Includes bibliographical references and index.

Bacterial growth -- The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria and the cytoplasmic membrane -- Peptidoglycan synthesis and cell division -- Cellular permeability -- Allosteric enzymes -- Glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and glycogen synthesis -- The pentose phosphate and Entner-Doudoroff pathways -- The tricarboxylic acid cycle and the glyoxylate bypass -- ATP-generating processes : respiration and fermentation -- Biosynthesis of lipids -- Iron-sulfur proteins -- The archaea -- Methanogens and methylotrophs -- Enzyme induction in catabolic systems -- Transcription : RNA polymerase -- Negative regulation -- Enzyme repression in anabolic pathways -- Positive regulation -- The ribosomes -- The genetic code, the transfer RNAs and the aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetases -- Attenuation -- Riboswitches -- The biological fixation of nitrogen -- How biosynthetic pathways have been established -- The aspartic acid family of amino acids : biosynthesis -- Regulation of the biosynthesis of the amino acids of the aspartic acid family in Enterobacteriaceae -- Other patterns of regulation of the synthesis of amino acids of the aspartate family -- Biosynthesis of the amino acids of the glutamic acid family and its regulation -- Biosynthesis of amino acids derived from phosphoglyceric acid and pyruvic acid -- Selenocysteine and selenoproteins -- Biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids and its regulation -- The biosynthesis of histidine and its regulation -- The biosynthesis of nucleotides -- The biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleotides -- Biosynthesis of some water-soluble vitamins and of their coenzyme forms -- Biosynthesis of carotene, vitamin A, sterols, ubiquinones and menaquinones -- Biosynthesis of the tetrapyrrole ring system -- Biosynthesis of cobalamins including vitamin B12 -- Interactions between proteins and DNA -- Evolution of biosynthetic pathways.