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Bacterial communication
BOOK REVIEWS A quick fix and an ultimate high Plant Microtechnique and Microscopy by Steven E. Ruzin, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999. £32.50 (322 pages) ISBN 0 19 508956 1
they are, and even suggested uses for Japanese sushi boxes. There is a nod towards modish trends in manual publishing in that the first chapter is called Quick Start and has eight selected protocols to get a student going – they can then absorb the riches of the book while samples are incubating. The book goes beyond most protocol manuals in its extensive concern with theory and history and thus provides a major resource for students who wish to develop a profound understanding of the procedures they are developing as skills. Although it covers some upto-date molecular techniques such as the TUNEL assay for DNA degradation during programmed cell death, and fluorescence in situ hybridization, its strengths lie in its solid coverage of protocols dealing with fixation, embedding, sectioning, the use of stains and microscope optics. For example, the chapter on chemical fixation is over 20 pages long. Fascinating tables cover stains and their properties (and how to remove them from hands), vital dyes, fluorescent reagents, the half life of isotopes, chemicals and their toxicity and details of over 20 coverslip mounting media. The reader is urged to go back to the pre-online literature
J.P. Knox Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds UK LS2 9JT.
This book is excellent. Plant molecular biology has come a long way over the past decade, but the need to examine plant materials, to see the size and shape of cells, and to see where a gene is expressed or a protein or a polysaccharide occurs, remains important. Non-invasive techniques have been established, but the fixation, embedding and sectioning of plant material are still crucial in many laboratories. This book covers all aspects of sample preparation for sectioning and light microscopy and is suitable for those who want to develop a real understanding of the equipment used and the protocols involved. In short, it has astonishing depth and breadth. It builds on and consolidates the achievement of the previous major book covering this area that is described in the preface here as the ‘wonderful but nonindexed and thus chaotic O’Brien and McCully (1981)’1. Microtechnique is not a word that is often encountered in modern manuals of laboratory protocols and, as indicated above, this not your average modern laboratory manual. Students reading this book are going to find much more than protocols to enable them to localize a gene or protein of interest as quickly as possible and then to get back to molecular biological manipulations. Detailed protocols and considerations of all steps from the starting plant material to sections under the light microscope are here. Much of the material on stains is probably irrelevant to most plant biology laboratories these days, and many stains are outmoded and have been superseded by defined antibodies, but it is wonderful to have the information together in this all-encompassing way. Furthermore, Ruzin has a great sense of history and I enjoyed the footnotes about such things as the award of the Nobel prize for the discovery of phase contrast, why things are named the way
212
0962-8924/00/$ – see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bacterial communication Cell–Cell Signaling in Bacteria edited by Gary M. Dunny and Stephen C. Winans, ASM Press, 1999. £59.00 (367 pages) ISBN 1 55581 149 3 Intercellular communication and group behaviour have recently become a major focus of research in bacteriology. The rationale is that bacteria cannot be understood fully as individual cells, but must be considered instead in the context of a larger microbial community and the regulatory interactions that occur among the cells that are
and, as he says throughout, the author views the book as a series of starting points for students to make their own discoveries in the literature. It is thoughtful and exhaustive and the bibliography has over 500 references that stretch well back into the twentieth century. The presentation on the page is plain when seen against some texts, but it is clear, and it has numerous tables, easy-to-read protocols and clear headings. Plant Microtechnique and Microscopy has an excellent index and a range of valuable appendices including a detailed 40-page appendix on optics. In summary, this book provides a ‘quick fix’ but also much more for those who really want to understand the ways that plant materials can be treated and examined and how light microscopes work. The book is a splendid monument to scholarship and learning. Get a copy for the laboratory as a source of thorough knowledge and urge all laboratory members to dip into it. Get a further copy for the library to sit alongside the eccentric O’Brien and McCully.
Reference 1 O’Brien, T.O. and McCully, M.E. (1981) The Study of Plant Structure. Principles and Selected Methods, Termarcarphi Pty
present. In part this reflects a natural transition from earlier studies on the developmental biology of differentiating bacteria (e.g. Refs 1 and 2) to the study of multicellular interaction and signal exchange among all types of bacteria. Cell–Cell Signalling in Bacteria is the third book published in the 1990s that addresses the interactive behaviour of bacteria3,4, but it is the first to focus specifically on mechanisms of signal generation and signal transduction. The book comprises 21 chapters, including an introductory overview. The chapters are organized into sections based on the biological phenomenon controlled by a particular signalling event. Because each chapter focuses on a specific signalling system, the reader can easily browse for a specific signal mechanism or a ‘favourite’ bacterial species, as desired. The first section of the book, on gene transfer and microbial development, includes chapters on the regulation of genetic competence in Streptococcus,
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 10) May 2000
book reviews competence and the initiation of sporulation in Bacillus, plasmid conjugation in Enterococcus, and two different signalling events in Myxococcus fruiting body formation. The second section deals with signalling events that result in symbiotically relevant phenotypes. The first chapter of this section provides an overview of signalling among diverse plant-associated bacteria. The rest of the section comprises chapters on peptide-mediated virulence in Staphylococcus aureus and specific acyl-homoserine lactone (HSL)-mediated signalling in a plant pathogen (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) and a human pathogen (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). A section on the production of antimicrobial compounds contains two chapters that describe the autoregulation of Group I and Group II bacteriocins in Gram-positive bacteria and a third chapter on g-butyrolactone signals in Streptomyces development. The fourth section addresses the molecular basis of cell–cell signalling. Two chapters detail the biochemistry and molecular biology of acyl-HSL signal generation and signal response, and additional chapters discuss the phosphorelay system initiating Bacillus sporulation and the complex mechanism regulating luminescence in Vibrio harveyi. The last section, ‘Past and future’, begins with an account of early research into quorumdependent regulation of Vibrio fischeri luminescence (now the model system
for acyl-HSL signalling), followed by a chapter reviewing acyl-HSL signalling systems in diverse Gramnegative bacteria. The final two chapters describe emerging questions about the molecular-genetic functions and ecological roles of extracellular peptide and acyl-HSL signalling systems, respectively. A quick browse through the book gives one the impression that all bacteria communicate either by peptide signals transduced through twocomponent phosphorelays or by acyl homoserine lactone signals that bind directly to transcriptional regulators. The interest, however, lies in the details and the often surprising exceptions and variations that exist on these two basic themes. For example, Myxococcus xanthus signals not with self-produced peptides but with individual amino acids (Chapter 5), whereas Vibrio harveyi transduces an acyl-HSL signal through a two-component phosphorelay (Chapter 17). If it is the details that are important, they are certainly provided in abundance. The narrow focus of most of the chapters results in a wealth of information that will quickly overwhelm the casual reader, but provides an excellent resource for those seeking specific details about a given system. The book would make an excellent text for a graduate-level course on bacterial signal transduction and environmental sensing, not only because of
this detail but because most chapters outline scrupulously the evidence used to justify current models of signalling mechanisms. Chapter 18 on ‘Early observations’ also provides an instructive perspective for new researchers into the realities of documenting phenomena that are in conflict with prevailing paradigms. The one complaint I might make about the book is that it omits some very interesting and relevant stories such as the signalling involved in cyanobacterial heterocyst formation and the communication between mother cell and endospore in Bacillus sporulation. As with any edited volume, there are minor problems with redundancy of material and unevenness of the writing style between chapters, but overall the editors and the authors are to be commended for the unity of the book. Each chapter can be read as an independent review, and the book as a whole achieves a very satisfactory completeness in its treatment of bacterial signalling.
References 1 Losick, R. and Shapiro, L. (1984) Microbial Development, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2 Dworkin, M. (1985) Developmental Biology of the Bacteria, Benjamin-Cummings 3 Dworkin, M. (1991) Microbial Cell–Cell Interactions, ASM Press 4 Shapiro, J.A. and Dworkin, M. (1997) Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms, Oxford University Press
Kendall M. Gray Dept of Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. E-mail: kgray@chuma. cas.usf.edu
http://tto.trends.com Editor: Adrian Bird Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh, UK New peer-reviewed articles published recently in Elsevier Trends Journals Technical Tips Online include: • Galassi, L. (2000) A gas-proof temperature-controlled microscope chamber that accepts oil or glycerolimmersion objectives for cytofluorimetry (http://tto.trends.com) t01920 • Wiener, F. and Mai, S. (2000) Banding of mouse chromosomes after spectral karyotyping (http://tto.trends.com) t01884 • Penalva, L.O.F. and Valcárcel, J. (2000) An optimized procedure to mutagenize long (>10kb) plasmids by PCR (http://tto.trends.com) t01918 • Bayani, J. et al. (2000) Sequential G-banding, SKY and FISH provide a refined identification of translocation breakpoints and complex chromosomal rearrangements (http://tto.trends.com) t01864 • Tanaka, K.J. and Nishikata, T. (1999) A non-radioactive gel shift protocol enables recovery of RNA-binding proteins (http://tto.trends.com) t01794 • Goldberg, M. (1999) The use of green fluorescent fusion proteins for efficient and reliable in vitro binding assays (http://tto.trends.com) t01801 • Petek, E. and Wagner, K. (1999) A rapid and efficient PCR approach for the generation of direct-labeled DNA probes for FISH analysis (http://tto.trends.com) t01757 • Kuschak, T.I. et al. (1999) FISH on purified extrachromosomal DNA molecules (http://tto.trends.com) t01669
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 10) May 2000
213
they are, and even suggested uses for Japanese sushi boxes. There is a nod towards modish trends in manual publishing in that the first chapter is called Quick Start and has eight selected protocols to get a student going – they can then absorb the riches of the book while samples are incubating. The book goes beyond most protocol manuals in its extensive concern with theory and history and thus provides a major resource for students who wish to develop a profound understanding of the procedures they are developing as skills. Although it covers some upto-date molecular techniques such as the TUNEL assay for DNA degradation during programmed cell death, and fluorescence in situ hybridization, its strengths lie in its solid coverage of protocols dealing with fixation, embedding, sectioning, the use of stains and microscope optics. For example, the chapter on chemical fixation is over 20 pages long. Fascinating tables cover stains and their properties (and how to remove them from hands), vital dyes, fluorescent reagents, the half life of isotopes, chemicals and their toxicity and details of over 20 coverslip mounting media. The reader is urged to go back to the pre-online literature
J.P. Knox Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds UK LS2 9JT.
This book is excellent. Plant molecular biology has come a long way over the past decade, but the need to examine plant materials, to see the size and shape of cells, and to see where a gene is expressed or a protein or a polysaccharide occurs, remains important. Non-invasive techniques have been established, but the fixation, embedding and sectioning of plant material are still crucial in many laboratories. This book covers all aspects of sample preparation for sectioning and light microscopy and is suitable for those who want to develop a real understanding of the equipment used and the protocols involved. In short, it has astonishing depth and breadth. It builds on and consolidates the achievement of the previous major book covering this area that is described in the preface here as the ‘wonderful but nonindexed and thus chaotic O’Brien and McCully (1981)’1. Microtechnique is not a word that is often encountered in modern manuals of laboratory protocols and, as indicated above, this not your average modern laboratory manual. Students reading this book are going to find much more than protocols to enable them to localize a gene or protein of interest as quickly as possible and then to get back to molecular biological manipulations. Detailed protocols and considerations of all steps from the starting plant material to sections under the light microscope are here. Much of the material on stains is probably irrelevant to most plant biology laboratories these days, and many stains are outmoded and have been superseded by defined antibodies, but it is wonderful to have the information together in this all-encompassing way. Furthermore, Ruzin has a great sense of history and I enjoyed the footnotes about such things as the award of the Nobel prize for the discovery of phase contrast, why things are named the way
212
0962-8924/00/$ – see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bacterial communication Cell–Cell Signaling in Bacteria edited by Gary M. Dunny and Stephen C. Winans, ASM Press, 1999. £59.00 (367 pages) ISBN 1 55581 149 3 Intercellular communication and group behaviour have recently become a major focus of research in bacteriology. The rationale is that bacteria cannot be understood fully as individual cells, but must be considered instead in the context of a larger microbial community and the regulatory interactions that occur among the cells that are
and, as he says throughout, the author views the book as a series of starting points for students to make their own discoveries in the literature. It is thoughtful and exhaustive and the bibliography has over 500 references that stretch well back into the twentieth century. The presentation on the page is plain when seen against some texts, but it is clear, and it has numerous tables, easy-to-read protocols and clear headings. Plant Microtechnique and Microscopy has an excellent index and a range of valuable appendices including a detailed 40-page appendix on optics. In summary, this book provides a ‘quick fix’ but also much more for those who really want to understand the ways that plant materials can be treated and examined and how light microscopes work. The book is a splendid monument to scholarship and learning. Get a copy for the laboratory as a source of thorough knowledge and urge all laboratory members to dip into it. Get a further copy for the library to sit alongside the eccentric O’Brien and McCully.
Reference 1 O’Brien, T.O. and McCully, M.E. (1981) The Study of Plant Structure. Principles and Selected Methods, Termarcarphi Pty
present. In part this reflects a natural transition from earlier studies on the developmental biology of differentiating bacteria (e.g. Refs 1 and 2) to the study of multicellular interaction and signal exchange among all types of bacteria. Cell–Cell Signalling in Bacteria is the third book published in the 1990s that addresses the interactive behaviour of bacteria3,4, but it is the first to focus specifically on mechanisms of signal generation and signal transduction. The book comprises 21 chapters, including an introductory overview. The chapters are organized into sections based on the biological phenomenon controlled by a particular signalling event. Because each chapter focuses on a specific signalling system, the reader can easily browse for a specific signal mechanism or a ‘favourite’ bacterial species, as desired. The first section of the book, on gene transfer and microbial development, includes chapters on the regulation of genetic competence in Streptococcus,
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 10) May 2000
book reviews competence and the initiation of sporulation in Bacillus, plasmid conjugation in Enterococcus, and two different signalling events in Myxococcus fruiting body formation. The second section deals with signalling events that result in symbiotically relevant phenotypes. The first chapter of this section provides an overview of signalling among diverse plant-associated bacteria. The rest of the section comprises chapters on peptide-mediated virulence in Staphylococcus aureus and specific acyl-homoserine lactone (HSL)-mediated signalling in a plant pathogen (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) and a human pathogen (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). A section on the production of antimicrobial compounds contains two chapters that describe the autoregulation of Group I and Group II bacteriocins in Gram-positive bacteria and a third chapter on g-butyrolactone signals in Streptomyces development. The fourth section addresses the molecular basis of cell–cell signalling. Two chapters detail the biochemistry and molecular biology of acyl-HSL signal generation and signal response, and additional chapters discuss the phosphorelay system initiating Bacillus sporulation and the complex mechanism regulating luminescence in Vibrio harveyi. The last section, ‘Past and future’, begins with an account of early research into quorumdependent regulation of Vibrio fischeri luminescence (now the model system
for acyl-HSL signalling), followed by a chapter reviewing acyl-HSL signalling systems in diverse Gramnegative bacteria. The final two chapters describe emerging questions about the molecular-genetic functions and ecological roles of extracellular peptide and acyl-HSL signalling systems, respectively. A quick browse through the book gives one the impression that all bacteria communicate either by peptide signals transduced through twocomponent phosphorelays or by acyl homoserine lactone signals that bind directly to transcriptional regulators. The interest, however, lies in the details and the often surprising exceptions and variations that exist on these two basic themes. For example, Myxococcus xanthus signals not with self-produced peptides but with individual amino acids (Chapter 5), whereas Vibrio harveyi transduces an acyl-HSL signal through a two-component phosphorelay (Chapter 17). If it is the details that are important, they are certainly provided in abundance. The narrow focus of most of the chapters results in a wealth of information that will quickly overwhelm the casual reader, but provides an excellent resource for those seeking specific details about a given system. The book would make an excellent text for a graduate-level course on bacterial signal transduction and environmental sensing, not only because of
this detail but because most chapters outline scrupulously the evidence used to justify current models of signalling mechanisms. Chapter 18 on ‘Early observations’ also provides an instructive perspective for new researchers into the realities of documenting phenomena that are in conflict with prevailing paradigms. The one complaint I might make about the book is that it omits some very interesting and relevant stories such as the signalling involved in cyanobacterial heterocyst formation and the communication between mother cell and endospore in Bacillus sporulation. As with any edited volume, there are minor problems with redundancy of material and unevenness of the writing style between chapters, but overall the editors and the authors are to be commended for the unity of the book. Each chapter can be read as an independent review, and the book as a whole achieves a very satisfactory completeness in its treatment of bacterial signalling.
References 1 Losick, R. and Shapiro, L. (1984) Microbial Development, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2 Dworkin, M. (1985) Developmental Biology of the Bacteria, Benjamin-Cummings 3 Dworkin, M. (1991) Microbial Cell–Cell Interactions, ASM Press 4 Shapiro, J.A. and Dworkin, M. (1997) Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms, Oxford University Press
Kendall M. Gray Dept of Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. E-mail: kgray@chuma. cas.usf.edu
http://tto.trends.com Editor: Adrian Bird Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh, UK New peer-reviewed articles published recently in Elsevier Trends Journals Technical Tips Online include: • Galassi, L. (2000) A gas-proof temperature-controlled microscope chamber that accepts oil or glycerolimmersion objectives for cytofluorimetry (http://tto.trends.com) t01920 • Wiener, F. and Mai, S. (2000) Banding of mouse chromosomes after spectral karyotyping (http://tto.trends.com) t01884 • Penalva, L.O.F. and Valcárcel, J. (2000) An optimized procedure to mutagenize long (>10kb) plasmids by PCR (http://tto.trends.com) t01918 • Bayani, J. et al. (2000) Sequential G-banding, SKY and FISH provide a refined identification of translocation breakpoints and complex chromosomal rearrangements (http://tto.trends.com) t01864 • Tanaka, K.J. and Nishikata, T. (1999) A non-radioactive gel shift protocol enables recovery of RNA-binding proteins (http://tto.trends.com) t01794 • Goldberg, M. (1999) The use of green fluorescent fusion proteins for efficient and reliable in vitro binding assays (http://tto.trends.com) t01801 • Petek, E. and Wagner, K. (1999) A rapid and efficient PCR approach for the generation of direct-labeled DNA probes for FISH analysis (http://tto.trends.com) t01757 • Kuschak, T.I. et al. (1999) FISH on purified extrachromosomal DNA molecules (http://tto.trends.com) t01669
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