Preface; 1. Functional genomics of sulphate-reducing prokaryotes Ralf Rabus and Axel Strittmatter; 4. Response of sulphate-reducing bacteria to oxygen Henrik Sass and Heribert Cypionka; 6. Biochemical, genetic and genomic characterisation of anaerobic electron transport pathways in sulphate-reducing delta-proteobacteria Inês A. C. Pereira, Shelley A. Haveman and Gerrit Voordouw; 8.