Part 2=Volume 14B.

D. BOULTER and B. PARTHIER At the time of the former edition of the Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, approximately 25 years ago, no complete plant protein amino acid sequences or nucleic acid sequences had been determined. Although the structure of DNA and its function as the genetic material had just been reported, little detail was known of the mechanism of its action, and D. G. CATCHSIDE was to write in the first chapter of the first volume of the Encyclopedia: "There is a consider able body of evidence that the gene acts as a unit of physiological action through the control of individual enzymes". No cell-free transcription and pro tein-synthesizing systems were available and the whole range of powerful meth ods of recombinant DNA technology was still to be developed. Today for the first time with plant systems, it is possible not only to describe their molecular biology but also to manipulate it, i. e. , to move from a description to a technological phase. The properties of living systems are inscribed by those of the proteins and nucleic acids which they synthesize. Proteins, due to their very large size, occur as macromolecules in colloidal solution or associated in supra-molecular colloi dal form. The colloidal state confers low thermal conductivity, low diffusion coefficients and high viscosity, properties which buffer a biological system from the effects of a changing environment. Biological systems not only have great stability, but also the capacity to reproduce.

With contributions by numerous experts

With contributions by numerous experts

V. 1 The plant cell. v. 2. Metabolism and respiration. v. 3. Carbohydrates. v. 4. Lipids. v. 5. Amino acids and derivates. v. 6. Proteins and nucleic acids. v. 7. Secondary plant products. v. 8. Photosynthesis. v. 9. Lipids: structure a nd function. v. 10. Photosynthesis. v. 11. Biochemistry of metabolism. v. 12. P hysiology of metabolism. v. 13. Methodology. v. 14. Carbohydrates. v. 15. Molecular biology. v.16. Intermediary nitrogen metabolism.

This volume collects a number of the invited lectures and a few selected contrib utions presented at the International Symposium on Structure and Dynamics of Nucleic Acids, Proteins and Membranes held August 31st through September 5th, 1986, in Riva del Garda, Italy. The title of the conference as well as a number of the topics covered represent a continuation of two previous conferences, the first held in 1982 at the University of California in San Diego, and the second in 1984 in Rome at the Accademia dei Lincei. These two earlier conferences have been documented in Structure and Dynamics: Nucleic Acids and Proteins, edited by E. Clementi and R. H. Sarma, Adenine Press, New York, 1983, and Structure and Motion: Membranes, Nucleic Acids and Proteins, edited by E. Clementi, G. Corongiu, M. H. Sarma and R. H. Sarma, Adenine Press, New York, 1985. At this conference in Riva del Garda we were very hesitant to keep the name of the conference the same as the two previous ones. Indeed, a number of topics discussed in this conference were not included in the previous ones and even the emphasis of this gathering is only partly reflected in the conference title. An alternative title would have been Structure and Dynamics of Nucleic Acids, Proteins, and Higher Functions, or, possibly, "higher components" rather than "higher functions.