Immunooenetics 18:553-554 Immuno:. geneucs

© Springer-Verlag 1983

Book Reviews

Frazier, W. A., Glaser, L., Gottlieb, D. I. (eds.): Cellular Recognition. UCLA Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, New Series, Volume 3, Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, 1982, 352 figures, 123 tables, 936 pages, XXV, cloth, £ 116.00

From time to time someone gets the idea of bringing together scientists working in different but related disciplines with the intention of encouraging interdisciplinary contacts. The Keystone meeting on cellular recognition, held in March 1981, was such an attempt. Cellular interactions and their underlying recognition mechanisms occur in a great variety of situations and in all phyla of living organisms. Hence there are no experts on cellular recognition in general, but rather specialists on various forms of cellular recognition in various groups of plants or animals. To gather these specialists in a ski resort and let them interact seems like a good idea, indeed. Of course, one cannot invite all the experts and cover all the topics; one has to be selective. The organizers of the Keystone meeting considered these topics particularly worth discussing: cell recognition in prokaryotes (interactions between conjugating bacteria, recognition in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis); cell recognition, surface chemistry, and chemotaxis in slime molds; recognition systems in sponges and chlamydomonas; fertilization; differentiation and polypeptide hormones; interaction with the extracellular matrix (fibronectin and other membrane glycoproteins); immune recognition; specific interactions on the surface of neuronal cells; eukaryotic lectins; intracellular recognition; cell junctions; and membrane dynamics. For each of these topics, the organizers invited five to ten speakers to discuss their specialty with a view cast on neighboring disciplines. If this book is a true reflection of what happened at the meeting, one must conclude that the good intention of stimulating the formation of interdisciplinary tight junctions somehow did not materialize. If one were to take out most recent contributions by the meeting participants from journals specialized on the individual topics, and put them together in a single volume, one would get something quite similar to the published record of the Keystone meeting. If interdisciplinary interactions did occur at the meeting, there is no sign of them in this book. A prerequisite for such interactions is an effort on the part of the specialist to communicate with others in a language they can understand. Such an effort is not seen from the published contributions of this meeting. Nonetheless, it is good to have the different topics covered in a single book, if for nothing else than for orienting oneself on who is doing what in the different disciplines of cellular recognition.

J.K.

Rattazzi, M. C., Scandalios, J. G., Whitt, G. S. (eds.): Isozymes. Current Topics in Biological and Medical Research. Volume 6 Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, 1982, 42 figures, 46 tables, 297 pages, XI, cloth, £ 44.00

This book is the sixth volume in the series of reviews on enzyme variants. It contains eight contributions. In the first, Jerry A. Coyne discusses the question of how effective electrophoresis is in detecting alMic variation at protein loci and the possibility of detecting crypting protein variation by biochemical methods adjunct to standard electrophoresis. The second review, written by Curtis M. W!lson, is devoted to plant nucleases, that is, the higher plant enzymes that hydrolyze nucleic acids. Wilson describes the substrate specificity of these enzymes, techniques of their separation and identification, their tissue and subcellular localization, and their developmental expressions. In the third chapter, Wen-Hsiung Li discusses one of the ways of generating isozymes, namely, gene duplication. He broaden definition of gene duplication by including under it not only those processes that involve a single gene or a gene complex, but also those that involve part of a chromosome or an entire chromosome, and those that lead

554 Book Reviews

to polyploidy. In the sections dealing with the diversification of the duplicated genes, he discusses the so- called null mutations, the rate of gene silencing under irreversible mutations, and the evolution of pseudogenes. The fourth chapter of the book, contributed by T. Stigbrand and his colleagues, is devoted to the group of enzymes called alkaline phosphatase. Particular attention is given to the expression of these enzymes in placenta, fetuses, and neoplastic disorders. Isozymic variation of phosphofructo- kinase, an aUosteric enzyme of glycolysis, is reviewed by S. Vora in Chapter Five. The major portion of this review is devoted to clinical syndromes associated with inherited phosphofructokinase deficiency, and to changes in phosphofructokinase activity in ontogeny and neoplasia. Robert W. Gracy reviews glucosephosphate and triosephosphate isomerase variation in evolution, physiology, and aging, in the sixth chapter. In the seventh chapter, James E. Womack has compiled the available information on linkage of isozyme loci in different species of mammals (mouse, rat, rabbit, cat, Chinese hamster, and the primates). Undoubtedly, many geneticists will find Dr. Womack's tables extremely useful for their work. The last chapter, contributed by G.F. Sensabaugh, dens with the possibilities of using isozyme determinations in forensic medicine, that is, for the analysis and interpretation of physical evidence in criminal and civil cases.

All the reviews are of high standard and written in a lucid language. The editors have done, as in the previous five volumes, an excellent job in selecting the topics and the contributors, and in attaining uniformity of contribution. Geneticists, biochemists, even many physicians will find this book a very useful source of information.

Katz, M., Despommier, D. D., Gwadz, R.: Parasitic Diseases, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York, 1982, 364 figures, 9 tables, 264 pages, XII, cloth, $ 38.40

This book is a guide to parasitic diseases for medical students. It breaks away from the traditional format of books on parasitology in its didactic organization. The authors first deal with Nematodes, Cestodes, and Trematodes, then with the protozoal parasites, and finally with arthropods. They say they found this sequence more satisfactory for teaching purposes than the evolutionary sequence from protozoa to arthropods. The3) do not say why they found it more satisfactory. Each section is opened by a brief description of the anatomy and physiology of the phylum and then the discussion of the individual parasites follows. For each parasite the authors give brief historical information about the disease it causes, and then describe the life cycle, pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of the parasite. A short list of selected key references then introduces the student to the literature in which he can find additional information about the parasite. About half of the book is taken up by figures, both drawings and photographs. A scheme of a life cycle is provided for each of the parasites. The book closes with two appendices, one describing the procedures for examination of clinical specimens for parasitic infection, and the other, the drugs used in the treatment of parasitic infections.

Students will love this book. It contains everything they need to know about parasitic diseases, presented in a form that will bring joy into the study of parasitology. No doubt will they want to keep the book even after the completion of the parasitology course to refresh their memory whenever the occasion arises. It is a book in which they can easily orient themselves and find all they might be looking for. For them and for physicians it will be the people's encyclopedia of parasitology.