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Electron microscopy at molecular dimensions
Oa2e711X/82/~535-03$o3oo/o Copyright 8 1982 Pergamon Press Ltd
Int. J. Biochem. Vol. 14, pp. 535 to 531, 1982 Printed io Great Britain. All rights reserved
BOOK REVIEWS Electron ~icr~opy at ~o~~~ar Simmons-edited by W. BAUMEISTERand W. VWJELL. 153 P. 1380. Springer, Berlin, f57.90; DM 98.
Te~acycline L ~~r~y~l~e, C. R. ~ut~~inson; Ansamycins, 0. Lancini and M. Grandi; Aminocyclitols, C. J. Pearce & K. L. Rinehart Jr; /I Lactams, 5. ~Sulliva~ and E. P. Abraham; Met~ylenom~cin, U. Hornemann & D. A. Hopwood; Er~rn~i~~ J. W. Corcoran; 16 Membered Ma~olide, S. Omura & A. Nakagawa; U~usu~ macrolides, H. G. Floss and Chibg-Jer Chang; Isochromanequinone, H. G. Floss: Aromatic a~tibiotics~ H. G. Floss: Anthramycin, Tomaymycin & Sibiromycin, L. H. Hurley & M. K. Speedie; Mitomycins, U. Hornemann; Nitrogennitrogen bond conniving ~tibioti~~ U. Hornem~n: Peotide antibiotics K. Kur&ashi; and Nncleotide antibioti& R. J. Su~ado~k. The elu~dat~o~ of the pathways that lead to the production of these, antibiotica.is a fascinating and important story that still has many new twists to it. This volume gives an excellent summary of the skill of Nature as a synthetic organic chemist.
The book is based cm a Workshop held in Germany in 1979, and is concerned with the elu~dation of the.struct~e of macramolecules and supramolecular assemblies; the state of the art and the strategies for the future. Forty papers are presented. The techniques include image processing, making 2 D arrays,’ low temperature microscopy, image recording by film and TV, physical and chemical treatment of the material before EM examination. The Italian lizard Lacerta sicula develops large ~rystall~e sheets of ribosomes during h~be~~tio~. Thin sections show each sheet to be composed of two layers of ribosomes, each layer being a two ~mensional crystal of rib~omal tetramers arranged on a square lattice. The figure below shows a 3-D map of a ribosomal tetramer from one layer of a crystalline sheet in negative stain.
Wale
and B~o~~~eti~~llyRelated A~loi~~dited
D. PHILUPWN and M, H. Press, London. 675.00.
ZONK. 379
by J. p. 1980. Academic
The plant alkaloids have provided many important drugs such as the ergot alkaloids, reserpine, vinblastine, vincristine; s~ch~ine and physotigmine. These and other alkaloids are discussed in thii book in relation to their chemistry, synthesis, isolation and purification. At present pharmacologists use only a small fraction of the available alkaloids as research tools. The book may suggest to the reader some ,new and insisting conipounds that might well have new and important properties. Over 200 dkaloids have so far been isolated from the plants of the genus S~P$WS.
From Electron Microscopy of Molecular Dimensions
Molecular Biology Biochemistry and Biophysics, Vol. 32, Chemical Recognition in Biology-Edited by F. CHAPEVILLE and A.-L. HAENNI. 430 p. 1980. Springer, Berlin
$57.90; DM 98. This is a collection of papers presented at a Symposium organized in Grignon (France), July 1979, on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of Fritz Lipmann. The topics include recognition of ligands, enzyme catalysis, enzyme regulation: nucleic acid-protein interactions, r&age&is: protein biosynthesis. There are intriguing chapters such as “Why is phosphate so useful?“, “ppGpp a signal molecule?“, “Structure and evolution of Ribosomes”. The final section is philosophical with a.chapter by R. Monro on ‘Molecular Biology Culture and Society,’ and a chapter by G. D. Novell on ‘Personal recollections of Fritz Lipmann during the early years of Coenzyme A Research.’
Sulfur in Proteinsby Yu M. TORCH~SKY.‘294 p. 1981. Pergamon Press, Oxford. E4O; 596. This monograph has been translated from the Russian edition of 1977, but has been brought up to date with 18 new figures added. The chapter headings are: Chemical properties of SH groups; Sulthydryl reagents; Chemical properties of S-S groups and methods for their cleavage; Chemical properties of thioether group of methionine; Methods for the quantitative determination of SH and S-S groups in proteins; Differential reactivity of SH groups of proteins; Essential SH groups of enzymes and methods of identification; The role of SH groups in enzymes; Thiol cofactor; The role of S-S groups in proteins; The role of the thiother group of methionine in proteins; Acid labile sulfur in electron-carrier proteins; Chemical methods for introduction of SH and SS groups into proteins. There is a good bibliography with over 1800 references. The volume is readable and there are useful summaries at the end of each chapter.
Antibiotics IV. Biosynthesis-Edited by J. W. CORCXXUN. 380 p. 1981. Springer, Berlin. 5116.90: DM 198.
Stmetnre and Activity of Natnrsl Peptides-Edited by W. VOELTERand G. WEITZEL.263 p. 1981. de Gruyter, Berlin. DM 150.
This volume brings up to date our present knowledge concerning the biosynthesis of antibiotics. The topics chosen and authors are as follows:
The volume starts with a survey of selected topics: Gastrointestinal hormones; Amatoxins & Phallatoxins; Insulin; Thymic peptides; Alamethicin and Trichotoxin A40; 535
Int. J. Biochem. Vol. 14, pp. 535 to 531, 1982 Printed io Great Britain. All rights reserved
BOOK REVIEWS Electron ~icr~opy at ~o~~~ar Simmons-edited by W. BAUMEISTERand W. VWJELL. 153 P. 1380. Springer, Berlin, f57.90; DM 98.
Te~acycline L ~~r~y~l~e, C. R. ~ut~~inson; Ansamycins, 0. Lancini and M. Grandi; Aminocyclitols, C. J. Pearce & K. L. Rinehart Jr; /I Lactams, 5. ~Sulliva~ and E. P. Abraham; Met~ylenom~cin, U. Hornemann & D. A. Hopwood; Er~rn~i~~ J. W. Corcoran; 16 Membered Ma~olide, S. Omura & A. Nakagawa; U~usu~ macrolides, H. G. Floss and Chibg-Jer Chang; Isochromanequinone, H. G. Floss: Aromatic a~tibiotics~ H. G. Floss: Anthramycin, Tomaymycin & Sibiromycin, L. H. Hurley & M. K. Speedie; Mitomycins, U. Hornemann; Nitrogennitrogen bond conniving ~tibioti~~ U. Hornem~n: Peotide antibiotics K. Kur&ashi; and Nncleotide antibioti& R. J. Su~ado~k. The elu~dat~o~ of the pathways that lead to the production of these, antibiotica.is a fascinating and important story that still has many new twists to it. This volume gives an excellent summary of the skill of Nature as a synthetic organic chemist.
The book is based cm a Workshop held in Germany in 1979, and is concerned with the elu~dation of the.struct~e of macramolecules and supramolecular assemblies; the state of the art and the strategies for the future. Forty papers are presented. The techniques include image processing, making 2 D arrays,’ low temperature microscopy, image recording by film and TV, physical and chemical treatment of the material before EM examination. The Italian lizard Lacerta sicula develops large ~rystall~e sheets of ribosomes during h~be~~tio~. Thin sections show each sheet to be composed of two layers of ribosomes, each layer being a two ~mensional crystal of rib~omal tetramers arranged on a square lattice. The figure below shows a 3-D map of a ribosomal tetramer from one layer of a crystalline sheet in negative stain.
Wale
and B~o~~~eti~~llyRelated A~loi~~dited
D. PHILUPWN and M, H. Press, London. 675.00.
ZONK. 379
by J. p. 1980. Academic
The plant alkaloids have provided many important drugs such as the ergot alkaloids, reserpine, vinblastine, vincristine; s~ch~ine and physotigmine. These and other alkaloids are discussed in thii book in relation to their chemistry, synthesis, isolation and purification. At present pharmacologists use only a small fraction of the available alkaloids as research tools. The book may suggest to the reader some ,new and insisting conipounds that might well have new and important properties. Over 200 dkaloids have so far been isolated from the plants of the genus S~P$WS.
From Electron Microscopy of Molecular Dimensions
Molecular Biology Biochemistry and Biophysics, Vol. 32, Chemical Recognition in Biology-Edited by F. CHAPEVILLE and A.-L. HAENNI. 430 p. 1980. Springer, Berlin
$57.90; DM 98. This is a collection of papers presented at a Symposium organized in Grignon (France), July 1979, on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of Fritz Lipmann. The topics include recognition of ligands, enzyme catalysis, enzyme regulation: nucleic acid-protein interactions, r&age&is: protein biosynthesis. There are intriguing chapters such as “Why is phosphate so useful?“, “ppGpp a signal molecule?“, “Structure and evolution of Ribosomes”. The final section is philosophical with a.chapter by R. Monro on ‘Molecular Biology Culture and Society,’ and a chapter by G. D. Novell on ‘Personal recollections of Fritz Lipmann during the early years of Coenzyme A Research.’
Sulfur in Proteinsby Yu M. TORCH~SKY.‘294 p. 1981. Pergamon Press, Oxford. E4O; 596. This monograph has been translated from the Russian edition of 1977, but has been brought up to date with 18 new figures added. The chapter headings are: Chemical properties of SH groups; Sulthydryl reagents; Chemical properties of S-S groups and methods for their cleavage; Chemical properties of thioether group of methionine; Methods for the quantitative determination of SH and S-S groups in proteins; Differential reactivity of SH groups of proteins; Essential SH groups of enzymes and methods of identification; The role of SH groups in enzymes; Thiol cofactor; The role of S-S groups in proteins; The role of the thiother group of methionine in proteins; Acid labile sulfur in electron-carrier proteins; Chemical methods for introduction of SH and SS groups into proteins. There is a good bibliography with over 1800 references. The volume is readable and there are useful summaries at the end of each chapter.
Antibiotics IV. Biosynthesis-Edited by J. W. CORCXXUN. 380 p. 1981. Springer, Berlin. 5116.90: DM 198.
Stmetnre and Activity of Natnrsl Peptides-Edited by W. VOELTERand G. WEITZEL.263 p. 1981. de Gruyter, Berlin. DM 150.
This volume brings up to date our present knowledge concerning the biosynthesis of antibiotics. The topics chosen and authors are as follows:
The volume starts with a survey of selected topics: Gastrointestinal hormones; Amatoxins & Phallatoxins; Insulin; Thymic peptides; Alamethicin and Trichotoxin A40; 535