This book contains aseries of review papers related to the lectures
given at the Third Course on Bioelectrochemistry held at Erice in
November 1988, in the framework of the International School of
Biophysics. The topics covered by this course, "Charge Separation Across
Biomembranes, " deal with the electrochemical aspects of some basic
phenomena in biological systems, such as transport of ions, ATP
synthesis, formation and maintenance of ionic and protonic gradients. In
the first part of the course some preliminary lectures introduce the
students to the most basic phenomena and technical aspects of membrane
bioelectrochemistry. The remaining part of the course is devoted to the
description of a selected group of membrane-enzyme systems, capable of
promoting, or exploiting, the processes of separation of electrically
charged entities (electrons or ions) across the membrane barrier. These
systems are systematically discussed both from a structural and
functional point of view. The effort of the many distinguished lecturers
who contributed to the course is aimed at offering a unifying treatement
of the electrogenic systems operating in biological membranes,
underlying the fundamental differences in the molecular mechanisms of
charge translocation.