81 



HETEROSPECIFIC GENOME INTERACTION. 1969. Edited by V. DEFENDI 



Wistar Institute Press, Philadelphia. Wistar Inst. Symp. Monogr. no. 9. 187 pp., 31 figs., 35 



tabs., 7 pis., author and subject indexes. $ 7.50 (paper) 



Contributors: Baron, Boone, Conover, Coon, Davidson, Graham, Green, Knowles, Miggiano, 

 Ohno, Pontecorvo, Talmage, Thorn 



This is the report of a Symposium held in October 1968 at the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia. 

 Developments in the field of somatic cell fusion are very rapid, and consequently part of the 

 subject matter in this book may already be out of date. Nevertheless, we consider it important 

 enough to be briefly reviewed. Particularly the discussions following most of the papers may 

 still provide stimulating ideas. The Symposium had 60 participants, most of them Americans. 



The book contains 14 short research papers, most of them dealing with aspects of the fusion 

 of mammalian somatic cells and its genetic implications. The papers of most immediate in- 

 terest to developmental biologists are: The fusion of cells with one- and two-cell mouse 

 embryos (C. F. Graham); Interactions between genomes in somatic cell hybrids: studies on the 

 regulation of differentiation (R. Davidson); and The preferential activation of maternally derived 

 alleles in development of interspecific hybrids (S. Ohno). In the latter paper gene activation in 

 somatic cell hybrids is contrasted with that in sexual hybrid combinations. 



The last paper of the Symposium is a highly mathematical discussion of morphogenesis by 

 R. Thorn. Apart from being incomprehensible to those not well versed in mathematics, it 

 seems strangely out of place in this volume. The book is well illustrated. 



82 



A DISCUSSION ON GENE ACTION AND ITS CONTROL. 1970. Organized by G. D. H. BELL, R. 



RILEY and J. M. THODAY 



Royal Society, London, Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, vol. 176, p. 247-366, 55 figs., 



12 tabs. £ 1.75, $ 4.55 (paper) 



Contributors: Ashburner, Baglioni, Cove, Fincham, Gros, Gurdon, Harris, Korner, Paul, 

 Sonneborn, Thoday, Wildermuth 



This is the report of a discussion meeting held in London in February 1970. It contains 11 

 short synthetic papers (two in the form of a summary only) . 



The first five full-length papers deal with gene action and its control in micro-organisms, 

 Aspergillus, mammalian chromosomes, protein-synthesizing cells, and plants. Of the remaining 

 papers three are of particular interest to developmental biologists: one by Gurdon on nuclear 

 transplantation and the control of gene activity in animal development, one by Ashburner on 

 the genetic analysis of "puffing" in polytene chromosomes, and one by Sonneborn that deals 

 particularly with cortical inheritance in Paramecium. Sonneborn takes the opportunity to dis- 

 cuss the question whether the whole of development is encoded in DNA: his tentative answer 

 is that this is not always the case. 



Reproduction, Gametogenesis, Fertilization (see also 12, 20, 27) 



Treatises 



83 



FERTILIZATION, comparative morphology, biochemistry, and immunology, vol. 2. 1969. Edited 



by Ch. B. METZ and A. MONROY 



Academic Press, New York. 570 pp., 144 figs., 2 pis., 15 tabs., author, taxonomic, and subject 



indexes. $ 34.—, £ 15.17.- 



Contents: 1. The attachment of bacteriophages and the transfer of their genetic material 

 to host cells (L. D. Simon and Th. F. Anderson); 2. Bacteria (G. Sermonti); 3. Fungi (E. A. 

 Horenstein and E. C. Cantino); 4. Algae (L. Wiese); 5. Fertilization mechanisms in higher 

 plants (H. F. Linskens); 6. Paramecium (K. Hiwatashi); 7. Fishes (E. Nakano); 8. Gamete 

 structure and sperm entry in mammals (L. Pik6); 9. In vitro fertilization of the mammalian 

 egg (C. Thibault); 10. Variations and anomalies in fertilization (C. R. Austin); 11. Control 

 of fertility mechanisms affecting gametogenesis (H. Jackson) 



This is a sequel to a volume published in 1967 and reviewed in Gen. Embryol. Inf. Serv. 12, 

 p. 284. This volume is more explicitly comparative in approach, and closely examines the whole 



354 



