Contents
Part I General Chapters
1
The Thematic Fields of Microbial Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Jean-Claude Bertrand, Pierre Caumette, Philippe Lebaron,
and Philippe Normand
2
Some Historical Elements of Microbial Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
Pierre Caumette, Jean-Claude Bertrand, and Philippe Normand
3
Structure and Functions of Microorganisms: Production
and Use of Material and Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
Robert Matheron and Pierre Caumette
Part II Taxonomy and Evolution
4
For Three Billion Years, Microorganisms Were the Only
Inhabitants of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
Jean-Claude Bertrand, Ce ´line Brochier-Armanet,
Manolo Gouy, and Frances Westall
5
Systematic and Evolution of Microorganisms: General Concepts . . . . . . . .
107
Charles-Franc ¸ois Boudouresque, Pierre Caumette, Jean-Claude Bertrand,
Philippe Normand, and Te ´lesphore Sime-Ngando
6
Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Prokaryotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
145
Pierre Caumette, Ce ´line Brochier-Armanet, and Philippe Normand
7
Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Unicellular Eukaryotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
Charles-Franc ¸ois Boudouresque
Part III Microbial Habitats: Diversity, Adaptation and Interactions
8
Biodiversity and Microbial Ecosystems Functioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
261
Philippe Normand, Robert Duran, Xavier Le Roux, Cindy Morris,
and Jean-Christophe Poggiale
9
Adaptations of Prokaryotes to Their Biotopes and to Physicochemical
Conditions in Natural or Anthropized Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
293
Philippe Normand, Pierre Caumette, Philippe Goulas,
Petar Pujic, and Florence Wisniewski-Dye ´
10 The Extreme Conditions of Life on the Planet and Exobiology . . . . . . . . . .
353
Jean-Luc Cayol, Bernard Ollivier, Didier Alazard, Ricardo Amils,
Anne Godfroy, Florence Piette, and Daniel Prieur
ix