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Comprehensive insect physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology
Gen. Pharmac. Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 371-372, 1986
Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS
visual transduction; bacterorhodopsin topography in purple membrane; acetylcholine receptor structure and function; kinetic infrared spectroscopy and kinetic light scattering-two new methods for studying fast trigger processes; optical probes and the detection of conformational changes in membrane protein; calcium and cellular activation; the ordered water model of membrane ionic channels; electric field-induced fusion and rotation of cells. The reviews contain material that will be of interest to most readers. For example it is well known that some plant seeds, microorganisms, nematodes, insect eggs, etc. can withstand cooling in liquid nitrogen and/or heating to 100°C. How are their membranes stablized under these conditions? Normally such treatment would withdraw the water in the main hydration shell around the polar heads of some phospholipids and lead to irreversible phase separation and crystallization of the lipids and cholesterol so degrading the membrane structure. However in many cells that can withstand such extremes of temperature and dehydration, trehalose is present in the membrane and in vitro experiments show that trehalose protects the hydration shells in membrane vesicles under these extreme conditions.
Mechanisms and Regulation of Carbohydrate Transport in Bacteria--Milton H Saier Jr. 209 pp, 1985. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla. US $39. Bacteria provide the best understood system for the study of carbohydrate transport into and out of the cell. Five different transport systems have been described; 1. Facilitated diffusion (glycerol). 2. Proton symport (lactose). 3. Sodium symport (melibiose). 4. Active transport (maltose). 5. Group translocation (mannitol). The genes responsible for the transport proteins (permeases) have been cloned for lactose, melibiose, mannitol and maltose, and the lacT and mtlA genes encoding the lactose and mannitol permeases have been sequenced and analysed. Their vectorial transport has been characterised in phospholiposomes containing phospholipids and a single transport protein. Metabolite activated protein kinases are also involved in the regulation of transport and the accumulation of cytoplasmic inducers. It is possible that cAMP and protein kinases first evolved to coordinate carboydrate metabolism in prokaryotes. This single-author volume provides an excellent account of the porins in the outer membrane and the permeases in the inner membrane that are responsible for selective transport of carboydrates into and out of the cell, and the manner in which such transport systems are regulated.
Techniques in Pheromone Research--Edited by H. E. Hummel and T. A. Miller. 464 pp. 1984. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. DM 178. In 1959 Butenandt and his colleagues purified 12rag of bombykol from tens of thousands of silkmoths and were able to make a chemical identification of the molecule. Nowadays with improved purification and analytical techniques it is possible to identify and analyse a few micrograms of material: an increase in sensitivity of five orders of magnitude. The 14 chapters in this volume provide details on modern techniques for isolating, purifying and identifying pheromones by GLC, HPLC, mass spectrometry, i.r., and NMR with specific examples for each case. There are also chapters on the bioassay of the pheromones by study of the electroantennograms (electrical changes that the pheromones cause in the antenna of the insect), behavioural assays, wind tunnel experiments, and tandem set ups that combine GLC linked to a detecting system of single olfactory cells, antennograms, or behavioural activity. In this way the research worker can be sure that the substance he is purifying and analysing is the one that has the maximal physiological effect on the receiving insect. These chemical attractants are often species specific and can be used to attract, trap and kill a single species of insect pest whilst not affecting other insects such as pollinating bees. The information in this book will be very useful to workers already in the field who will be able to pick up useful tips of methodology and to any one interested in studying pheromones and signal chemicals from insects and other animals.
Membrane Protein Biosynthesis and Turnover--Edited by P. A, Knauf and J. S. Cook. Current Topics in Membranes and Transport Vol. 24. 515 pp. 1985. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla. US $89. There are eleven reviews in this volume; application of the signal hypothesis to the incorporation of integral membrane proteins; structure and function of signal peptides; use of genetic techniques to analyse protein export in E. Coli; structural and thermodynamic aspects of the transfer of porteins into and across membranes; mechanisms and functional role of glycosylation in membrane protein synthesis; protein sorting in the secretory pathway; transport of proteins into mitochondria; assembley of the sarcoplasmic reticulum during muscle development; receptors as models for the mechanisms of membrane protein turnover and dynamic; the role of endocytosis and lysosmes in cell physiology; regulation of glucose transport and hormone receptor cycling by insulin in the rat adipose cell. The linking thread between the reviews is the dynamic state of the membranes and organelles in most cells and the manner in which it is brought about and controlled. Even stable membranes such as that of the RBC show endocytosis. The reviews are well written and provide excellent summaries of the present knowledge of this important subject.
Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology. 12 volumes plus an Index volume---Edited by G. A. Kerkut and L. I. Gilbert. 8367 pp. 1985. Pergamon Press, Oxford. £1700, US $2,750.
Biological Membranes. Vol. 5--Edited by D. Chapman. 494 pp. 1984. Academic Press, London. US $75. There are eleven reviews in this volume; biomembrane fluidity; effects of dehydration on membranes and membrane stability at low water activity; physical basis of trigger processes and membrane structure; rhodopsin and its role in
These twelve volumes each with its own subject, species and author index, and the cumulative indexes in the index volume provide an extensive data base for the literature on 371
372
Book Reviews
insect physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, behaviour, and pest control up to 1983 and some references to 1984. The 240 authors of the separate chapers have in general done an excellent job and provided readable accounts that give the background to the subjects, the present views and many cases suggestions what should be done next or what important data is missing. The volumes are well written, well illustrated and have extensive tabular data. All references are given with full titles. Each author is referred to so that it is possible to trace Smith J. from Smith K. (there are 22 Smiths listed!) both in the references and on the precise page of next. There are separate volumes dedicated to Biochemistry (Vol. 10) and Pharmacology (Vol. I1) but material of biochemical and pharmacological interest will also be found in other volumes such as the two on endocrinology (Vols 7 and 8) and on insect control (Vol. 12). The biochemistry, pharmacology and actions of pheromones are fully described in Vol. 9 (Behavior).
Though the volumes seem expensive they should be considered in terms of a piece of information equipment less than the price of a refrigerated centrifuge, a HPLC system, a research microscope or a storage oscilloscope. Nowadays when libraries are tending to centralise book stocks, it will be very useful to have this series of volumes in the laboratory where they can be constantly consulted. They will also be essential to those Departments who do not have an extensive range of journals in their library. Insects have considerable medical and economic importance, 200 million people in the world suffer from malaria; insects eat some 15 20% of the world food crops. They are also important in their own right and are ideal research material for studying fundamental biochemical, physiological and pharmacological problems, such as mechanisms of hormone action, action of drugs on cells, cellular differentiation, neuronal integration, pheromones, cancer, ageing, programmed cell death. These volumes will greatly help and advance such studies.
Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS
visual transduction; bacterorhodopsin topography in purple membrane; acetylcholine receptor structure and function; kinetic infrared spectroscopy and kinetic light scattering-two new methods for studying fast trigger processes; optical probes and the detection of conformational changes in membrane protein; calcium and cellular activation; the ordered water model of membrane ionic channels; electric field-induced fusion and rotation of cells. The reviews contain material that will be of interest to most readers. For example it is well known that some plant seeds, microorganisms, nematodes, insect eggs, etc. can withstand cooling in liquid nitrogen and/or heating to 100°C. How are their membranes stablized under these conditions? Normally such treatment would withdraw the water in the main hydration shell around the polar heads of some phospholipids and lead to irreversible phase separation and crystallization of the lipids and cholesterol so degrading the membrane structure. However in many cells that can withstand such extremes of temperature and dehydration, trehalose is present in the membrane and in vitro experiments show that trehalose protects the hydration shells in membrane vesicles under these extreme conditions.
Mechanisms and Regulation of Carbohydrate Transport in Bacteria--Milton H Saier Jr. 209 pp, 1985. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla. US $39. Bacteria provide the best understood system for the study of carbohydrate transport into and out of the cell. Five different transport systems have been described; 1. Facilitated diffusion (glycerol). 2. Proton symport (lactose). 3. Sodium symport (melibiose). 4. Active transport (maltose). 5. Group translocation (mannitol). The genes responsible for the transport proteins (permeases) have been cloned for lactose, melibiose, mannitol and maltose, and the lacT and mtlA genes encoding the lactose and mannitol permeases have been sequenced and analysed. Their vectorial transport has been characterised in phospholiposomes containing phospholipids and a single transport protein. Metabolite activated protein kinases are also involved in the regulation of transport and the accumulation of cytoplasmic inducers. It is possible that cAMP and protein kinases first evolved to coordinate carboydrate metabolism in prokaryotes. This single-author volume provides an excellent account of the porins in the outer membrane and the permeases in the inner membrane that are responsible for selective transport of carboydrates into and out of the cell, and the manner in which such transport systems are regulated.
Techniques in Pheromone Research--Edited by H. E. Hummel and T. A. Miller. 464 pp. 1984. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. DM 178. In 1959 Butenandt and his colleagues purified 12rag of bombykol from tens of thousands of silkmoths and were able to make a chemical identification of the molecule. Nowadays with improved purification and analytical techniques it is possible to identify and analyse a few micrograms of material: an increase in sensitivity of five orders of magnitude. The 14 chapters in this volume provide details on modern techniques for isolating, purifying and identifying pheromones by GLC, HPLC, mass spectrometry, i.r., and NMR with specific examples for each case. There are also chapters on the bioassay of the pheromones by study of the electroantennograms (electrical changes that the pheromones cause in the antenna of the insect), behavioural assays, wind tunnel experiments, and tandem set ups that combine GLC linked to a detecting system of single olfactory cells, antennograms, or behavioural activity. In this way the research worker can be sure that the substance he is purifying and analysing is the one that has the maximal physiological effect on the receiving insect. These chemical attractants are often species specific and can be used to attract, trap and kill a single species of insect pest whilst not affecting other insects such as pollinating bees. The information in this book will be very useful to workers already in the field who will be able to pick up useful tips of methodology and to any one interested in studying pheromones and signal chemicals from insects and other animals.
Membrane Protein Biosynthesis and Turnover--Edited by P. A, Knauf and J. S. Cook. Current Topics in Membranes and Transport Vol. 24. 515 pp. 1985. Academic Press, Orlando, Fla. US $89. There are eleven reviews in this volume; application of the signal hypothesis to the incorporation of integral membrane proteins; structure and function of signal peptides; use of genetic techniques to analyse protein export in E. Coli; structural and thermodynamic aspects of the transfer of porteins into and across membranes; mechanisms and functional role of glycosylation in membrane protein synthesis; protein sorting in the secretory pathway; transport of proteins into mitochondria; assembley of the sarcoplasmic reticulum during muscle development; receptors as models for the mechanisms of membrane protein turnover and dynamic; the role of endocytosis and lysosmes in cell physiology; regulation of glucose transport and hormone receptor cycling by insulin in the rat adipose cell. The linking thread between the reviews is the dynamic state of the membranes and organelles in most cells and the manner in which it is brought about and controlled. Even stable membranes such as that of the RBC show endocytosis. The reviews are well written and provide excellent summaries of the present knowledge of this important subject.
Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology. 12 volumes plus an Index volume---Edited by G. A. Kerkut and L. I. Gilbert. 8367 pp. 1985. Pergamon Press, Oxford. £1700, US $2,750.
Biological Membranes. Vol. 5--Edited by D. Chapman. 494 pp. 1984. Academic Press, London. US $75. There are eleven reviews in this volume; biomembrane fluidity; effects of dehydration on membranes and membrane stability at low water activity; physical basis of trigger processes and membrane structure; rhodopsin and its role in
These twelve volumes each with its own subject, species and author index, and the cumulative indexes in the index volume provide an extensive data base for the literature on 371
372
Book Reviews
insect physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, behaviour, and pest control up to 1983 and some references to 1984. The 240 authors of the separate chapers have in general done an excellent job and provided readable accounts that give the background to the subjects, the present views and many cases suggestions what should be done next or what important data is missing. The volumes are well written, well illustrated and have extensive tabular data. All references are given with full titles. Each author is referred to so that it is possible to trace Smith J. from Smith K. (there are 22 Smiths listed!) both in the references and on the precise page of next. There are separate volumes dedicated to Biochemistry (Vol. 10) and Pharmacology (Vol. I1) but material of biochemical and pharmacological interest will also be found in other volumes such as the two on endocrinology (Vols 7 and 8) and on insect control (Vol. 12). The biochemistry, pharmacology and actions of pheromones are fully described in Vol. 9 (Behavior).
Though the volumes seem expensive they should be considered in terms of a piece of information equipment less than the price of a refrigerated centrifuge, a HPLC system, a research microscope or a storage oscilloscope. Nowadays when libraries are tending to centralise book stocks, it will be very useful to have this series of volumes in the laboratory where they can be constantly consulted. They will also be essential to those Departments who do not have an extensive range of journals in their library. Insects have considerable medical and economic importance, 200 million people in the world suffer from malaria; insects eat some 15 20% of the world food crops. They are also important in their own right and are ideal research material for studying fundamental biochemical, physiological and pharmacological problems, such as mechanisms of hormone action, action of drugs on cells, cellular differentiation, neuronal integration, pheromones, cancer, ageing, programmed cell death. These volumes will greatly help and advance such studies.