InhaltsangabePreface.- Foreword.-About the Editors.- List of Contributors.- (Section 1) Prokaryotic Communities.- The Structure and Function of Microbial Communities.- Overview: Quantitative and Theoretical Microbial Population Biology.- Structure and Function of Prokaryotic Communities in Soils of Polar and High-Elevation Deserts.- Plant Rhizosphere Microbial Communities.- Tropical Soil Bacterial Communities.- Freshwater Microbial Communities.- Pelagic Prokaryotic Communities Inhabiting Marine Oxygen Minimum Zones.- Marine Deep Sediment Microbial Communities.- Sea-Ice Microbiology.- Coral Reef Microbial Communities.- (Section 2) Ecophysiology: Planktonic Versus Sessile Life of Prokaryotes.- The Phototrophic Way of Life.- The Anaerobic Way of Life.- The Chemolithotrophic Prokaryotes.- Bacterial Swimming Behavior.- Prokaryotic Life Cycles.- Life at High Temperatures.- Life at Low Temperatures.- Life at High Salt Concentrations.- Prokaryotic Alkaliphiles.- Syntrophism Among Prokaryotes.- Quorum Sensing.- Cell-Cell Interactions in Swarming and in Fruiting Body Development.