Biosphere Origin and Evolution

Problems of Biosphere Evolution and Origin of Life.- On Important Stages of Geosphere and Biosphere Evolution.- Microbial Biosphere.- Prebiological Stages of Evolution and RNA World on the Earth and in the Space.- Astrocatalysis Hypothesis for Origin of Life Problem.- Comets, Carbonaceous Meteorites, and the Origin of the Biosphere.- Hierarchical Scale-Free Representation of Biological Realm-Its Origin and Evolution.- The Prebiotic Phase of the Origin of Life as Seen by a Physical Chemist.- Prebiotic Carbohydrates and Their Derivates.- Theoretical and Computer Modeling of Evolution of Autocatalytic Systems in a Flow Reactor.- RNA World: First Steps Towards Functional Molecules.- Trans Hammerhead Ribozyme: Ligation vs. Cleavage.- Paradoxical Bistate Status of a Prebiotic Microsystem: Universal Predecessor of Life.- Archaen-Proterozoic Ecosystems: Their Interaction and Contemporary Analogous.- The Ancient Anoxic Biosphere Was Not As We Know It.- Evolutionary Aspects of Geochemical Activity of Microbial Mats in Lakes and Hydrotherms of Baikal Rift Zone.- On the concept for the Organization of the Modern Biosphere in the Terrestrial Subsurface.- Biomineralization and Evolution. Coevolution of Mineral and Biological Worlds.- Visualization of the Silicon Biomineralization in Cyanobacteria, Sponges and Diatoms.- Transformational Changes in Argillaceous Minerals due to Cyanobacteria.- Coevolution of Geological and Biological Events in Phanerozoe.- Ecological Revolution Through Ordovician Biosphere (495 to 435 Ma ages): Start of the Coherent Life Evolution.- Ecosystems and Molecular Genetic Factors of Organism Evolution.- Evolution by Gene Duplications: from the Origin of the Genetic Code to the Human Genome.- Evolution of the Translation Termination System in Eukaryotes.- The Hedgehog Signaling Cascade System: Evolution and Functional Dynamics.- Approaches to the Resolution of Contradictions Between Phylogenetic Systems Based on Paleontological and Molecular Data.-

From the reviews:



"The contents of this dense volume are mainly derived from a Russian Academy of Sciences research program of the same name, culminating in a conference held in Novosibirsk in 2005. ... Dobretsov ... and colleagues have compiled papers by microbiologists, chemists, geologists, paleobiologists, geneticists, and archaeologists. The book introduces novel theoretical frameworks and new data in many areas ... . Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty." (W. L. Cressler, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (10), June, 2008)