Aquatic Photosynthesis is a comprehensive guide to understanding the evolution and ecology of photosynthesis in aquatic environments. This second edition, thoroughly revised to bring it up to date, describes how one of the most fundamental metabolic processes evolved and transformed the surface chemistry of the Earth. The book focuses on recent biochemical and biophysical advances and the molecular biological techniques that have made them possible. In ten chapters that are self-contained but that build upon information presented earlier, the book starts with a reductionist, biophysical description of the photosynthetic reactions. It then moves through biochemical and molecular biological patterns in aquatic photoautotrophs, physiological and ecological principles, and global biogeochemical cycles. The book considers applications to ecology, and refers to historical developments. It can be used as a primary text in a lecture course, or as a supplemental text in a survey course such as biological oceanography, limnology, or biogeochemistry.

Preface to the Second Edition ixPreface to the First Edition xi
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Photosynthesis in Aquatic Systems 1
Chapter 2: Light Absorption and Energy Transfer in the Photosynthetic Apparatus 44
Chapter 3: The Photosynthetic Light Reactions 81
Chapter 4: Photosynthetic Electron Transport and Photophosphorylation 118
Chapter 5: Carbon Acquisition and Assimilation 156
Chapter 6: The Molecular Structure of the Photosynthetic Apparatus 201
Chapter 7: Photosynthesis in Continuous Light 237
Chapter 8: Making Cells 278
Chapter 9: Photosynthesis and Primary Production in Nature 319
Chapter 10: Aquatic Photosynthesis in Biogeochemical Cycles 364
References 411
Index 465