Abstract

Cell and Molecular Responses to Stress is a new multi-volume book series from Elsevier Science that focuses on how organisms respond at a molecular level to environmental stresses imposed upon them. All organisms deal with variations in multiple environmental factors including temperature, oxygen, salinity, and water availability. Many show amazing tolerances to extreme stress with remarkable biochemical adaptations that allow life to persist under very difficult circumstances.

This series explores the molecular mechanisms by which cells and organisms respond to stress, focusing on the variations in metabolic response that allow some cells and organisms to deal with extreme stress, others to endure stress within strict limits, and others to have a very low tolerance for changes in environmental parameters.

Articles from within the series highlight the elastic limits of molecular responses in Nature, with examples drawn from animal, plant and bacteria systems.

Volume 1, begins by considering some of the roles of environmental stress in determining the geographic distribution of animals and in promoting species divergence and then explores gene expression and metabolic responses to environmental stress with examples of adaptation to high and low temperature, osmotic, anoxia/ischemia, desiccation, high pressure and heavy metal stresses.
E.A. Davidson
...Extraordinary environments are present on Earth which sustain life - ocean trenches, arid deserts, thermal deep sea vents, salt lakes, etc. In each case, the local residents have adapted to their surroundings by a set of integrated biological responses. Following an introductory chapter by Peter Hochachka in which he provides a good overview, nineteen additional contributors discuss research on many of these extraordinary organisms; each presentation is accompanied by a useful bibliography. ...The recent description of what appear to be water-derived erosion patterns on Mars raises anew the question of whether life ever existed in that location. Before dismissing that as science fiction, one would be well advised to read this volume.
Doody's
G. Somero
...provide reviews of their field that engage the readers' interests and draw them into the subject matter; then they pair this historical perspective with an accessible, relatively jargon-free sense of the excitement and promise of on-going work.
Journal of Thermal Biology
S.C. Land
...Its broad phylogenetic, evolutionary, ecological and molecular treatment of the topic makes it a highly recommended read for anyone interested in understanding how cells, tissues, organisms and populations sense and respond to change in the outside world.
Journal of Experimental Biology