54

This book would have profited from much closer proofreading to eliminate a variety of errors of spelling or punctuation in the text itself, in legends to (or in the actual) figures and tables, or in the index. Similarly, closer attention to the content would have picked up several factual inconsistencies or actual errors, which were more frequent in the endocrinology than in the other sections.

The greatest value of this book is likely to be in the case of students of animal husbandry. These include veterinarians and large animal physiologists and nutritionists. It should also be of value to those whose responsibility it is to manage aspects of these new technologies especially if they are unfamiliar with their scientific bases.

F Veila

Photobiological Techniques

Edi ted by D P Valenzeno, R H Poltier, P Mathis and R H Douglas . pp 381. P lenum Press, New York ( N A T O ASI Series, Life Sciences Vol 216). 1991

ISBN 0 - 3 0 6 - 4 4 0 5 7 - 1

This is a book of experiments in photobiology covering a very wide range (from Chemistry to Botany) that came out of a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in July 1990 in Kingston, Ontario. A total of 36 experiments (at senior undergraduate or graduate student level) were set up and tested by the participants in the ASI. Their criticism and suggestions were incorporated into the experiments printed in this book. There are in addition some 'submitted experiments' and some reprinted by Smith's The Science of Photobiology (first edition 1977).

The experiments given do indeed cover a very wide range and each is set out in a more or less standard format of Objectives, List of Materials, Preparations (ie buffers, etc), Experimental Procedure, Discussion, Review Questions and answers to them, Supplementary Reading, and References. Preceding each of the experiments (or groups of related experiments) is some scientific background often extending to 5-6 pages. Some of the exper- iments are very simple but others require quite sophisticated equipment. They are divided into sections in the book as follows: Photophysics, Photochemistry, Photosensitisation, Photo- synthesis, Environmental Photobiology, Vision, Photomorpho- genesis, Chronobioiogy, Bioluminescence, Photomedicine and 'Other experiments' (ie the reprints mentioned above).

The details given of how to set up and carry out the experiments seem exemplary although some of the equipment required is so specialised that it would not be found in a typical biochemistry laboratory (or indeed department). Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of specifically biochemical experiments that would be worth considering, and many of these do not require special equipment. The following might be mentioned: firefly and bacterial bioluminescence, photobiology of tetrapyrroles, membrane photomodification, flash absorption in purple bac- teria, chlorophyll fluorescence transients in chloroplasts, spot test for DNA repair (in yeast), absorbance spectra of visual pigments and UV lethality. The "other experiments" include the photochemistry of nucleic acids, induction of yellow carotenoids in Neurospora, separation and identification of the major leaf pigments (on paper or TLC), and the Hill reaction.

This is a fascinating book in which to browse. It brings together many facets of photobiology. It is especially curious to see described experiments on human and animal photobiology. In many countries the mouse tests could not be done as experiments with students, and the photodermatology exper- iments look more like research projects or pharmacological

company tests. The latter contain a 'health warning' and an acknowledgement that the 'experiments' should be carried out under the supervision of a qualified dermatologist!

A Doyle

Plant Lectins

by A Pusztai. pp 263. Cambr idge . 1992. $79.95

Cambr idge Universi ty Press, ISBN 0 - 5 2 1 - 3 2 8 2 4 - 1

This textbook is an effective overview of plant lectins. The topics covered include lectin specificity and structure; their Iocalis- ation, biosynthesis and functions in the plant and their effects on blood cells and generally on animal cells. The book consists of 202 pages of text and an amazing 44 pages of references! The references date from 1888 to 1990 and include many of the contributions to the field by the author himself. A useful glossary for beginners in the subject is also included.

The great experience of the author allows him to write with authority and he has produced an excellent synopsis of plant lectin biology. I do, however, have some criticisms. The structural section cries out for the leavening effect of some computer-generated molecular models. There are also several tautological and misleading phrases eg primary sequence, pri- mary amino acid sequence. 'What is a secondary (or tertiary) sequence?' The accepted terms, primary structure or amino acid sequence only should be used. The net impression, in my opinion, is to produce a somewhat dry textbook when compared with the panache of the earlier short text by Sharon and Lis. 1 Nonetheless, this is a useful place for anybody interested in starting to learn about plant lectins.

C A Smith

Reference I Sharon, N and Lis, H (1990) 'Lectins', Chapman and Hall, New York

Biochemical Nomenclature and related documents: A Compendium (Second Edition, 1992)

pp 347. Published for I U B M B by Por t land Press, London . 1992. £18 (pbk) ISBN 1 - 8 5 5 7 8 - 0 0 5 - 4

This volume assembles documents of the IUPAC-IUB Com- mission on Biochemical Nomenclature, the Nomenclature Committee of IUB, and the Joint IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. It acknowledges a special debt to Claude Li6becq who has been responsible for preparing the recommendations for publication in the biochemical journals and for compiling the compendium.

The documents listed refer to general topics such as stereo- chemistry, and then deal with amino acids, peptides and proteins, enzymes, nucleotides, nucleic acids and protein syn- thesis, carbohydrates, lipids, plus some miscellaneous topics.

It is worth reading Athel Cornish-Bowden's Preface for quotable quotes. On the katal he says "There was never any intention, of course, that biochemists could not continue to use the mol s -~ rather than the katal if they preferred, and it is anyway now clear that the katal has not met with general approval. Accordingly, the recommendation in which it was proposed are not reprinted in the compendium, though it remains available to those who wish to use it".

B I O C H E M I C A L E D U C A T I O N 21(1) 1993