BOOK REVIEW

Chromatin Structure and Gene Expression

Editor Sarah C. R. Elgin

IRL Press at Oxford University Press,£29.95 (GB) paperbackISBN 019 963 5757

This volume, ®rst published in 1995,was excellently crafted to introducenewcomers to the history, macromo-lecules, personalities, experimentalproblems and future questions instudying the structure and functionof the native, natural, in vivo tem-plates for DNA and RNA metabo-lism. The book also is a readyrefresher for `students' of the areasthat need an update, an update as of1995. In particular, given the excite-ment over studies of nucleoproteineffects on regulated transcription,this book provides molecular biologyinvestigators a terri®c entreÂe into thepractices that they need to considerwhen undertaking studies with chro-matin templates, whether for DNAor RNA synthesis. Thus, this volumeis a very valuable resource for manylevels of scientists, from the beginnerto the a®cionado.

The arrangement of chapters leadsthe reader from the players in theprocess, the chromosomal proteinsand the DNA itself, to the processesthat these players orchestrate. Com-pleting the book with chapters onepigenetic effects of heterochromatinand silencing, X-inactivation and

genomic imprinting leaves the no-vice with head spinning at the richcomplexity that needs to be kept inmind when thinking about opera-tions within the nucleus as cellsreproduce themselves. Individualchapters end with discussions ofunanswered questions and futureexperimental directions, and, inthese ®nal words, the reader seesthrough the lens of each expert avision of the next 5 years (or more)of investigation. Controversies arealso presented in these sections (aswell as in some of the chapter'stexts), and they enliven the readingas well as stimulate the imagination.Indeed, the reader learns about thewriter as well as about the topicarea.

These ®nal, predictive discussionsthat end the chapters are one of themost valuable features of this book,and they have proved to be clair-voyant. Chapter 1 predicts the im-pact of an eventual crystal structureof the nucleosome (published lastautumn). Chapter 6 indicates howactive factors must participate alongwith RNA polymerases in facilitat-ing elongation and relates to thenumerous chromatin remodelingactivities identi®ed and studied inthe past few years. The last threechapters anticipate that subnuclearor perinuclear localization may con-tribute considerably to the regula-

tion of events in both RNA andDNA metabolism, with advancesin microscopy and genomics pro-viding evidence for collocalizationand molecular tools enabling identi-®cation of `structures' and compo-nents.

Even without an update, this bookremains exceptionally valuable formany readers because it was initiallyedited with care and attention to theadvancing excitement in this area byDr Elgin. Her selection of theauthors, acknowledged experts fromseveral scienti®c generations, pro-vides the book with freshness unu-sual in any published scienti®c workthat tries to be current beyond itsdate of publication. This volumesatis®es this stringent and nearlyunattainable quality, current and in-teresting several years later in a fast-moving ®eld.

Would an updated version beappropriate? Absolutely yes, but tobe as useful and punctuated as thisvolume it would require either DrElgin, or someone of both her statureand her motivation, to carefully craftboth a historical and futuristic viewthat teaches as well as excites.

Caroline KaneDepartment of Molecular and

Cell BiologyUniversity of California

Berkeley, USA

Chromosome Research 1998, 6, 580

# 1998 Rapid Science Publishers580 Chromosome Research Vol 6 1998