Heredity 73 (1994) 680—682Genetical Society of Great Britain

Microbial Genetics (Second Edition). S. R. Maloy, J. 13.Cronran and D. Freifelder. Jones and Bartlett, London,1994. Pp. 484. Price £20.95, hardback. ISBN 0 86720 2483,

This well-known textbook, first published in 1987, appearsin its second edition and is now co-authored by S. R. Maloyand J. E. Cronran following the death of David Freifelder.Like the first, this edition focuses entirely on bacteria andbacteriophages and does not deal with eukaryotic microbes.It is even admitted by the authors that in this respect thebook might be more appropriately titled 'Bacterial andPhage Genetics'. However, the second edition retains thestrengths of the first in terms of structure and objectives. Itleads the student through the essentials of genetics andmicrobiology, the basic biochemistry of nucleic acids andproteins (in an accessible way), and on to in-depth descrip-tions of genetic systems at the molecular level. It is here thatthe book comes into its own with chapters on plasmids,transposable elements, bacterial transformation and conjuga-tion, genetics of phage T4, lytic growth of ), lysogeny, trans-duction and strain construction. Difficult concepts andcomplex mechanisms are explained clearly and here the useof line drawings is especially effective. The larger format ofthis edition improves the juxtaposition of text and illustra-tions and allows the inclusion of new examples panels. Thesuccess of the first edition has, in a sense, presented theauthors of the second with a problem. What should bechanged, and how? The solution here appears to have beento adopt a policy of minimal change. This is immediatelyevident, and even a cursory glance shows that each part,chapter and section of the first edition finds its almostidentical counterpart in the second. Although the authorsclaim extensive rewriting, a closer inspection of the textreveals that much of this is merely cosmetic and occasionallythe elegance of the original text is lost, There is evidence ofsignificant reworking and improvement of some parts, forexample the chapter on strain construction and the latersections on site directed mutagenesis and PCR.

My overall impression is that while the new edition retainsthe character of a solid practical textbook, the authors havemissed the opportunity either to inject a sense of real excite-ment or to show how molecular genetics has advanced in thelast seven years. In particular, this book notably fails to showhow principles elucidated in model systems (mainly inEscherichia coli) have been shown to apply in a wide varietyof Gram positive as well as Gram negative bacteria. Inaddition, the treatment of new technologies is scanty. Forexample, automated sequencing is not mentioned and theextensive uses of PCR technology are not fully described.The final section on applications of genetic engineering isdisquietingly similar to its seven-year-old predecessor!

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It would, however, be unfair to conclude without re-emphasizing the strength of the book which is in the clearexplanation of molecular mechanisms. If this is what isrequired then this edition can be recommended and repre-sents extremely good value for money.

JONATHAN COVE

Department of Micro biologyUniversity of Leeds

Leeds L52 9JTU.K.

Peas: Genetics, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. R.Casey and D. R. Davies (eds). CAB International,Wallingford, Oxon. 1993. Pp. 333. Price £49.95, hardback.ISBN 0 85198 863 6.

Every once in a while a scientific text comes along whichrepresents a key publication marking the current position ofhuman knowledge in a particular field of scientific endeavourand which is in the 'must have' category for any laboratoryactive in the field. This book, edited by Rod Casey and RoyDavies, is clearly in this category and presents reviewcontributions on key aspects of study of the common orgarden pea, Pisum sativum, as an experimental organism andimportant food crop. The editors are well-known peascientists with world-wide reputations for their work. Thebook is organized into 11 chapters and the contributors arealso well-known experts in different aspects of pea research.The concentration of contributors from the John InnesInstitute in Norwich, U.K. is, of course, a reflection of theimportant role played by this institute in pea research.

Chapter 1, by Roy Davies, sets the scene with a brief over-view of the status of the pea as an experimental plant speciesand as an agricultural crop. This briefly covers the reasonswhy the pea model has been selected for use in biochemistryand molecular biology as well as for physiological andgenetic studies.

Noel Ellis, in chapter 2, plunges straight into the mole-cular genetics with a detailed and up-to-date description ofthe pea genome as studied by various modern approachesand also of the mechanisms which bring about heritablechange. This chapter is extremely valuable, not only as areport on the current status of pea genetics, but also as acomparative illustration of the molecular approaches whichare being used to probe genome structure and to map genesof importance. Noel Ellis has also contributed chapter 3, onthe structure and function of the plastid genome. Inevitably,this is a much smaller contribution which concentrates

Book reviews

BOOK REVIEWS 681

primarily on evolution and recombination within plastidgenomes, with a brief mention of gene content, replicationand transmission in progeny cells. It is, perhaps, ratherdisappointing that the plastid gene systems are not describedin a little more detail.

Phil Gilmartin presents a review of regulatory mechanismsin pea gene expression in chapter 4. After a brief introduc-tion to the different levels of control, and the methods usedto study gene expression and its regulation, the bulk of thesection describes detailed aspects of the molecular mechan-isms of gene regulation. This deals almost exclusively withthe regulatory and light responsive elements in the pea smallsubunit RUBISCO gene promoter. As might be expectedfrom one of the most intensively studied plant gene systems,this is a highly detailed and comprehensive treatise. It isdisappointing, however, that the review provides only a briefmention of other pea gene systems. Pea seed protein geneexpression and regulation is dealt with separately in chapter 6.

Chapter 5, by Trevor Wang and Cliff Hedley, is anexcellent review of the genetic and physiological analysis ofpea seed development. The section covers many aspects ofpea embryogenesis, from cellular development to depositionof storage reserves and maturation, including developmentaldifferences between genetic lines and mutations. Of parti-cular interest is the work on the genetic analysis and effectsof the r-loci on embryo development. This has lead to the so-called r-locus 'jigsaw', depicting inter-relationships betweenmetabolism, physiological features and accumulation ofspecific storage reserves. The molecular bases of these inter-actions are unknown and, as the authors comment, havebeen largely ignored as an approach to understandingdevelopment.

Chapter 6, by Rod Casey, Claire Domoney and AlisonSmith, deals with the biochemistry and molecular biology ofstarch and protein synthesis in seeds. This is justifiably oneof the largest contributions, considering the wealth ofresearch devoted to this subject and its importance. Thesection deals with the structure and synthesis of starch, theenzymes involved and the regulation of the synthetic path-way, as well as seed protein structure and molecular biology.The brief sections discussing prospects for the modificationof pea starch and protein quality are commendable.

Chapter 7, by Ian Murfet and James Reid, is a 'tour deforce' on the more than 400 developmental pea mutantswhich have been described. This section provides a compre-hensive description of the mutations affecting developmentalprocesses, including leaf, stem and pod development,branching habit, flowering, GA synthesis and GA responsivegenes, photoresponsive genes and senescence. The chapter isliberally decorated with tables listing the mutant alleles, theresultant phenotypes, references and other useful informa-tion.

Chapter 8, by Alan Vivian, presents aspects of peadiseases and molecular tools used in studies of plant-patho-gen interactions. This all-too-brief section covers topics suchas phytoalexins and pathogenesis-related proteins, fungaland bacterial pathogen classification and isolation of aviru-lence genes, viruses and viral detection methods, andmapping of resistance genes.

Another major section, chapter 9, by Nick Brewin, MikeAmbrose and Allan Downie, describes the nitrogen fixationsystem of peas in considerable detail. This covers all of theimportant features of the nitrogen fixation machinery, inclu-ding basic biology, structure and physiology of the rootnodules, molecular biology and biochemistry (includingnitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and carbon metabolism). Usefultables collating information on the nod gene products,genetic loci and mutations implicated in nodulation andnitrogen fixation and nodulin cDNA clones are included.

The progress towards achieving efficient transformationand regeneration systems for peas is the topic of chapter 10by Roy Davies and Phil Mullineaux. They discuss the techni-cal difficulties in a résumé of the history of pea tissue cultureand transformation, finishing with brief descriptions of thosetechniques which have proved successful and those whichmay form the basis of future methods.

Roy Davies finishes the book with a speculative chapter11, in which the prospects and limitations for the improve-ment of the pea crop are discussed. The approachesdiscussed include conventional breeding, mutation andgenetic engineering to improve crop yield, alter develop-mental characteristics, modify the proportions and quality ofstored products and to improve resistance to insect pests,viruses, fungal pathogens and herbicides.

Overall, this is a nicely put together text covering a widerange of topics in sufficient detail to form a very useful refer-ence book. An admirable feature in each contribution is thefinal concluding section in which the authors speculate aboutthe future developments in their discipline and how thesemight affect the use and value of peas. Unlike some plantmolecular biology texts, which have only transient value, thisbook should retain its importance for a much longer period.It would be hard to criticise the book, nor is it easy to identifyany omissions other than the minor ones previouslymentioned. Despite the relatively high cost, at approximately15 pence per page, this book must be regarded as essentialreading for all serious pea scientists, or indeed anyoneworking with legumes. The editors and contributors are to becongratulated and can be reassured that the book doesprovide a landmark publication upon which future researchwill be built. As a pea molecular biologist, I am extremelyhappy to have a copy of this text on my bookshelf.

RON CnoPlant Molecular Biology Group,

Department of Biological Sciences,University of Durham,

South RoadDurham DH1 3LE

U.K.

The Human Genome Project: Deciphering the Blueprint ofHeredity. N. C. Cooper (ed.). University Science Books (W.H. Freeman), London. 1994. Pp. 360, Price £27.95, hard-back.1SBN0935702296.

In my experience it has been rare to find reading a book forreview enjoyable. Usually this is a chore which is performed