Eric E. Conn

This volume contains the invited papers presented as a symposium of The Phytochemical Society of North America which met for its annual meeting at the Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California on June 12-16, 1985. The topic of the symposium, "The Shikimic Acid Pathway - Recent Advances", was especially appropriate for this, the Silver Anniversary of the Society because of the many natural products derived from that pathway. The organizers of the symposium recognized that it would not be possible to cover all groups of compounds derived from shikimic acid and therefore decided to omit any detailed discussion of flavonoid compounds and lignin. Research in these two areas has been the subject of several recent symposiums and/or published volumes. By omitting these topics, it was possible to devote more attention to other, equally interesting products derived from the shikimate pathway. Each chapter in the volume authoritat~vely speaks for itself on an important topic. However, the reader is invited to enjoy the lead chapter by Ulrich Weiss who describes his role in the research on the shikimate pathway during 1952/53. We are grateful to Dr. Weiss for this charming account of his work carried out in the laboratory of Dr. B. D. Davis during that period. Those who attended the Silver Anniversary Meeting were privileged to hear Dr. Gestur Johnson reminisce about the founding of the Society, initially called the Plant Phenolics Group of North America. At the annual banquet R. Horwitz also shared with us some recollections of Dr.

The Shikimic Acid Pathway

John T. Romeo

Jonathan E. Poulton

This volume is based on papers presented by invited speakers at a symposium entitled "Plant Nitrogen Metabolism" held in conjunction with the 28th Annual Meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America. The meeting took place on the campus of the University of Iowa at Iowa City during June 26-30, 1988, and attracted 110 participants from 11 countries. The goal of the symposium was to trace the pathway by which nitrogen passes from soil and atmosphere into both primary and secondary nitrogenous metabolites, focusing upon areas which were felt to be most rapidly expanding. From nodulines (nodule specific proteins) and GS/GOGAT mutants to sugar mimics (polyhydroxyalkaloids) and herbicide inhibitors of amino acid metabolism, research in nitrogen metabolism has expanded into areas barely envisioned only a few years ago. Both the nitrogen specialist and the general plant biochemist will be pleased by the range of topics covered here. Following an overview in Chapter 1 of plant nitrogen metabolism, the remaining chapters are loosely organized into three groups. Chapters 2-6 deal primarily with the biochemistry and molecular biology of nitrogen assimilation and transport, Chapters 7-9 with amino acid metabolism, and Chapters 10-12 with secondary metabolites.

Eric E. Conn

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