Book reviews 305

demonstrate how these living agents can be useddirectly, either as they occur naturally, or followinggenetic modiÐcation. Alternatively, the techniques ofmolecular biology can be used to generate microbialtoxins in situ in a species to be protected and virusescan be engineered to express genes that encode toxinsor enzymes detrimental to the species infected.

The direct use of micro-organisms is expanded in Ch.12, “Micro-organisms for Plant Disease ControlÏ andCh. 13, “Microbial HerbicidesÈFactors in Develop-mentÏ. These agents have an optimistic future as part ofprogrammes of integrated pest/crop management butprogress toward practical use has been slow so far andthe difficulties attending commercialisation for small,specialised markets, where there is still strong com-petition from synthetic chemicals, are considered inthese chapters.

Not all naturally produced chemicals are safe, as isevident from Ch. 5 and Ch. 9, and many would betreated as conventional pesticides for regulatory pur-poses. Others are regarded as “biochemical pest controlagentsÏ (e.g. pheromones, natural insect and plantgrowth regulators and enzymes), as distinct from themicrobial pest control agents surveyed in Chs 10È13.The prospects for the latter, as natural, speciÐc, short-lived and therefore environmentally more acceptablecontrol agents are overshadowed by public concerns,real or not, about unforeseen e†ects of their release intothe environment, particularly if genetic manipulation isinvolved. Clearly, it will take time and experience toalleviate these concerns. The Ðnal chapter (14) on “TheRegistration of New Natural ProductsÏ, summarises theregulatory requirements speciÐed by the US EPA fornaturally produced chemicals, their synthetic analoguesand the biopesticides discussed in the latter part of thebook. This review demonstrates the complexity of thesubject and the burdensome nature of the regulatoryrequirements, but, on the other hand, shows the carethat is taken in regard to the use of these materials inpractice.

The range of organisms considered and the diversityof the chemicals they produce, some with more thanone type of biological activity, make the organisation ofsuch a text no easy task. Rapid access by the reader isaided, however, by division of the chapters, all writtenby international experts in their Ðelds, into sub-sectionswhich are fully listed in the Contents section.

The long-standing interest in this area is stimulatedby the advent of rapid screening techniques as thesearch for leads to environmentally acceptable agroche-micals intensiÐes. With more than 2100 references andillustrations of some 500 chemical structures, the bookmerits a place in libraries and should be a valuableinformation source for research workers as well asothers with a general interest in natural products.

T.G. Brooks

neem tree : source of unique natural products forTheintegrated pest management, medicine, industry andother purposes, ed. H. Schmutterer, VCH Weinheim,Germany, 1995, 716 pp., price DM198.00.ISBN 3-527-30054-6

Heinrich Schmutterer is recognised internationally forhis work with the neem tree and its beneÐcial biologicale†ects. This is a comprehensive review, put together bythe worldÏs leading authorities, on the biology andnomenclature of the tree, the biologically active sec-ondary metabolites that it contains and the activity ofthese components against a range of living organismsfrom viruses and bacteria, through insects and mites tovertebrates. It is followed by discussions on the practi-cal results that have been achieved with neem extractsin the Ðeld with particular reference to integrated pestmanagement, activity against arthropods and the risk ofresistance developing. A short chapter on the toxice†ects of neem against vertebrates and non-targetorganisms probably reÑects the lack of data rather thanthe lack of e†ect. That there may be other long-termtoxic e†ects was suggested by the chapter that dealswith the use of neem and neem extracts as medicines infolklore. I know that I am an unbeliever when it comesto alternative medicine but how is it possible that acompound used as an agent for abortion or as an oralcontraceptive can have no deleterious e†ects in its usein crop protection? Maybe it is insufficiently stable toremain as the active component on the crop but if thisis the case will it not also have to be applied frequentlyto give long-term protection? I was disappointed to Ðnda chapter on the socioeconomic and political consider-ations of neem use because these chapters always deni-grate chemical crop protection and advocate grindingup plants and using them, with no control on dose orproduct quality, for frequent application to food crops,livestock and residences to control insect pests. Thischapter is no exception and although it is often cost-e†ective to grow your own insecticides, the wanton anduncontrolled use of compounds with such broad bio-logical activity and subject to contamination bymycotoxin-producing fungi should be accompanied bywarnings of potential problems. The book closes with achapter on other Meliaceous plants that possess second-ary metabolites with biological activity.

But this review should not be a criticism or a com-mendation of the product, it must be a review of thebook. As such the book is a full and extremely well ref-erenced examination of the plant and its close relatives.It describes the chemistry of the compounds and givesdetail of the biological e†ects. Unfortunately, in mostcases there is no reference chemical compound includedin the bioassays so it is not possible to be certain of therelevance or reliability of the assay and it is, therefore,difficult to be sure that the e†ect of the neem com-pounds is a useful e†ect. This is particularly true of

306 Book reviews

laboratory-based tests but again it is a criticism of thepublished data not the book. It was good to see anattempt to examine e†ects on a wide range of pest anddisease problems even if the e†ect was not strong orconvincing. The main part of the biological activitysection (205 pages) is a review of mites and insects andthe e†ects of neem and neem extracts or products onthem. This to me was worth the price of the book aloneand, once again, the comprehensive references ensuredthat any type of activity could be followed up.

I often argue that the Ðght against phytophagous anddisease-carrying insects is such an important one thatwe should use all the weapons available to us to ensuresuccess. It is important that we respect the advancesmade by others in the Ðeld and work together toimprove our successes. It is of no help to anyone toargue a case by denegrating the achievements of others.Unfortunately, all too often in this book the statementoccurs that the use of toxic and environmentally dam-aging synthetic chemicals is a practice that has to bestopped. Why not say that the integration of carefulchemical usage and natural systems will give us theanswers we are seeking? Surely this is integrated cropmanagement. But if you can overlook these things andyou want to know all that there is to know about theneem treeÈbuy this book.

G.L. Copping

Volume 7 : A survey of the biotrans-Biotransformations,formations of drugs and chemicals in animals, ed. D. R.Hawkins, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge,1996, xxxii] 486 pp., price UK £139.50.ISBN 0-85404-403-5

This latest volume in the “BiotransformationsÏ seriescontains material on the metabolism of chemicals invertebrates (or in-vitro tissue preparations therefrom)selected from publications appearing in 1993È1994.Cumulative compound, key functional group and reac-tion type indexes are provided, to facilitate access to all

of the information in volumes 1 to 7. The book isorganised so that the information can be presented onCD-ROM as “Metabolism DatabaseÏ (Synopsis Scienti-Ðc Systems Ltd, 1997).

The overall aim of the series is to provide an easymethod for accessing information on the known path-ways for the biotransformation of structurally relatedcompounds, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals,food additives, environmental and industrial chemicals.

The chemical structures of key functional groups andentire molecular types are listed at the beginning of thebook (pp. ixÈxxxii). Following this listing is an overviewchapter on highlights from the body of the volume, e.g.novel biotransformations, stereoselective processes, andmechanisms of toxicity in relation to speciÐc biotrans-formations. The remainder of the volume is thendivided into sections based on chemical structure type,viz. aromatic hydrocarbons ; alkenes and alkanes andtheir halogen-substituted derivatives ; acyclic functionalcompounds ; substituted aromatic compounds ; miscella-neous alicyclics, aromatics and macrocycles ; hetero-cycles ; functional nitrogen compounds ; nitrosamines ;amino-acids and peptides ; steroids ; miscellaneous com-pounds.

Within each of these main sections, a one- to two-page abstract gives, for each chosen chemical, basicinformation including key functional group classi-Ðcation, test system and analytical methods used and anillustration of the metabolic pathway(s) observed, withone or more key literature sources of the information.

Volume 7 contains entries for some 250 chemicals ofwhich about 10% are agrochemicals. The book is wellpresented and interesting in itself but will probably beof greatest value to those interested in metabolic path-ways in general, who already have volumes 1È6 andmay be thinking of setting up the CD-ROM, which willcross-refer to these volumes. Continuing with volume7, the stated aim of the series is being well achieved ino†ering rapid access to recent metabolism studies.

T.G. Brooks