The Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology series has turned several times to
the topic of photosynthesis. In the original series, two volumes edited
by A. PIRSON and published in 1960 provided a broad overview of the
entire field. Although the New Series has devoted three volumes to the
same topic, the overall breadth of the coverage has had to be restricted
to allow for greater in-depth treatment of three major areas of modern
photosynthesis research: I. Photosynthetic Elec- tron Transport and
Photophosphorylation (Volume 5 edited by A. TREBST and M. AvRON, and
published in 1977); II. Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism and Related
Processes (Volume 6 edited by M. GIBBS and E. LATZKO, and published in
1979); and III. Photosynthetic Membranes and Light-Harvesting Systems
(this volume). As we approached the organization of the current volume,
we chose a set of topics for coverage that would complement the earlier
volumes, as well as provide updates of areas that have seen major
advances in recent years. In addition, we wanted to emphasize the
following changes in the study of photo- synthetic systems which have
become increasingly important since 1977: the trend toward increased
integration of biochemical and biophysical approaches to study
photosynthetic membranes and light-harvesting systems, and a renewed
appreciation of the structural parameters of membrane organization.