rest of the book is taken up by a series of chapters of varying length which examine spec- 

 ific groups or species separately: Fungi (3 chapters), yeasts (1), algae (4), ferns (1), and 

 flowering plants (1). 



The book is well produced and has good illustrations, both line drawings and photo- 

 graphs. The bibliography contains more than 350 titles and is up to date until early 1975. 



16. 



M. LUCKNER, L. NOVER, and H. BOHM. 1977. SECONDARY METABOLISM AND 



CELL DIFFERENTIATION 



Springer, Berlin, etc. Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, vol. 23. VI, 130 

 pp., 52 figs., 7 tabs., subject index. DM 48.00, $ 21.20 



The bulk of this book consists of an interesting review of some 80 pages by Luckner 

 and Nover (Halle, DDR) entitled Expression of secondary metabolism- An aspect of cell 

 specialization of microorganisms, higher plants, and animals. It deals with what may be 

 broadly called differentiation programmes (with special reference to the formation of the 

 enzymes of secondary metabolism), their effectors, and their temporal integration. 

 Although the majority of the evidence reviewed is derived from microorganisms and 

 plants, some animal examples are also discussed. The references from the international 

 literature cover 20 pages and are up to date untU early 1976. 



The second review by Bohm (Halle, DDR) discusses the secondary metabolism of 

 cultured plant cells and the problem of why these often fail to form secondary sub- 

 stances. The bibliography of this article contains many recent publications in German. 



The book is produced in good offset print and is illustrated mainly with graphs. 



17. 



V. RAGHAVAN. 1976. EXPERIMENTAL EMBRYOGENESIS IN VASCULAR PLANTS 



Academic Press, London, etc. Experimental Botany; an International Series of Mono- 

 graphs, vol.10. X, 603 pp., 156 figs., 17 tabs., author, taxonomic and subject indexes. 

 £21.00,5 46.00 



This is the first book to be devoted entirely to this subject and it is likely to be the 

 major survey and reference work for many years. The author has been actively involved in 

 research in this field for over a decade and therefore writes with authority. Because he 

 knows the whole literature he is able to point out the major (and indeed large) gaps that 

 still exist in our knowledge. 



The book is in three sections, the first of which is entitled, From egg to embryo and 

 occupies about three quarters of the book. The first five chapters review the structural, 

 biochemical, growth and nutritional aspects of embryogenesis. The remaining six chapters 

 then deal with in vitro studies, various aspects of the control of embryogenesis, and applied 

 aspects of embryo culture. Section Two (62 pp.) deals with diploid and haploid adventive 

 embryogenesis, and Section Three (46 pp.) with seed dormancy and germination viewed 

 as a problem of the auto-inhibition of growth. An appendix lists 1 8 of the most commonly 

 used media for embryo culture. 



The book is profusely illustrated with good line drawings and photographs (some of 

 the electron micrographs are too darkly reproduced). The bibliography of close to 2.000 

 entries contains many titles in languages other than English and is up to date until 1974. 



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