Abstract
In order that microorganisms can grow and reproduce, new cell material must be produced from nutrients available in the environment. The production of new cell material is called biosynthesis or assimilation, and nutrients are the raw materials for this process. The first stage in the production of new cell material is the synthesis of small molecules, which are unavailable from the environment directly. These then serve as building blocks for the synthesis of large molecules.
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Further reading
D. Freifelder (1986) Molecular Biology. 2nd Edition. Jones & Bartlett. Boston — a well illustrated account of DNA replication, RNA and polypeptide synthesis.
A.G. Moat and J.W. Foster (1988) Microbial Physiology. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York — a concise treatment of microbial (not solely bacterial) physiology.
C. Smith and E.J. Wood (1992) Molecular and Cell Biology. Chapman & Hall, London — an up-to-date, well-written treatment.
C. Smith and E.J. Wood (1992) Biosynthesis. Chapman & Hall, London — a comprehensive account of biosynthesis taken from the biochemist’s perspective.
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© 1995 Trevor Gross, Jane Faull, Steve Ketteridge and Derek Springham
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Gross, T., Faull, J., Ketteridge, S., Springham, D. (1995). Biosynthesis. In: Introductory Microbiology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7194-4_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7194-4_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-45300-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7194-4
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