68. 



B.S.SPOONER, S.R.HILFER, and E.D.HAY, preface. 1973. FACTORS CONTROLLING 



CELL SHAPE DURING DEVELOPMENT 



American Society of Zoologists, Thousand Oaks. Amer. Zool. 13, 4, pp. 937-1135. 

 157 figs., 23 tabs. 



Contributors: Banerjee, Bernfield, Burnside, Cohn, Conrad, Gilula, Hay, Hendrix, 

 Hilfer, Meier, Rappaport, Roth, Schroeder, Sheridan, Shur, Solursh, Spooner, Toole, 

 Vaerewyck, Weisenberg, Zwaan 



This ail-American symposium was held in December, 1972. It brought together a 

 number of eminent specialists working in three related areas: the intracellular machinery 

 involved in changes in cell shape, the extracellular materials that are thought to determine 

 cell and tissue shape, and the cell surface specializations probably involved in cell 

 communication. Of the 15 papers, eight deal with the first, four with the second, and 

 three with the third area. The discussions are not recorded. 



The papers provide a very useful survey of the major aspects of this general area, as 

 well as accounts of some interesting new approaches. Most papers are a mixture of 

 research report and review, while some are just reviews of recent data. A broad range of 

 cell and tissue types in animal development are covered. The papers are very well 

 illustrated. 



DEVELOPMENTAL BIOCHEMISTRY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (see also 2,5,8,23,39, 



41,54,55,57,58,61,67,76,79,83) 



Textbooks 



69. 



H.DENIS. 1974. PRECIS D'EMBRYOLOGIE MOLECULAIRE 



Presses Univ. de France, Paris. Collection SUP, Le Biologiste 3. 232 pp., 47 figs., 2 tabs., 

 subject index 



This student's text, though very concise, has the advantage of being both didactically 

 clear and thoroughly up to date. The student who has read it will really have grasped the 

 essentials of the subject, which is no small achievement. The book could even serve as an 

 introduction for non-molecular embryologists at various stages in their career. 



The book deals with both oogenesis and embryogenesis, with particular reference to 

 sea urchins and amphibians. It is in two parts, the first and longest of which treats all the 

 various classes of DNA and RNA and their interrelations, as well as some selected classes 

 of proteins. Part two, which occupies the remaining quarter of the book, discusses briefly 

 but very clearly the various molecular-embryological theories in existence today. Its three 

 chapters deal consecutively with levels of regulation, intracellular coordination of gene 

 activity, and intra- and intercellular communication. 



Most of the illustrations are diagrams and graphs. They are of great didactic clarity, 

 and those which give the results of experiments have extensive captions explaining the 

 methods used. No references are given in the text. The book is concluded by a very good 

 glossary and a brief reading list. 



70. 



J.ILAN. 1973. REGULATION OF MESSENGER RNA TRANSLATION IN DEVELOP- 

 MENT: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF TRANSFER RNA 



Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. Addison-Wesley Module in Biology No. 5. 27 pp., 7 figs., 

 10 tabs. 



This is essentially an account of the important recent work of the author and his 

 associates on the regulation of the synthesis of adult cuticular protein in Tenebrio. 

 However, it has been placed against the background of the regulation of gene expression 

 generally. The module reads well but presupposes rather much biochemical knowledge. 



195 



