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best illustrated by quoting the remark of Roth that "there is a clear biochemical picture emerging when the totality of the data is considered, although the details are admittedly still quite vague. More serious, there is as yet no indica- tion of the master pattern, if one exists'. The chapter by Klaus Kratochwil on embryonic induction also has to deal with the frustrating lack of progress. The problems and advances are dis- cussed with admirable clarity and a sense of historical perspective. Lind the enormity of the problem of identifying inductive signals in a situation where "the number of cells producing and re- ceiving signals is exceedingly small . . .' and 'both signal and receptor will prob- ably be bound to, or at least associated with the cell membrane" is unflinchingly stated.
By contrast, the topic of chemotaxis and cell migration is much more amen- able to study, as ably described in the chapter by Albert Harris. Although the extraordinary ability of cells to detect and orientate towards chemical gradients still needs much imaginative thought for its solution, the prospects look good for an understanding in the near future of the interaction of actin and other muscle-
like proteins with the c vtoskeleton during chemotaxis. The chapter on neural crest cell migration by James Weston was probably the most complex for a non- specialist to follow, whereas the follow- ing chapter by Samuel Barondes on developmentally regulated lectins was probably the easiest. Lectins must clearly have some important function in develop- ment and their possible roles in slime moulds and vertebrates is well presented here. tt is curious that with so much knowledge about these proteins and their receptors in animal tissues, Li definitive function seems not to have been found for tiny of them. The glycoprotein fibm- nectin, on the other hand, described in the chapter by Kenneth Yamada has a much better documented role and the binding abilities of the various domains of the molecule to collagen, plastic sub- strata or the plasma membranes of cells tire well established.
The 'stuff" in between cells or the 'pericellular matrix" has not been for- gotten in this book. The chapter by Bryan Toole and Charles Underhill does a fine job of explaining the structures and functions of the various components such as glycosaminoglycans and col- lagens. Any regulatory role may be less
T I B S - December 1983
dramatic than with some more soluble inductive substances but probably just as important for production of the cor- rectly proportioned tissue and its interac- tion with tissues surrounding it.
It seems that the fate of people who work on plants is to be last in line Lifter all the 'animal people' have had their say. It was not surprising, therefore, to find that plant cell-cell interactions by Frank Dazzo was the last chapter in this book. Cell recognition in pollen stigma interaction, in graft rejection and in Rhizobium-legumc cooperation have been extensively and successfully ex- plored and are well explained here. The progress made in these topics would be well worth the study of those who normally restrict themselves to verte- brate embryos, even if the solutions that plants have devised to their problems turn out to be different from those of animals.
Not only did I enjoy reading this book, 1 also painlessly learned a great deal from it and 1 recommend it to anyone who wants to gain an insight into the way cells can interact.
I ' l ! l ' l 1 ¢. ( ' . N I V¢ i~ l . l
Department of Biochemistry, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.
Disappointing effort on plant-pathogen relationships
Physiology and Biochemist ry of P lan t -Pa thogen Interact ions
edited by 1. J. Misaghi, Plenum Press, 1982. $32.50 (xvi + 287) ISBN 0 306 41059 1
Within the context of burgeoning activity in plant molecular biology considerable attention is being devoted, belatedly, to the biochemistry of plant-pathogen inter- actions and plant disease resistance. This keen interest arises partly from the view that study of the diseased state can provide elegant approaches and deep insight into the molecular biology of the plant cell, and partly from the belief that disease resistance may be one of the areas in which genetic engineering will have a relatively early impact in agricul- ture.
Currently, molecular biologists and plant pathologists seem mutually wary of one another and this sparring inhibits development of complementary inter- action and fruitful collaborations that fully exploit the knowledge, technology and expertise of the two disciplines. There is a real need to bridge this gap, but unfortunately Misaghi's book fails
to achieve what would be a difficult but valuable synthesis.
The book begins with a discussion of terms and definitions followed by chapters on pathogen attraction and penetration, cell-wall degrading enzymes in pathogenesis and pathogen-produced toxins. There follows a major section on disease-related alterations in the host with chapters on cell permeability, water relations, carbohydrate metabolism, gene expression, phenolic metabolism, growth regulators and crown gall tumors. Later chapters deal with the mechanisms of disease resistance and finally there is a discussion of plant- pathogen recognition. Within a relatively short text, this broad coverage has re- sulted in a brief and patchy treatment of important areas. There is no discussion of the genetics of plant-pathogen inter- actions, which is very disappointing since the concepts and experimental sys- tems which have emerged from thorough genetic analyses are extremely relevant to physiological and biochemical studies. Only nine pages are devoted to the exciting work on crown gall tumor formation, four pages to pathological alterations in transcription and transla-
tion, and five pages to induced resist- ance, whilst other important topics such as viroids and pathogenesis-related pro- teins are scarcely mentioned. Especially in the more biochemical areas the treat- ment is out of date. Indeed, the value of the extensive bibliography with over 1 300 entries is marred by the paucity of references to the recent primary bio- chemical literature. In an attempt to facilitate cross-reference between over- lapping inter-related areas each chapter has been extensively subdivided and in many places the text is effectively a list of the major conclusions of key papers. Nonetheless, the book has some value as a compilation of the extensive litera- ture on physiological plant pathology, which according to the dust-jacket was a major goal of the author.
However, whilst critiques of experi- mental evidence are included, the reader is not taken to the cutting edge of the subject and herein lies the major short- coming of the book. This account is essentially an overview of the subject as if it were static and is written as if the revolutionary advances in molecular and cellular biology of the last 10 years had either not occurred or had no relevance to plant pathology. For example, there is no indication of the possibilities offered
TIBS - December 1983
by recombinant DNA technology for the identification, characterization and manipulation of genes involved in plant- pathogen interactions. Likewise, the potential of monoclonal antibody tech- nology for study of cell surface and recognition phenomena goes un-
remarked. Equally, for readers from a biochemical background there is no dis- cussion of the many well characterized pathological interactions that provide exciting possibilities for molecular study. Therefore, whilst the book may find some use as an introductory text, it is
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not the catalyst that will integrate molecular biology and plant pathology in a concerted attack on plant disease.
CHRIS LAMB
Plant Biology Laborato~, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA 92138, USA.
Rather mundane
The Polysaccharides, Vol. 1
edited by G. O. Aspinall, Academic Press, New York, 1982. $47.00 (xviii + 342 pages) ISBN 0 120 65601 9
For many years there has been a severe gap in the literature available for the teaching of polysaecharide chemistry and biochemistry at undergraduate and postgraduate level and for the non- specialist who requires a basic introduc- tory text on the subject. The major text in use was, in fact, Aspinall's own book entitled Polysaccharides which was origin- ally published in 1970.
Since that time polysaccharides, parti- cularly those of plant and algal origin, have become a major source of additives in the food industry and other industries due to their abilities to form gels, emul- sions etc., or stabilize a variety of materials. Major advances have also been made in the understanding of the structure and activity relationships of the animal carbohydrate-containing poly- mers such as polysaccharides, glycopro- teins, proteoglycans and glycolipids. It is a good indication of the expansion of activity in this field that the editor con- fesses it is not now possible to cover even the more important areas of the subject in depth in a single volume.
Whilst it is difficult to judge a single volume of a multi-volume set in isola- tion, a brief survey of the lists of (pro- posed) contents for all three volumes of The Polysaccharides shows that most of the major aspects of the subject will be covered, with the exception of glycopro- teins and glycolipids. These two groups of compounds are more frequently studied under the general headings of proteins and lipids respectively, with the result that (as in the case of nucleic acids) the carbohydrate moiety takes a lower priority and therefore its presence is frequently ignored or misunderstood. It is perhaps unfortunate that some mention of these three groups of materials could not have been included within the space of a three-volume text.
Volume 1 represents a basic introduc- tion to the subject and is biased towards methodology with the later volumes
polysaccharides
dealing with the chemical structures of the various groups of polysaccharides, their biosynthesis, enzymology and in- dustrial utilization. The major aspects which are included within Volume 1 are isolation and fractionation; characteri- zation and structure determination: spec- troscopic methods, shapes and inter- action of polymer chains and immuno- logical reactions. The last three chapters of the book dealing with specific aspects of methodology are very informative and represent up to date reviews of the subject area. The omission of a chapter on chromatographic methods is surpris- ing and will make the volume less attrac- tive to the many workers who find such methods the mainstay of their work.
The first three chapters of the book serve as an introduction to the subject, in terms of classification, nomenclature, isolation and chemical characterization. Much of the content of these chapters is already available in the carbohydrate literature and recent modifications to the subject have occurred with the passing of time, much of the content is historical and at best not up to date. No mention is made, for example, of the 1980 recommendations of the 1UPAC/ IUB on carbohydrate nomenclature such as the Abbreviated Terminology of Oligosaccharide Chains or Polysaccharide
Nomenclature and some of the nomen- clature systems used in this volume do not conform to these recommendations. In the opening chapter, the editor tends to favour the biochemically acceptable abbreviations rather than the full recom- mended terms. The literature coverage of the chapter on isolation and fraction- ation is biased towards pre-1970 work with less than half of the references being to the literature of the past 15 years whilst the chapter on chemical characterizations has nearly 40% of its references to literature which is almost 15 years old. With the explosion in technology in the last 10 years it would have been better to concentrate on the more recent work and, if space was at a premium, exclude all the earlier work which is readily available in the excel- lent standard texts of the early 1970s.
It is hoped that the subsequent volumes in this series will be of a higher standard in terms of representing the present state of the art. If so, the series will represent a major contribution to this subject, but on balance we found Volume 1 to be rather mundane and not in keeping with the general trend of work on polysaccharides.
J. F. K E N N E D Y A N D C. A . WHITE
Research Laboratory fi~r the ('hemtMrv ot Bioacm'e Carbohydrates and Proteins, Delmrtment ~
