The book reports research results from different disciplines.Topics include isolation and structure determination of new antibiotics and other biologically active secondary metabolites, biosynthesis of antibiotics in particular lantibiotics, nikkomycins and glycosyl antibiotics, mode of action of bacterial protein toxins, import and export of proteins, active transport and regulation of iron, the enzymology of murein biogenesis and morphogenesis, mode of action and biosynthesis of hopanoids, and second messenger systems of Paramecium.

The book gives answers to questions: how to use the biosynthetic abilities of micro-organisms to produce new biologically active compounds, how to synthesize (microbiologically or chemically) new structures, and how to test their biological activities.