Winslow Briggs obtained his acadmic degrees from Harvard University almost fifty years ago. He spent most of his career at Stanford University, interrupted by a brief return to Harvard. He is currently professor emeritus of Stanford University and of the Carnegie Institution, where he is heading a research laboratory in the Department of Plant Biology. Professor Briggs has received numerous scientific awards including the Stephen Hales Prize of the American Society of Plant Physiologists and the Sterling Hendricks medal jointly bestowed by the USDA and the American Chemical Society. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a long-time editor of the Annual Review of Plant Physiology. John Spudich received his PhD in biophysics from UC Berkeley working on chemotaxis, and conducted postdoctoral research on light-entrainment of circadian rhythms at Harvard and on photochemistry of retinal proteins at UCSF. In 1980, he joined the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Since 1991 he is professor at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where he presently holds the Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry and is director of the Center for Membrane Biology. Professor Spudich recently received the Research Award of the American Society for Photobiology, as well as an NIH MERIT award. Together with Winslow Briggs, he has founded a new series of Gordon Conferences on Photosensory Receptors and Signal Transduction.Animal vision, the flowering of plants, and light-seeking movement of microbes are all examples of light-controlled behavior mediated by photosensory receptors. Upon illumination, these specialized pigment-containing proteins trigger a physiological response. Understanding their molecular function is the basis for the dissection of higher-level processes, such as biological rhythms and the sleep-wake cycle, plant development, and microbial ecological organization. This first comprehensive resource on photosensory receptors from archaea, bacteria, plants and animals compiles the data on all known classes of photoreceptors, creating a must-have reference for students and researchers for many years to come. Each of the molecular mechanisms of light perception is systematically covered, with emphasis given to the primary photoreceptor pigments, their photochemistry and regulation. As such, this is the first resource to compare the different types of photosensory receptors found in different organisms, as well as their role in cellular physiology. From the contents: Microbial Rhodopsins: Phylogenetic and Functional Diversity Sensory Rhodopsin Signaling in Green Flagellate Algae Visual Pigments as Photoreceptors Structural and Functional Aspects of Rhodopsin Conserved Features of Inner Retinal Photoreception in Rodents, Man, and Teleost Fish Phytochrome Signaling Phytochromes in Microorganisms Light-Activated Intracellular Movement of Phytochromes Plant Cryptochromes Animal Cryptochromes Blue-Light Sensing and Signaling by the Phototropins LOV-Domain Photochemistry The Zeitlupe Family of Putative Photoreceptors Photoreceptor Gene Families in Lower Plants Neurospora Photoreceptors Photoactive Yellow Protein, The Xanthopsin Hypericin-Like Photoreceptors Photoactivated Adenylyl Cyclase The editors are two of the world's leading experts in photosensory biology, and have served as presidents of the American Society for Photobiology, American Society of Plant Biologists, and the American Institute of Biological Scientists.This first complete resource on photosensory receptors from bacteria, plants and animals compiles the data on all known classes of photoreceptors, creating a must-have reference for students and researchers for many years to come. Among the editors are the current and a former president of the American Society for Photobiology."...a nice, broad overview and will be a must for researchers in photobiology, as well as for university libraries." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 2006)"This first comprehensive resource on photosensory receptors from archaea, bacteria, plants and animals compiles the data on all known classes of photoreceptors, creating a must-have reference for students and researchers for many years to come. Each of the molecular mechanisms of light perception is systematically covered, with emphasis given to the primary photoreceptor pigments, their photochemistry and regulation. As such, this is the first resource to compare the different types of photosensory receptors found in different organisms, as well as their role in cellular physiology."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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