Book reviews: J.-R. Lacadena Editorial Compultense, Madrid, 1996, 931 pp. ISBN 84 89365 58 X

Chromosome Research 1996, 4, 624-625

BOOK REVIEWS Citogenatica

J.-R. Lacadena Editorial Compultense, Madrid, 1996, 931 pp. ISBN 84 89365 58 X

There are not m a n y textbooks on genetics and cytogenetics originally written in Spanish that cover the new information obtained in the last decade. Some concise, well-written books (such as Manual de Gen~tica Molecular b y J. L. Serrano and J. M. Garcfa Lobo) cover the basic processes and are a d d r e s s e d to specialized u n i v e r s i t y courses. A different approach is that of Professor J. R. Lacdaena in this b o o k Citogendtica. In his preface, he says that this b o o k is a d d r e s s e d to both students and researchers, and that its coverage is general w i t h o u t lessening the d e p t h a n d u p d a t i n g of the contents. Certainly this is a large (931 pages) and complex book, with a w i d e coverage of subjects in 23 chapters and two appendices. H o w ever, ! believe that the task of r e v i e w i n g the w h o l e of current and classical cytogenetics in a c o m p r e hensive w a y p r o b a b l y exceeds w h a t any a u t h o r can actually do. The result of such an e n d e a v o u r m a y be as it is in some chapters of this b o o k - a c o m p i l a t i o n of large a m o u n t s of d a t a with variable relevance, u p d a t i n g and consistency. A large b o o k is likely to contain a large -

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n u m b e r of misprints, and this b o o k is no exception to the rule. Thus, C. D. Darlington d i d not die in 1891 (p. 30) a n d NORs d o not 'code' r D N A (p. 113). The use of a special nomenclature or foreign w o r d s is not helpful; s i n a p t i n e m a l instead of synaptonemal, cromatidio instead of cromatida, sobrecruzamiento instead of entrecruzamiento, and d i s r u m p e n (p. 377) instead of desorganizan. A d i s t u r b i n g feature of some parag r a p h s is the lack of internal consistency between the first description of some items a n d its later d e v e l o p m e n t in other sentences; this h a p p e n s , for instance, in the discussion on the claimed presence of m y o s i n and actin in the s y n a p t o nemal complex, a n d in the description of l a m p b r u s h chromosomes, first as n o n - d i v i d e d axes, then a d d ing the evidence of their d o u b l e nature. There are also factual errors, such as ' D N A sometimes is forming a compact granule, about 700 ,~ in diameter, called procentriole' (p. 156); and the statement that the 'left" g o n a d in birds is a residual structure (p. 395). In the chapter dealing with sex chromosomes, there are misleading statements, such as the m e n t i o n of reptiles as a whole taxon with female h e t e r o g a m e t i s m (p. 361), and the m i s l e a d i n g equivalence b e t w e e n the m a m m a l i a n sex c h r o m a t i n a n d

the W chromatin of birds (p. 375). Some space is given to doubtful items, for instance the hypothetical a l l o p o l y p l o i d origin of the golden h a m s t e r (MesocHcetus auratus), which lacks any firm cytological or evolutionary basis (p. 584). On the other hand, there is a rather comprehensive treatment of most subjects. Some of these subjects can,not be read in Spanish and in similar detail a n y w h e r e else. For instance, it w o u l d be difficult to get a more detailed coverage of the structural and numerical c h r o m o s o m a l variants, the b e h a v i o u r of accessory chromosomes, the meiotic behaviour of polyploids, and others. The contributions of Spanish-speaking cytogeneticists, especially those w o r k i n g on plant materials, are rev i e w e d in d e p t h throughout this book. In summary, this is a book that m a y be useful to the Spanishspeaking specialist. For other kinds of reader, especially those interested in animal cytogenetics, the present edition of this b o o k m a y not be the clearest introduction to the subject.

Alberto J. Solari Centro de Investigaciones en Reproducci6n Facultad de Medicina Buenos Aires (1121) Argentina

~ 1996 Rapid Science Publishers

Chromosome

Techniques

A.K. Sharma and A. Sharma Harwood Academic Publishers, 1994, 368xix pp, s ISBN 3 7186 5513 6

From the a u t h o r s of C h r o m o s o m e Techniques: Theory and Practice, an indispensable v o l u m e that has run to three editions since 1965, w e n o w have C h r o m o s o m e Techniques - a manual. In spite of the r a p i d a d v a n ces in the application of molecular techniques to cytology, the authors are still in c o m m a n d of this revitalized area of research. Indeed, such has been the progress that it is only the title and a few of the introductory chapters that link this v o l u m e with their earlier works, m a k i n g this justifiably a n e w b o o k rather than an u p d a t e d fourth edition. Here is a m a n u a l that truly justifies the title C h r o m o s o m e Techniques, with its comprehensive treatment of plant, h u m a n and animal cytology. Coverage extends even to some of the less

- a manual

fashionable groups, such as a m p h i bians, insects, algae and fungi other than yeasts. The range and b r e a d t h of techniques covered is considerable, starting with the basics of staining a n d p r o d u c t i o n of c h r o m o s o m e squashes, t h r o u g h the s t a n d a r d b a n d i n g techniques, the cytological investigation of animal a n d p l a n t tissue culture systems, isolation of nuclei, m i c r u r g y and a large detailed section on the a l l - i m p o r t a n t in situ techniques for animal a n d plant tissues. This is much more than just another molecular recipe book; each chapter begins with a clearly written introduction to the topic and the rationale b e h i n d the techniques involved. A nice touch for d i n o s a u r s such as myself, w h o are relatively n e w to D N A h a n d l i n g techniques, is the chapter on Special Molecular Techniques - a sort of 'all y o u ever w a n ted to k n o w a b o u t D N A techniques b u t d i d n ' t like to ask' - which keeps the a c r o n y m s to a m i n i m u m . We cytologists are necessarily partisan and, while interested in the

Book Reviews

other major g r o u p s of eukaryotes, in a v o l u m e in which, textually, plant a n d animal a p p l i c a t i o n s are often intermixed, it w o u l d , I feel, have been useful to have had some sort of textual highlighting to distinguish the p l a n t a n d animal schedules. Obviously, I cannot personally v o u c h for the suitability of all the p l a n t a n d a n i m a l schedules here, b u t if the genomic in situ hyb r i d i z a t i o n (GISH) technique is anything to go by, the p u b l i s h e d schedule seems to be w o r d for w o r d the one I was using w h e n w o r k i n g at the Jodrell L a b o r a t o r y - if all the schedules have this sort of p e d i g r e e we are certainly in safe h a n d s here! The earlier third edition of Chrom o s o m e Techniques, although a valuable reference, s e l d o m leaves m y b o o k case - this n e w m a n u a l will, I feel, have little o p p o r t u n i t y to gather dust. John Bailey

Department of Botany School of Biological Sciences University of Leicester Leicester,

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