The Biochemistry of Plants

Under the capable and qualified editorial leadership of Dr. Gerald Litwack, Vitamins and Hormones continues to publish cutting-edge reviews of interest to endocrinologists, biochemists, nutritionists, pharmacologists, cell biologists, and molecular biologists. First published in 1943, Vitamins and Hormones is the longest-running serial published by Academic Press. In the early days of the Serial, the subjects of vitamins and hormones were quite distinct. Now, new discoveries have proved that several of the vitamins function as hormones and many of the substances inferred by the title of the Serial function in signal transduction processes. Accordingly, the Editor-in-Chief has expanded the scope of the Serial to reflect this newer understanding of function-structure relationships in cellular communication. The Editorial Board now reflects expertise in the field of hormone action, vitamin action, X-ray crystal structure, physiology, and enzyme mechanisms.The Biochemistry of Plants, Volume 14: Carbohydrates provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of plant biochemistry. This book deals with the function and structure of the plant cell wall by describing the physical and chemical properties of cell wall components.Organized into 11 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of hexose phosphate metabolism in nonphotosynthetic tissues. This text then examines the findings in fructan structures, conformations, and linkages, the enzymes involved in fructan synthesis and degradation, and their cellular regulation, location, and metabolic role in plants. Other chapters consider the methods employing enzymes to determine starch structure. This book discusses as well the different biosynthetic modes of plant cell walls. The final chapter deals with the various environmental factors that influence expression of the ?-amylase gene, suggesting how molecular biology may help in understanding carbohydrate biochemistry and the enzymes involved in carbohydrate synthesis and metabolism.This book is a valuable resource for plant biochemists.