The present volume contains 17 lectures of the 41 st Mosbach Colloquium
of the Gesellschaft fiir Biologische Chemie, held from April 5-7, 1990
on the topic "The Molecular Basis of Bacterial Metabolism". From the
beginning it was not the intention of the organizers to present a
comprehensive account, but rather to select new, exciting progress on
sometimes exotic reactions of specifically bacterial, mainly anaerobic
metabolism. Members of our society had contributed to this progress to
an extent that greatly stimulated the scientific exchange with
international colleagues during the days in Mosbach. The editors hope
that this stimulation will be conveyed to the readers of the articles,
which reach from the biochemistry of methanogenesis, via anaerobic
radical reactions, metal biochemistry in hydrogen and nitrogen
metabolism, conversions of light - and redox energy, to the regulation
of metabolic adaptation, and the attempts to bioengineer novel pathways
for the degradation of xenobiotica. We believe that the book represents
a highly progressive field of over- lapping disciplines, comprising
microbiology and molecular genetics, chemistry of biomimetic interest,
and biophysics, and that it gives insight into the impact modern
technologies have on microbiological research today. The colloquium was
generously supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the
Paul-Martini-Stiftung, and the Fonds fiir Biologische Chemie. A. Trebst,
G. Schafer, and D. Oesterhelt were a great help in preparing the program
and we wish to thank them for their advice.