Lipids in Evolution

William R. Nes

ISBN 10: 1468436856 / ISBN 13: 9781468436853

Editore: Springer US, Springer New York, 2013

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Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - A turning point seems to have been reached recently in our understanding of biological systems. After about 1930, when it became possible to examine the dynamic aspects of a cell seriously and to increase the breadth of our knowledge of the chemicals which are involved, there was a feeling that the elucidation of a pathway or the use to which a compound or a process was put biologically had a ubiquitous character. Among the reasons for believing this was the constancy of the amino acid building blocks for proteins. Not only were the same general structures found regardless of organismic type, but the stereochemistry was the same. This sort of observation led to the idea of the 'unity of nature. ' Few people, of course, thought a complete unity existed, because it was already known in the latter part of the nineteenth century that the sterols, the polysaccharides, and the pigments of various organisms could be substantially different, but only recently, during the last decade or so, has the fuH scope ofthe difference-as weil as ofthe similarity-begun to emerge. Of particular importance, it has now become evident that a large hiatus exists between some types of organism. Even more important, perhaps, and certainly more unexpected, are the substantial gaps which have been discovered within otherwise similar organisms. The evolutionary process is presumably behind what we observe, and therefore an understanding of the rules and regulations which govern similarity and difference should eventually lead to an elucidation of evolution itself.

Codice articolo 9781468436853

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Lipids in Evolution
• Editore: Springer US, Springer New York
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1468436856
• ISBN 13: 9781468436853
• Rilegatura: Taschenbuch
• Condizione: Neu
• Dimensioni: 229 L x 152 A x 15 P (millimetri) 229 millimetri di larghezza per 152 millimetri di altezza per 15 millimetri di profondità
• Peso: 382 grammi

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

A turning point seems to have been reached recently in our understanding of biological systems. After about 1930, when it became possible to examine the dynamic aspects of a cell seriously and to increase the breadth of our knowledge of the chemicals which are involved, there was a feeling that the elucidation of a pathway or the use to which a compound or a process was put biologically had a ubiquitous character. Among the reasons for believing this was the constancy of the amino acid building blocks for proteins. Not only were the same general structures found regardless of organismic type, but the stereochemistry was the same. This sort of observation led to the idea of the "unity of nature. " Few people, of course, thought a complete unity existed, because it was already known in the latter part of the nineteenth century that the sterols, the polysaccharides, and the pigments of various organisms could be substantially different, but only recently, during the last decade or so, has the fuH scope ofthe difference-as weil as ofthe similarity-begun to emerge. Of particular importance, it has now become evident that a large hiatus exists between some types of organism. Even more important, perhaps, and certainly more unexpected, are the substantial gaps which have been discovered within otherwise similar organisms. The evolutionary process is presumably behind what we observe, and therefore an understanding of the rules and regulations which govern similarity and difference should eventually lead to an elucidation of evolution itself.

Contenuti

1 · Introduction.- 2 · The Nature of Lipids.- 3 · Dating and Chronology.- A. Orienting Remarks.- B. The Age of the Universe.- C. The Age of the Earth.- D. Continental Posiltion and Age.- E. Dating of Biological Events.- 4 · The Paleontological Record.- A. Extraterrestrial Lipids and Other Molecules.- 1. Cosmic Atoms and Molecules.- 2. Molecules on the Moon.- 3. Molecules in Meteorites.- B. Terrestrial Fossils.- 1. Molecular Fossils.- 2. Organismic Fossils.- C. Evolutionary Lines.- 5 · The Origin of Oxygen.- A. Geological and Astrophysical Evidence.- B. The Lipid Testimony.- 1. Anaerobic Biosynthesis.- 2. Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Desaturation of Fatty Acids.- 3. Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Growth of Yeast.- 4. Anaerobic Biosynthesis in Aerobes.- 5. Sterol Biosynthesis and Phyla Evolution.- 6. Sterol Biosynthesis in Prokaryotes.- 7. The Possibility of Recapitulation.- 8. Additions of Aerobic Steps.- C. Summary.- 6 · The Temperature and pH Problem.- A. Maximum Limits for Organisms.- B. Lipids of Thermophiles.- 1. Cyanidium caldarium.- 2. The Genus Mastigocladus.- 3. The Genus Synechococcus.- 4. The Genus Thermus.- 5. The Genus Bacillus.- 6. The Genus Sulfolobus.- 7. Thermoplasma acidophilum.- C. Summary.- 7 · Phylogenetics and Occurrence.- A. Orienting Remarks.- B. Affinities among Individuals and Species.- 1. General Remarks.- 2. Individual Differences.- 3. Interspecific Relations among Bacteria.- 4. Sterols as a Genus Marker.- 5. Interspecific Significance of Fatty Acids, Fatty Alcohols, and Hydrocarbons.- 6. Interspecific Sesqui-, Di-, and Triterpenoids.- 7. Cyanolipids as Genus Markers.- 8. Summary.- C. Affinities among Genera and Families.- 1. Halogenated Lipids.- 2. Cyanolipids.- 3. Sulfolipids.- 4. Fatty Alcohols.- 5. The Terpenes of Photosynthetic Plants and Insects.- 6. Bacterial Lipids.- 7. Lipids of Photosynthetic Prokaryotes.- 8. Lipids of Fungi.- 9. Lipids of Invertebrate Animals.- 10. Sterols of Eukaryotes.- 8 · Phylogenetics and Biosynthesis.- A. Sterol Biosynthesis.- 1. Photosynthetic vs. Nonphotosynthetic Routes.- 2. Plant vs. Animal Routes.- 3. Primitive Routes.- 4. Sequence.- B. Fatty Acid Biosynthesis.- 1. Orienting Remarks.- 2. Nonphotosynthetic Eukaryotes.- 3. Photosynthetic Eukaryotes.- 4. Prokaryotes.- 5. Unusual Fatty Acids.- C. Hydrocarbon Biosynthesis.- 9 · Conclusions.- References.- Author Index.