is fragmentary and lacks an up-to-date overview and analysis. Environmental Stress and Cellular Response in Arthropods fills these knowledge gaps. Written by three experts from the same institution, the chapters have a consistency not often found in multi-authored or contributed books. The authors describe environmental stress in arthropods, specifically Drosophila and analyze the process in all its aspects, from biochemical mechanisms to effects on the whole organism.Incorporating new information that has become available in recent years, the authors explore hypotheses about the integrated response these systems often have. They explore topics ranging from disturbance of homeostasis, changes in metabolic processes, damage of cellular structures to acquired tolerance, effects on aging processes, and survival and cell death. By analyzing all these aspects in detail at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological level of the cell, the authors give you a thorough look at the relationship between an organism and its environment at the cellular level.

While the subject of environmental stress in animals is broad, the available information is fragmentary and lacks an up-to-date overview and analysis. Environmental Stress and Cellular Response in Arthropods fills these knowledge gaps. Written by three experts from the same institution, the chapters have a consistency not often found in multi-authored or contributed books. The authors describe environmental stress in arthropods, specifically Drosophila and analyze the process in all its aspects, from biochemical mechanisms to effects on the whole organism.Incorporating new information that has become available in recent years, the authors explore hypotheses about the integrated response these systems often have. They explore topics ranging from disturbance of homeostasis, changes in metabolic processes, damage of cellular structures to acquired tolerance, effects on aging processes, and survival and cell death. By analyzing all these aspects in detail at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological level of the cell, the authors give you a thorough look at the relationship between an organism and its environment at the cellular level.

Soil invertebrates make up diverse communities living in soil pores and on the soil surface, digging burrows and tunnels, processing organic matter and interacting with microbes. Soil is also a habitat of growing concern as many human activities cause soil degradation. This book documents the evolutionary history of soil invertebrates and their multitude of adaptations. Soil invertebrates live in a twilight zone: some have gone down to seek stability, constancy and rest, others have gone up and faced environmental variation, heat, cold and activity. And it all happens in a few decimetres, millimetres sometimes. Check out the wonderful life below ground in this book.