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Keilin, Cytochrome and Its Nomenclature

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Cytochrome Complexes: Evolution, Structures, Energy Transduction, and Signaling

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 41))

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Summary

D. S. Bendall describes the micro-spectroscopic studies on bacteria, tissue, and plant samples that took place in Cambridge in the years just preceding World War II, which provided the rationale for the modern-day notation for cytochromes and hemes. This history includes the discovery of ‘cytochromes’ by D. Keilin and his original description of a respiratory chain that occurred in the background of the studies on respiration and fermentation by O. Warburg. Bendall notes the subsequent development of the high resolution difference spectrophotometry of turbid samples by B. Chance and W. L. Butler that has been crucial in studies of biological electron transport chains.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Derek S. Bendall

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  1. Derek S. Bendall
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    William A. Cramer

  2. Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

    Toivo Kallas

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Bendall, D.S. (2016). Keilin, Cytochrome and Its Nomenclature. In: Cramer, W., Kallas, T. (eds) Cytochrome Complexes: Evolution, Structures, Energy Transduction, and Signaling. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 41. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7481-9_1

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