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Advances in applied microbiology. Vol. 2
ARCHIVES
OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND
BIOPHYSICS
100,
(1963)
Book Reviews Advances in Applied Microbiology. Vol. 2. Edited by WAYNE W. UMBREIT, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Academic Press, New York, 1960. xii + 384 pp. illus. Price $12.00. is the expressed purpose of the editor of this series of books to publish a collection of review articles in the field of applied microbiology which will serve as a means of communication between diverse groups. The steady advances of our knowledge in this broad area have undoubtedly created a need for a systematic account of these developments, and this second volume of the series admirably fulfills this aim. Volume 2 has indeed been expanded to cover a wider range of subjects, including a symposium on Engineering Advances in Fermentation Practice, which consists of a collection of papers presented at the meeting of the American Chemical Society in September, 1959. Under this heading are found the following sections: Rheological Properties of Fermentation Broths, Fluid Mixing in Fermentation Processes, Scale-up of Submerged Fermentations, Air Sterilization, Sterilization of Media for Biochemical Processes, Fermentation Kinetics and Model Processes, Continuous Fermentation, and Control Applications in Fermentation. The other eight chapters deal with: Newer Aspects of Waste Treatment, Aerosol Samplers, A Commentary on Microbiological Assaying, Application of Membrane Filters, Microbial Control Methods in the Brewery, Newer Development in Vinegar Manufactures, The Microbiological Transformation of Steroids, and Biological Transformation of Solar Energy. It is unfortunate that the preparation of the section dealing with microbiological assays coincided with published reports indicating that automation is feasible. This has been demonstrated with the AutoAnalyzer which is capable of carrying out continuous analyses for antibiotics by turbidimetric and respirometric methods. It is hoped that a forthcoming volume will give this newer aspect of microbiological assays the prominence it deserves. The index and the physical aspects of the book, including figures, formulas, type, paper, and binding, are good. This book is highly recommended to all micro-
biologists whose interests lie anywhere the broad field of applied microbiology. PHILIP
C. EISMAN,
Summit,
within
New Jersey
Biological Alkylating Agents: Fundamental Chemistry and the Design of Compounds for Selective Toxicity. By W. C. J. Ross, Reader in Chemistry, Institute of Cancer Research, University of London. Cancer Monograph Series (R. W. Raven, ed.) Butterworths, London, 1962. xi + 232 pp. illus. Price $10.50.
It
One of the most interesting groups of antineoplastic compounds, the alkylating or radiomimetic agents, form the content of this monograph. It,s author, who devoted more than a decade to the work on the chemistry and physical chemistry of the different classes of these compounds, describes their basic chemistry and the conditions of their specific reactivity (Part I) both chemically and biologically before discussing (Part II) extensively the design of active compounds. The survey of biological activities is not limited to the antineoplastic effect and includes the general cytotoxic, mutagenic, and biochemical properties of the different compounds and their active and inactive derivatives. The influence of the substances on carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and their precursors, enzymes, and hormones is reviewed on the basis of experimental findings in vitro and in viva, and the fate of the compounds in the living organisms is described from the results of studies with isotope-labeled substances. The interpretation of biological phenomena is always based on chemical and physical-chemical reactivity; by correlation of the fundamental properties, general principles of the mode of action and the “exploitable variants” are developed. They are applied to the recent tendency in the field of alkylating agents, namely the synthesis of latent transport forms of the agent,s acting by the principle of “latent activity” or the formation of active compounds from inactive ones by hydrolysis, oxidation, reduction, and other mechanisms. The author is aware of the fact that an entirely satisfactory interpretation of so complex a problem as the antineoplastic activity of the alkylating agents cannot yet be offered, but all the questions that can be answered and all the possibilities 160
OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND
BIOPHYSICS
100,
(1963)
Book Reviews Advances in Applied Microbiology. Vol. 2. Edited by WAYNE W. UMBREIT, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Academic Press, New York, 1960. xii + 384 pp. illus. Price $12.00. is the expressed purpose of the editor of this series of books to publish a collection of review articles in the field of applied microbiology which will serve as a means of communication between diverse groups. The steady advances of our knowledge in this broad area have undoubtedly created a need for a systematic account of these developments, and this second volume of the series admirably fulfills this aim. Volume 2 has indeed been expanded to cover a wider range of subjects, including a symposium on Engineering Advances in Fermentation Practice, which consists of a collection of papers presented at the meeting of the American Chemical Society in September, 1959. Under this heading are found the following sections: Rheological Properties of Fermentation Broths, Fluid Mixing in Fermentation Processes, Scale-up of Submerged Fermentations, Air Sterilization, Sterilization of Media for Biochemical Processes, Fermentation Kinetics and Model Processes, Continuous Fermentation, and Control Applications in Fermentation. The other eight chapters deal with: Newer Aspects of Waste Treatment, Aerosol Samplers, A Commentary on Microbiological Assaying, Application of Membrane Filters, Microbial Control Methods in the Brewery, Newer Development in Vinegar Manufactures, The Microbiological Transformation of Steroids, and Biological Transformation of Solar Energy. It is unfortunate that the preparation of the section dealing with microbiological assays coincided with published reports indicating that automation is feasible. This has been demonstrated with the AutoAnalyzer which is capable of carrying out continuous analyses for antibiotics by turbidimetric and respirometric methods. It is hoped that a forthcoming volume will give this newer aspect of microbiological assays the prominence it deserves. The index and the physical aspects of the book, including figures, formulas, type, paper, and binding, are good. This book is highly recommended to all micro-
biologists whose interests lie anywhere the broad field of applied microbiology. PHILIP
C. EISMAN,
Summit,
within
New Jersey
Biological Alkylating Agents: Fundamental Chemistry and the Design of Compounds for Selective Toxicity. By W. C. J. Ross, Reader in Chemistry, Institute of Cancer Research, University of London. Cancer Monograph Series (R. W. Raven, ed.) Butterworths, London, 1962. xi + 232 pp. illus. Price $10.50.
It
One of the most interesting groups of antineoplastic compounds, the alkylating or radiomimetic agents, form the content of this monograph. It,s author, who devoted more than a decade to the work on the chemistry and physical chemistry of the different classes of these compounds, describes their basic chemistry and the conditions of their specific reactivity (Part I) both chemically and biologically before discussing (Part II) extensively the design of active compounds. The survey of biological activities is not limited to the antineoplastic effect and includes the general cytotoxic, mutagenic, and biochemical properties of the different compounds and their active and inactive derivatives. The influence of the substances on carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and their precursors, enzymes, and hormones is reviewed on the basis of experimental findings in vitro and in viva, and the fate of the compounds in the living organisms is described from the results of studies with isotope-labeled substances. The interpretation of biological phenomena is always based on chemical and physical-chemical reactivity; by correlation of the fundamental properties, general principles of the mode of action and the “exploitable variants” are developed. They are applied to the recent tendency in the field of alkylating agents, namely the synthesis of latent transport forms of the agent,s acting by the principle of “latent activity” or the formation of active compounds from inactive ones by hydrolysis, oxidation, reduction, and other mechanisms. The author is aware of the fact that an entirely satisfactory interpretation of so complex a problem as the antineoplastic activity of the alkylating agents cannot yet be offered, but all the questions that can be answered and all the possibilities 160