Ion Interactions in Energy Transfer Biomembranes, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1986

The Expert Committee on Biomaterials and Biotechnology for the European and the North American Region was founded by the General Assembly of UNESCO at its 21st Session, in 1981. The Committee comprises a Coordinating Group and four working Groups, defined in the following scientific areas: Group I Proteins: source, structure and function. Group II Nucl~ic acids: the hereditary materials. Group III Im~une materials and mechanisms. Membranes and transport in biosystems. Group IV In fulfilment of one of the objectives of the Committee, which have been adopted by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1981, namely the intensification of the exchange of scientific information on biomaterials and biotechnology, working Group IV organized an international workshop on Ion Interactions in Energy Transport Systems, which was convened in Athens, Greece, from 8 to 12 April, 1985. Scientific papers presented at that workshop make up the chapters presented in this volume. The present volume focusses on natural and artificial membranes that are involved in energy transduction. Several chapters are devoted to membranes and membrane components that convert and utilize light, such as the thylakoid membrane of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms (eukaryotic and prokaryotic), the chromatophore membrane of nonoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and the purple membrane of the halophilic bacteria. Other systems examined include the mitochondrial membranes and their adenine nucleotide carrier, the plasma membrane of animal cells, and lipid bilayer vesicles, either reconstituted or not, with enzymes.

Surface Electrical Phenomena in Biological Membranes, Functional Implications.- The Electrostatic and Electrokinetic Properties of Biological Membranes: New Theoretical Models and Experimental Results.- Effect of the Surface Potential on Membrane Enzymes and Transport.- Regulation of Thylakoid Membrane Structure by Surface Electrical Charge.- Surface Potential in Energized Mitochondria.- A Reevaluation of the Surface Potential of the Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Using ESR Techniques.- Functional Interaction of Anions and Cations with the Reconstituted Adenine Nucleotide Carrier from Mitochondria.- Surface Electric Properties of Cyanobacterial Thylakoids.- Change of Surface Potential and Intramembrane Electrical Field Induced by the Movements of Hydrophobic Ions Inside Chromatophore Membranes of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides Studied by Responses of Merocyanine Dye and Intrinsic Carotenoids.- Interactions of Divalent Cations with Planar Lipid Membranes Containing Phosphatidylserine.- Proton Motive Force and Ion Pumps.- Kinetic Analysis of Time Resolved Proton Diffusion on Phospholipid Membrane.- Control of Mitochondrial Respiration by the Protonmotive Force.- Nonlinearity of the Flux/Force Relationship in Respiring Mitochondria as a Possible Consequence of Heterogeneity of Mitochondrial Preparations.- Proton Currents and Local Energy Coupling in Thylakoids: A Survey.- The Protonmotive Activity of Energy Transfer Proteins of Mitochondria.- Proton Transport-Coupled ATP Synthesis Catalyzed by the Chloroplast ATPase.- Comparison of the Two Retinal Proteins Bacteriorhodopsin and Halorhodopsin.- Measurement of Proton/M412 Ratios in Suspensions of Purple and White Membrane from Halobacterium Halobium.- On the Folding of Bacteriorhodopsin.- Stacking of Purple Membranes in vitro.- Plasma Membrane Potential of Animal Cells Generated by Ion Pumping, not by Ion Gradients.- Bacterial Mutants Resistant to Uncouplers.- Ionic Regulation of Energy Transfer in Photosynthetic Systems.- Regulation of Photosynthetic Electron Transport by Protein Phosphorylation.- Modulation of the PSI Unit Cross Section as Monitored by the Low-Temperature Fluorescence Ratio F685/F730 at 77°K of the Pigment-Protein Complex CPIa.- Studies on Energy Partitioning Between the two Photosystems.- Ionic Effects on the Lateral Segregation of Chlorophyll-Proteins During Restacking of Thylakoid Membranes.- Lipid Structures and Lipid-Protein Interactions in Thylakoid Membranes.- Ion Requirements of Photosynthetic Electron Transport.- Action of Bicarbonate on Photosynthetic Electron Transport in the Presence or Absence of Inhibitory Anions.- The Anion and Calcium Requirement of the Photosynthetic Water Splitting Complex.- The Role of Water-Soluble Polypeptides and Calcium in Photosynthetic Oxygen Evolution.- Modulation of the Hill Reaction Rates by Ions Interacting with the Outer Surface of Cyanobacterial Thylakoids.- Immobilized Chloroplast Membranes: Effects of Cations and Antichaotropes Anions.- Anionic Inhibition of PS II: Insights Derived from Carbonic Anhydrase.