Brüssow The Quest for Food

A Natural History of Eating
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-387-45461-0
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 866 Seiten

This book explores the links between food and human cultural and physical evolution. Each chapter begins by summarizing the basic knowledge in the field, discusses recent research results, and confirms or challenges established concepts, inviting new insight and provoking new questions. This book catalyzes discussion between scientists working on one side in food science and on the other side in biological and biomedical research.

Harald Brüssow is a Senior Research Scientist in Nestle Research Centre's Nutrition and Health Department in Lausanne, Switzerland. He received his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry at Martinsried, Germany and served on the editorial board of two journals published by the American Society for Microbiology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brüssow, Harald

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;7
2;Acknowledgments;10
3;Contents;12
4;A Nutritional Conditio Humana;18
4.1;A Few Glimpses on Biological Anthropology;18
4.1.1;An Early Venus and Breastfeeding: The Quest for Food and Sex as Driving Forces in Biology;18
4.1.2;Lady Europe's Liaison with a Bull: The Spread of Agriculture and Dairy Cultures;27
4.2;Basic Concepts on Eating;35
4.2.1;Raw Food for Thought;35
4.2.2;Thermodynamics Made Simple;37
4.2.3;Different Ways of Life;38
4.2.4;The Central Metabolic Pathway;40
4.2.5;A Few Words About ATP;42
5;Some Aspects of Nutritional Biochemistry;44
5.1;The Central Carbon Pathway;44
5.1.1;Why is Glucose the Central Fuel Molecule?;44
5.1.2;Glycolysis;45
5.1.3;Variations on a Theme;47
5.1.4;Variant Glycolytic Intermediates;53
5.1.5;Lactate and Ethanol Fermentation: A Bit of Biotechnology;55
5.1.6;A Short Running Exercise;58
5.1.7;Liaison Dangereuse: Lactate, Cancer, and the Warburg Effect;59
5.1.8;Glucokinase at the Crossroad of Cellular Life and Death;61
5.1.9;Metabolic Networks;62
5.2;De Revolutionibus Orbium Metabolicorum;70
5.2.1;Revolutionary Histories;70
5.2.2;Mitochondria as Bacterial Endosymbionts;71
5.2.3;Pyruvate Dehydrogenase: The Linker Between Pathways;73
5.2.4;On the Value of Mutants;76
5.2.5;Why is the Citric Acid Cycle so Complicated?;77
5.2.6;The Horseshoe TCA Pathway;80
5.2.7;History Might Matter: An Argument on Chance and Necessity;83
5.2.8;Metabolic Crossroads in Ancient Landscapes: NAD or NADP---That's the Question;87
5.2.9;The Logic and Adaptive Value of Metabolic Cycles;90
6;Bioenergetics;93
6.1;Oxygen;93
6.1.1;The Origin of the Electrons and Biochemical Cycles: Anatomy of Complex II;93
6.1.2;Fumarate Reductase: The Dangers with Oxygen;97
6.1.3;The Handling of Molecular Oxygen;99
6.1.4;Social Feeding in Worms Explained by Oxygen Avoidance;104
6.2;Electrons;107
6.2.1;The Chemiosmotic Hypothesis;107
6.2.2;Anatomy of the Respiratory Chain;109
6.2.3;Cytochromes bc1 and b6f;114
6.3;Protons and ATP;117
6.3.1;Proton Pumping and O2 Reduction;117
6.3.2;Purposeful Wastefulness;121
6.3.3;Fiat Lux;124
6.3.4;The Smallest Motor of the World;130
7;The Evolution of Eating Systems;136
7.1;The Beginning of Biochemistry;136
7.1.1;A Soup as a Starter? The Origin of Biochemical Cycles;137
7.1.2;On Timescales in Biology;141
7.1.3;The RNA World;143
7.1.4;The Ribosome is a Ribozyme;146
7.1.5;Demise of the RNA World;148
7.1.6;Metabolic Control by Riboswitches;149
7.1.7;Let Others do the Job: Viral Relics of the RNA Worlds;151
7.1.8;Messengers from a Precellular DNA World?;154
7.1.9;The Importance of Being Lipid Enveloped;159
7.2;Early Eaters;162
7.2.1;What is at the Root?;162
7.2.2;Hydrogen and Bioenergetics;164
7.2.3;Methanogenesis;166
7.2.4;Methanotrophs;173
7.2.5;Sulfur Worlds;178
7.2.6;Metagenomics and the Strange Appetite of Bacteria;181
7.2.7;Nutritional Interactions;185
7.2.8;Hydrothermal Vents as a Cradle of Life?;189
7.2.9;A Photosynthetic Beginning of Cellular Life?;190
7.3;Photosynthesis;195
7.3.1;One Cell for all Seasons: The Nutritional Flexibility of Purple Nonsulfur Bacteria;195
7.3.2;Cyanobacteria and the Invention of Oxygenic Photosynthesis;202
7.3.3;Getting Closer to the Water-Splitting Center: Photosystem II;207
7.3.4;Evolutionary Patchwork: Photosystem I;212
7.3.5;Speculations on the Origin of Photosynthesis;215
7.3.6;The Impact of Oxygen on the Evolution of Metabolisms on Earth;216
7.4;The Acquisition of the Atoms of Life;219
7.4.1;The Easy Acquisitions: HOP;219
7.4.2;A Demanding Step: Photosynthetic CO2 Fixation;223
7.4.3;Recycling in Biochemistry: Rubisco and the Calvin Cycle;228
7.4.4;Alternative CO2 Pathways in Autotrophic Prokaryotes;232
7.4.5;A Few Numbers on the History of CO2 Concentrations;233
7.4.6;A Tricky Business: N2 Fixation;234
7.4.7;Nitrification;240
7.4.8;Closing of the Nitrogen Cycle by Anammox Bacteria;240
7.4.9;Plant Symbiosis for Nitrogen Fixation;242
7.4.10;Sulfur Uptake by Plants;246
7.5;Nutritional Interactions in the Ocean: The Microbial Perspective;248
7.5.1;Stromatolites and Biomats;248
7.5.2;Read my Lips: Cyanobacteria at the Ocean Surface;250
7.5.3;Problems with Nitrogen Fixation for Cyanobacteria;255
7.6;A World of Iron;258
7.6.1;Iron Age in Mythology;258
7.6.2;Another Problem in Cyanobacteria: Iron Limitation;259
7.6.3;Sowing the Sea with an Iron Plow: Where Feeding Impacts on Global Climate;260
7.6.4;Photosynthesis Versus Respiration in the Ocean: The Closing of the Carbon Cycle;265
7.6.5;The Most Abundant Cells on Earth are on a Small Diet;271
7.6.6;Depth Profile;274
7.6.7;Sediments;276
7.7;Early Steps in Predation;280
7.7.1;The Phage Way of Life: Bacterium Eaters;285
7.7.2;Phages in the Microbial Loop of the Food Chain;289
7.7.3;On Starvation, Sporulation, Cannibalism, and Antibiotics: Near Death Experiences;292
7.8;Increasing Complexity;297
7.8.1;The Birth of the Eukaryotic Cell;297
7.8.2;The Story of O and the Malnourished Ocean;305
7.8.3;Vita Minima: The Reductionist Lifestyle of Protist Parasites;307
7.8.4;Primary Endosymbiosis: The Origin of Chloroplasts;310
7.8.5;Predator Protozoa…;317
7.8.6;… And How Bacteria Get off the Hook;318
7.8.7;Algal Slaves;321
7.8.8;Diatoms and the Marine Food Chain, on Toxins and Armors, Art, and Purpose;324
7.8.9;Diatom Nutrition;334
7.8.10;Dinoflagellates;340
7.9;The First Animals;343
7.9.1;The Origins and the Sponges;343
7.9.2;The Ediacaran Fauna;351
7.9.3;Cnidarians: From Sea Pens and Different Feeding Habits…;357
7.9.4;…To Reef Bleaching as Expression of Their Dynamic Symbiotic Relationships;365
7.9.5;The Cambrian Revolution;373
7.10;Vertebrates;377
7.10.1;Toward Vertebrates: An Inconspicuous Beginning as Filter Feeders;377
7.10.2;The Middle Paleozoic Marine Revolution: A Story of Jaws and Teeth;385
7.10.3;Putting Four Feet on the Ground;395
7.10.4;Mesozoic Gigantism: The Crown of the Terrestrial Carnivores?;399
7.10.5;The Invention of the Egg, Brooding and Parental Care;410
7.10.6;Mammals: Not so Modest Beginnings?;418
7.10.7;Mammals: Seamless Nutrition;422
8;The Ecology of Eating Systems;433
8.1;Eat or be Eaten: Anatomy of the Marine Food Chain;433
8.1.1;Overview;433
8.1.2;Algae and the Story of DMS;434
8.1.3;Copepods and Krill;437
8.1.4;Planktivorous Fish;442
8.1.5;Piscivorous Fish;447
8.1.6;Piscivorous Mammals;450
8.1.7;Killer Whales: Effect of a Top Predator Down the Food Chain;452
8.1.8;The Fall of the Whales;458
8.2;Life Histories Between the Land and the Sea;459
8.3;Nutritional Ecology;466
8.3.1;Trophic Cascades Across Ecosystems;466
8.3.2;The War of the Senses: The Example of Echolocation;469
8.3.3;Antipredation Strategies;476
8.3.4;Mimicry;481
8.3.5;Predator--Prey Cycles: From Chaos in the Food Web to Infectious Diseases;483
8.3.6;Toxic Predator--Prey Arms Races;491
8.4;Herbivory;499
8.4.1;Terra Firma---Bacteria and Plants Conquer the Land;500
8.4.2;Lignin Synthesis and Degradation;504
8.4.3;Taking to the Air: Early Insects;512
8.4.4;Early Herbivorous Vertebrates;523
8.4.5;A Bite of Plant Material by an Omnivore Like us;526
8.4.6;A Bioreactor Fueled by Grass;540
8.4.7;Plant Defense Against Herbivory;546
8.4.8;The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend;555
8.4.9;Herbivores: Patterns of Predation;561
9;Eating Cultures;565
9.1;Choosing Food;565
9.1.1;To Eat or Not to Eat;565
9.1.2;Food Separating Species;578
9.2;Behavior;582
9.2.1;Sharing Food and Other Goods: On Cheating and Altruism;582
9.2.2;Communicating on Food;591
9.3;Animal Technology;597
9.3.1;The Invention of Agriculture: Fungal Gardens of Ants;597
9.3.2;Tool Use and Caches in Crows;605
9.3.3;On Stone Tools and Culture in Apes;608
9.4;Human's Progress?;613
9.4.1;The Diet of Australopithecus;613
9.4.2;From Hominid Stone Tools to the Control of Fire;616
9.4.3;Hunters and Gatherers: The Origin of Grandmother's Recipe;622
9.4.4;On Neanderthals and Cannibalism;627
9.4.5;The Hobbit: Wanderer Between the Worlds;631
9.4.6;Late Pleistocene Megafauna Extinction: An Early Blitzkrieg?;633
9.4.7;The Spread of Early Agriculture;644
9.5;Domestication;647
9.5.1;The Garden of Eden: Domestication of Crops;647
9.5.2;Taming the Beast;661
9.5.3;Domestication of Moulds: Aspergillus;663
9.6;Fishery;665
9.6.1;Contemporary Fishery Problems;665
9.6.2;In Cod We Trust;666
9.6.3;History of Fishing;667
9.6.4;Aquaculture;672
9.6.5;The Lesson of the Lake Victoria;674
9.6.6;On Fishery, Bushmeat, and SARS;678
10;We as Food and Feeders;684
10.1;Prey of Microbes;684
10.1.1;A Lion's Share?;684
10.1.2;The Haunted Hunter…;686
10.1.3;… And the Risks of Animal Farming;689
10.1.4;Problems of Food Safety: BSE;697
10.2;Going for our Blood;701
10.2.1;Real-life Draculas;701
10.2.2;Hitchhiking the Blood Sucker;705
10.3;Going for our Gut;711
10.3.1;The Land Where Milk and Honey Flows;711
10.3.2;The Thin Line Between Symbiont and Pathogen;719
10.3.3;Janus Faces: The Case of Vibrio cholerae;727
10.3.4;From Gut to Blood: The Battle for Iron;734
10.4;Viruses Going for Gut or Genome;740
10.4.1;Portrait of a Killer Virus;740
10.4.2;A Glimpse into the World of Retroelements;748
10.4.3;The Sense of Life;751
11;An Agro(-Eco)nomical Outlook: Feeding the Billions;755
11.1;Malthus: Doomsday Versus Science and Technology?;755
11.2;From the Green Revolution to Organic Farming;760
11.3;From Biodiversity to the Wood Wide Web: On Rice and Grassland Productivity;765
11.4;The Rice Blast Fungus: A Threat to World Food Security?;771
11.5;Sowing Golden Rice in the Field?;775
11.6;A Story Without End?;782
12;References;786
13;Biochemical Back-ups;847
13.1;Web References;847
13.2;Chapter 1;848
13.3;Chapter 2;848
13.4;Chapter 3;849
13.5;Chapter 4;850
13.6;Chapter 5;855
13.7;Chapter 6;856
13.8;Chapter 7;857
13.9;Chapter 8;858
14;Index;859