MMHWWRMMRnianMniiiiR^^MB3S^^^^^^^^^^^^3EasBiological Laboratory Library IWoods Hole, Mass. IIII•/^'s.IIIIPresented byIIInc.Prentice-Hall,He-K York ICityIIIDB3^^^^^^^^^^^^^BIGENERAL BIOCHEMISTRYPRENTICE-HALL CHEMISTRY SERIESWendell M. Latimer, Ph.D., EditorVrGENERALBIOCHEMISTRYbyWILLIAM H. PETERSON, Ph.D.Emeritus Professor BiochemistryofUniversity W isconsin, MadisonofFRANK M. STRONG, Ph.D.Professor BiochemistryofUniversity Wisconsin, MadisonofPRENTICE-HALL, INC. 1953New YorkCopyright, 1953, by Prentice-Hall, Inc., 70 Fifth Avenue, NewYork. All rights resei-ved. No part of this book may be re-produced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, ,writing the publishers.without permission in from Library of]Catalog Number 53-8022.Congress Card :jPrinted in the United States op AmericaPREFACEThis book considers the chemical activities onlynot of animals butalsi) those of plants and microorganisms. It aims to be a complete,though brief, treatise on the whole field of biochemistry, stressing themost important features of the subject.The first part withdeals the materials of the cell, and the second withtiie functions of the cell. Emphasis, however, has been placed on thedynamic aspects of biochemistry as well as on its material features.This purpose inevitably leads to a consideration of complex phenomena.To make such phenomena understandable is no easy task, but the attempthas been made.The subject matter is by no ...
MMHWW
RMMRnianMniiiiR^^
MB3S^^^^^^^^^^^^3Eas
Biological Laboratory Library I
Woods Hole, Mass. I
I
I
I
•/^'s.
I
I
I
IPresented by
I
IInc.Prentice-Hall,
He-K York ICity
I
I
ID
B3^^^^^^^^^^^^^BIGENERAL BIOCHEMISTRYPRENTICE-HALL CHEMISTRY SERIES
Wendell M. Latimer, Ph.D., EditorVr
GENERAL
BIOCHEMISTRY
by
WILLIAM H. PETERSON, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor Biochemistryof
University W isconsin, Madisonof
FRANK M. STRONG, Ph.D.
Professor Biochemistryof
University Wisconsin, Madisonof
PRENTICE-HALL, INC. 1953New YorkCopyright, 1953, by Prentice-Hall, Inc., 70 Fifth Avenue, New
York. All rights resei-ved. No part of this book may be re-
produced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, ,
writing the publishers.without permission in from Library of
]
Catalog Number 53-8022.Congress Card :
j
Printed in the United States op AmericaPREFACE
This book considers the chemical activities onlynot of animals but
alsi) those of plants and microorganisms. It aims to be a complete,
though brief, treatise on the whole field of biochemistry, stressing the
most important features of the subject.
The first part withdeals the materials of the cell, and the second with
tiie functions of the cell. Emphasis, however, has been placed on the
dynamic aspects of biochemistry as well as on its material features.
This purpose inevitably leads to a consideration of complex phenomena.
To make such phenomena understandable is no easy task, but the attempt
has been made.
The subject matter is by no means beyond the comprehension of the
reader with only a general chemistry background, though best appre-
and understood by the reader with a knowledgeciated of organic chem-
In view of the increased coverage (chapters onistry. Nucleic Acids,
and Biological Energetics) and the particularHormones, emphasis which
been placed on metabolic reactions (chapters Planthas on Metabolism,
INIetabolism, MetabolismAnimal and of Microorganisms) , the present
more advancedwork is well suited to readers. By careful selection of
chapters, the book should also prove useful to those interested in agri-
culture and home economics.
The authors are indebted to their colleagues. Professors Casida, John-
son, Lardy, Meyer, Plant, Potter, Stahmann, and Williams for reading
one or more chapters of the manuscript and making many valuable sug-
gestions and criticisms of the book. They are doubly indebted to Pro-
fessor Burris for his chapter on Plant Metabolism, and to Professor
Plant for the two chapters on Digestion and Enzymes. The authors are
grateful to Dr. Mary Shine Peterson for the preparation of Tables 3-1,
4-2, 5-1, A-1, A-2, and A-3, and for critical reading of many of the
chapters in the book.
In making these acknowledgments, the authors in no sense imply
that errors of omission and commission are to be charged to those named.
applyWe to ourselves alone Byron's apostrophe to the ocean, "Upon
the watery plain, the wrecks are all thy deed."
\y. H. Peterson
F. M. Strong