Secondary Metabolites: Their Function and Evolution

For a long time secondary metabolites were treated as compounds with no clear role in the life of the organisms producing them. This symposium volume, number 171 in the Novartis Foundation Symposia series, records the state of thinking on how these compounds are made, what they do and how they evolved.

The coverage spans animals, plants and microorganisms, and the discussion extends to the genetic side of these compounds and to their antibiotic uses. The book is a record of a scientific meeting rather than a textbook.

Researchers in biochemistry, ecology, microbiology and natural products will find it relevant. Edition note: published by Wiley-Blackwell in 1992, 328 pages, ISBN-13 9780471934479.