This is the first volume to provide comprehensive coverage of acetogenesis. Leading experts present state-of-the-art research, investigating the structure and function relationship of key acetogenic processes, including synthesis of ATP, the conservation of energy, and intersecting metabolic pathways. It explores the interactions between acetogenic bacteria and the flow of matter and energy, giving the reader an integrated perspective on acetogens and the environment. It presents landmark advances in the biochemistry, phylogeny, and molecular biology of acetogens, with lucid explanations of background material, making this volume accessible to newcomers to the subject. It discusses diverse functions of acetogenesis in soils, and gastrointestinal tracts, as well as current and potential commercial and environmental applications. This volume will serve as a broad and in-depth review of basic and emerging issues in acetogenesis for microbiologists, molecular biologists, biochemists, and ecologists, and as a stimulus for future research.

I: Introduction to Acetogenesis.- 1 Acetogenesis, Acetogenic Bacteria, and the Acetyl-CoA "Wood/Ljungdahl" Pathway: Past and Current Perspectives.- II: Biochemistry and Energetics of Acetogenesis and the Acetyl-CoA Pathway.- 2 The Acetyl-CoA Pathway and the Chemiosmotic Generation of ATP during Acetogenesis.- 3 CO Dehydrogenase and the Central Role of this Enzyme in the Fixation of Carbon Dioxide by Anaerobic Bacteria.- 4 The Sodium Ion Cycle in Acetogenic and Methanogenic Bacteria: Generation and Utilization of a Primary Electrochemical Sodium Ion Gradient.- 5 Energetics of Acetogenesis from C1 Units.- 6 Corrinoid-Dependent Mechanism of Acetogenesis from Methanol.- III: Isolation, Identification, and Phylogeny of Acetogenic Bacteria.- 7 Diversity, Ecology, and Isolation of Acetogenic Bacteria.- 8 Development of DNA Probes for the Detection and Identification of Acetogenic Bacteria.- 9 A Phylogenetic Assessment of the Acetogens.- IV: Physiological and Ecological Potentials of Acetogenic Bacteria.- 10 Acetogenesis: Reality in the Laboratory, Uncertainty Elsewhere.- 11 Acetogenesis from Carbon Dioxide in Termite Guts.- 12 Acetogenesis and the Rumen: Syntrophic Relationships.- 13 Acetogenesis from CO2 in the Human Colonie Ecosystem.- 14 Syntrophic Acetate Oxidation and "Reversible Acetogenesis".- 15 Acetogenesis at Low Temperature.- 16 Halophilic Acetogenic Bacteria.- 17 O-Demethylation and other Transformations of Aromatic Compounds by Acetogenic Bacteria.- 18 Acetate and the Potential of Homoacetogenic Bacteria for Industrial Applications.- V: Acetogenic Processes in Other Bacterial Groups.- 19 Variations of the Acetyl-CoA Pathway in Diversely Related Microorganisms That are not Acetogens.- 20 Autotrophic Acetyl Coenzyme A Biosynthesis in Methanogens.- 21 CODehydrogenase of Methanogens.- 22 Occurrence and Function of the Acetyl-CoA Cleavage Pathway in a Syntrophic Propionate-Oxidizing Bacterium.- 23 Acetate via Glycine: A Different Form of Acetogenesis.