Progress in Phytochemistry, Volume 6 reviews advances in the field of plant biochemistry, including the C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis in certain tropical grasses and the synthesis and turnover of the lipid components of plant membranes. Other topics include cellular compartmentation and channeling of secondary metabolism in microorganisms and higher plants; applications of paleobiochemical techniques to paleobotany; and the photodynamic action of photosensitizers from plants. This volume is comprised of seven chapters and begins with an analysis of photosynthetic carbon metabolism in C4 plants and C3-C4 intermediate species, followed by a discussion on the synthesis and turnover of plant membrane phospholipids. The next chapter covers cellular compartmentation of secondary constituents in both microorganisms and higher plants. The remaining three chapters are devoted to the more static aspects of comparative plant biochemistry, focusing on paleochemotaxonomy, stilbenoids, and photosensitizers in plants. The final chapter considers the effects of fungal phytotoxins on the plant plasmalemma and on ion transport through the membrane. This monograph will be of value to botanists, physiologists, biologists, and biochemists.