Monographs 



6. 



M.E. CLUTTER, ed. 1978. DORMANCY AND DEVELOPMENTAL ARREST, experimental 



analysis in plants and animals 



Academic Press, New York, etc., XII, 316 pp., 68 figs., 27 tabs., combined 



subject and taxonomic index. % 29.00, £ 18.85 



Contents: 1. Embryonic diapause in mammals - a developmental strategy 

 (Renfree) , 2. Insect dormancy (Jungreis) , 3. Control mechanisms for plant 

 embryogeny (Walbot) , 4. Metabolic regulation of dormancy in seeds - a case 

 history of the wild oat {Avena fatua) (Simpson), 5. Environmental and hor- 

 monal control of dormancy in terminal buds of plants (Nooden and Weber) , 

 6. Sleep and torpor - homologous adaptations for energy conservation 

 (Heller et at.), 1. Dormancy and development (Sussex) 



The phenomena known collectively under the blanket term "dormancy" are ex- 

 tremely varied and complex, and this book treats only selected examples. It 

 is unlikely that they have a single common denominator and the connecting 

 strand (selective gene expression) suggested by Sussex in the brief conclud- 

 ing chapter is tenuous. The chapters themselves are thorough and well-organ- 

 ised reviews. Some are relatively straightforward compilations but others 

 have extensive discussions of terminology (obviously much needed) or frame 

 new hypotheses. No editorial effort has been made to tie them more closely 

 together, but it is questionable whether this would have been at all possible. 



Ch.4 is up to date until about 1974, the others until a more recent date. 

 The book is well produced and illustrated. 



Symposium reports 



7. 



F.AHMAD, J.SCHULTZ, T.R.RUSSELL and R.WERNER, eds. 1978. DIFFERENTIATION AND 



DEVELOPMENT 



Academic Press, New York, etc. Miami Winter Symposia vol.15. XXII, 533 pp., 



141 figs., 19 tabs., $ 29.50, E 19.15 



This symposium was held in January 1978 in Miami, Fl. The vast majority of 

 speakers and discussants were North Americans. As in previous symposia of 

 this series the focus is the molecular basis of biological phenomena. The 23 

 papers vary enormously in scope and format; they are reviews of recent work 

 or progress reports. The biological materials also vary greatly and include 

 normal organisms and cells as well as cancer cells. The group discussions 

 are also recorded. 



The arrangement of the papers shows no structure at all. For the benefit 

 of our readers we single out some of the subjects (with authors' names in 

 parentheses) : transformed fibroblastic cells as a model for differentiation 

 (Pastan et at, ) ; pancreas-specific gene expression during differentiation 

 (Rutter et at. ) ; cyclic nucleotides in development (Rickenberg) ; control of 

 protein synthesis in slime mould differentiation (Lodish et at. ) ; transmem- 

 brane control and cell surface recognition in development (Rutishauser and 

 Edelman) ; developmentally regulated chorion protein genes (Kafatos et at. ) ; 

 models of morphogenetic fields and tissue morphogenesis (Gierer) ; the cell- 

 to-cell membrane channel in development and growth (Loewenstein) ; nuclear 

 transplantation and gene injection in amphibians (Gurdon et at.). 



The volume is concluded by 77 abstracts of poster demonstrations. 



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