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.

Dedication; Preface; Contributors; Part I: Introduction to acetogenesis: Acetogenesis, acetogenic bacteria, and the acetyl-CoA Wood/Ljungdahl pathway: past and current perspectives-- Harold L. Drake; Part II: Biochemistry and energetics of acetogenesis and the acetyl-CoA pathway: The acetyl-CoA pathway and the chemiosmotic generation of ATP during acetogenesis-- Lars G. Ljungdahl; CO dehydrogenase and the central role of this enzyme in the fixation of carbon dioxide by anaerobic bacteria -- Stephen W. Ragsdale; The sodium ion cycle in acetogenic and methanogenic bacteria: generation and utilization of a primary electrochemical sodium ion gradient-- Volker Muller and Gerhard Gottschalk; Energetics of acetogenesis from C units-- Gabriele Diekert and Gert Wohlfarth; Corrinoid-dependent mechanism of acetogenesis from methanol-- Erhard Stupperich; Part III: Isolation, identification, and phylogeny of acetogenic bacteria: Diversity, ecology, and isolation of acetogenic bacteria-- Bernhard Schink; Development of DNA probes for the detection and identification of acetogenic bacteria-- Charles R. Lovell; A phylogenetic assessment of the acetogens-- Ralph S. Tanner and Carl R. Woese; Part IV: Physiological and ecological potentials of acetogenic bacteria: Acetogenesis: reality in the laboratory, uncertainty elsewhere-- Harold L. Drake, Steven L. Daniel, Carola Matthies, and Kirsten Kusel; Acetogenesis from carbon dioxide in termite guts-- John A. Breznak; Acetogenesis and the rumen: syntrophic relationships-- Roderick I. Mackie and Marvin P. Bryant; Acetogenesis from CO2 in the human colonic ecosystem-- Meyer J. Wolin and Terry L. Miller; Syntrophic acetate oxidation and reversible acetogenesis-- Stephen H. Zinder; Acetogenesis at low temperature-- Alla N. Nozhevnikova, Oleg R. Kotsyurbenko, and Marija V. Simankova; Halophilic acetogenic bacteria-- George A. Zavarzin, Tatjana N. Zhilina, and Margarete A. Pusheva; O-demethylation andother transformations of aromatic compounds by acetogenic bacteria-- Anne Cornish Frazer; Acetate and the potential of homoacetogenic bacteria for industrial applications-- Juergen Wiegel; Part V: Acetogenic processes in other bacterial groups: Variations of the acetyl-CoA pathway in diversely related microorganisms that are not acetogens-- Georg Fuchs; Autotrophic acetyl-Coenzyme A biosynthesis in methanogens-- William B. Whitman; CO dehydrogenase of methanogens-- James G. Ferry; Occurrence and function of the acetyl-CoA cleavage pathway in a syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacterium-- Alfons J. M. Stams and Caroline M. Plugge; Acetate via glycine: a different form of acetogenesis-- Jan R. Andreesen.