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Laboratory techniques in biochemistry and molecular biology, synthetic polypeptides as antigens
ANALYTICALBIOCHEMISTRY
179,418-419
(1989)
BOOK REVIEWS Methods Acids. ademic
in Enzymology, Vol. 143, Sulfur and Sulfur Amino Edited by WILLIAM B. JAKOBY AND OWEN W. GRIFFITH, ACPress, Orlando, FL, 1987.582 pp.
Sulfur plays many important roles in various biological phenomena. therefore, investigations of the chemical behavior of sulfur and sulfurcontaining substrates have been growing rapidly in recent years in both pure chemistry and biochemistry. Thus, it is quite timely that Volume 143 of Methods in Enzymology entitled Sulfur and Sulfur Amino Acids deals solely with these problems. This volume is divided into three sections: I, Separation and Analysis; II, Preparative Methods; and III, Enzymes. Section I has three subsections entitled (A) Inorganic Sulfur and Selenium Compounds, (B) Thiols and Disulfides, and (C) Other Organic Sulfur and Selenium Compounds. Section II also contains three subsections which are entitled (A) Preparation of Specific Metabolites, (B) General Preparative Technique, and (C) Nutritional Methods. Section III has five subsections entitled (A) Inorganic Sulfur and Sulfite, (B) Sulfur Amino Acids: Mammalian Systems, (C) Sulfur Amino Acids: Plants, (D) Sulfur Amino Acids: Microbial Systems, and (E) Enzymes Active within
Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Synthetic Polypeptides as Antigens. By M. H. V. VANREGENMORTEL, J. P. BRIAND, S. MULLER, AND S. PLAUE. Elsevier Science Publishers, New York, 1988. 227 pp. $38.50. This small volume is part of an excellent methodological series. The book is divided into seven chapters. The first deals with epitope mapping using synthetic peptides and the prediction of immunogenic regions of proteins. The second chapter deals with the “nuts and bolts” of solid-phase peptide synthesis and of peptide purification. Chapter 3 concerns peptide-carrier conjugation, with an emphasis on the parameters to be considered when choosing a protein carrier. The fourth
Methods in Plant Molecular RAYMOND E. ZIELINSKI. $29.95.
Biology. By MARY A. SCHULER AND Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1989.
Envy today’s students in plant sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have enjoyed one of the neatest and most explicit laboratory courses in plant molecular biology. The laboratory manual for this course has been upgraded and is now available to the scientific public. This manual provides a carefully chosen and unusually well-written set of eight experiments covering restriction endonuclease mapping of plasmid DNA, cloning into pUC vestors, preparation of intact chloroplasts and chloroplast DNA, and preparation of RNA from Barley seedlings. A significant effort is made to introduce protein techniques by including experiments on protein synthesis by pea chloroplasts, the preparation of wheat germ extracts, and separation techniques for thylakoid and stromal proteins. The screening of
418
Disulfides. Each subsection contains several specific articles on topics such as sulfan sulfur, spectrophotometric assay of thiols, penicillamine, selenocysteine, cysteamine, microbial sulfur amino acids, and even sulfoxides, to name a few. All together there are 91 articles written by more than 120 authors. Each provides a brief principle, a typical procedure or procedures, and sometimes a comment or two. Despite the large number of articles written under separate authorship, most are very compactly summarized and quite readable. When I started reading the volume, I thought the contents a bit shallow. However, the aim of this book is to provide various methods for those working mainly in the general field of enzymology. In this respect, this volume of Methods in Enzymology has achieved the essential goal of the editors and hence should be a useful source of information for those interested in pursuing research in the area of biochemistry of sulfur and sulfur amino acids. SHIGERU OAE Okayama University of Science Department of Chemistry Ridai-cho l-l Okoyama 700, Japan
chapter deals with immunization with peptides, lished procedures. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with detection of gene products with antipeptide chapter discusses the use of synthetic peptides The chapters are well written and figures tremely helpful. This is more than just a “how concerns associated with each of the various great detail. The volume can be recommended with the task of going from nucleotide sequence fication of the protein product.
with a listing of pubimmunoassays and the antibodies. The final as vaccines. and diagrams are exto” book, theoretical topics are discussed in to anyone who is faced information to identi-
JOHN A. HANOVER National Institute
of Health
recombinant phage banks, dideoxy sequencing, and transformation of leaf discs with Agrobacteria completes the volume. It is hard to tell who will benefit most from this methods compilation, the students or the faculty. The selection of experiments should satisfy the cravings of students to learn the most prominent techniques of molecular biology. The experimental detail and organization of the book are superb and should provide any faculty grappling with course work in plant molecular biology a top notch, turnkey laboratory course. The manual will be equally valuable to postdoctoral students who are entering the plant field because of the wide applicability of the techniques described. This volume will be a valuable addition to all plant science faculties.
tobacco
ARTHUR WEISSBACH Roche Institute of Molecular Biology
0003-2697/89 $3.00 Copyright 0 1989 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
179,418-419
(1989)
BOOK REVIEWS Methods Acids. ademic
in Enzymology, Vol. 143, Sulfur and Sulfur Amino Edited by WILLIAM B. JAKOBY AND OWEN W. GRIFFITH, ACPress, Orlando, FL, 1987.582 pp.
Sulfur plays many important roles in various biological phenomena. therefore, investigations of the chemical behavior of sulfur and sulfurcontaining substrates have been growing rapidly in recent years in both pure chemistry and biochemistry. Thus, it is quite timely that Volume 143 of Methods in Enzymology entitled Sulfur and Sulfur Amino Acids deals solely with these problems. This volume is divided into three sections: I, Separation and Analysis; II, Preparative Methods; and III, Enzymes. Section I has three subsections entitled (A) Inorganic Sulfur and Selenium Compounds, (B) Thiols and Disulfides, and (C) Other Organic Sulfur and Selenium Compounds. Section II also contains three subsections which are entitled (A) Preparation of Specific Metabolites, (B) General Preparative Technique, and (C) Nutritional Methods. Section III has five subsections entitled (A) Inorganic Sulfur and Sulfite, (B) Sulfur Amino Acids: Mammalian Systems, (C) Sulfur Amino Acids: Plants, (D) Sulfur Amino Acids: Microbial Systems, and (E) Enzymes Active within
Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Synthetic Polypeptides as Antigens. By M. H. V. VANREGENMORTEL, J. P. BRIAND, S. MULLER, AND S. PLAUE. Elsevier Science Publishers, New York, 1988. 227 pp. $38.50. This small volume is part of an excellent methodological series. The book is divided into seven chapters. The first deals with epitope mapping using synthetic peptides and the prediction of immunogenic regions of proteins. The second chapter deals with the “nuts and bolts” of solid-phase peptide synthesis and of peptide purification. Chapter 3 concerns peptide-carrier conjugation, with an emphasis on the parameters to be considered when choosing a protein carrier. The fourth
Methods in Plant Molecular RAYMOND E. ZIELINSKI. $29.95.
Biology. By MARY A. SCHULER AND Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1989.
Envy today’s students in plant sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have enjoyed one of the neatest and most explicit laboratory courses in plant molecular biology. The laboratory manual for this course has been upgraded and is now available to the scientific public. This manual provides a carefully chosen and unusually well-written set of eight experiments covering restriction endonuclease mapping of plasmid DNA, cloning into pUC vestors, preparation of intact chloroplasts and chloroplast DNA, and preparation of RNA from Barley seedlings. A significant effort is made to introduce protein techniques by including experiments on protein synthesis by pea chloroplasts, the preparation of wheat germ extracts, and separation techniques for thylakoid and stromal proteins. The screening of
418
Disulfides. Each subsection contains several specific articles on topics such as sulfan sulfur, spectrophotometric assay of thiols, penicillamine, selenocysteine, cysteamine, microbial sulfur amino acids, and even sulfoxides, to name a few. All together there are 91 articles written by more than 120 authors. Each provides a brief principle, a typical procedure or procedures, and sometimes a comment or two. Despite the large number of articles written under separate authorship, most are very compactly summarized and quite readable. When I started reading the volume, I thought the contents a bit shallow. However, the aim of this book is to provide various methods for those working mainly in the general field of enzymology. In this respect, this volume of Methods in Enzymology has achieved the essential goal of the editors and hence should be a useful source of information for those interested in pursuing research in the area of biochemistry of sulfur and sulfur amino acids. SHIGERU OAE Okayama University of Science Department of Chemistry Ridai-cho l-l Okoyama 700, Japan
chapter deals with immunization with peptides, lished procedures. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with detection of gene products with antipeptide chapter discusses the use of synthetic peptides The chapters are well written and figures tremely helpful. This is more than just a “how concerns associated with each of the various great detail. The volume can be recommended with the task of going from nucleotide sequence fication of the protein product.
with a listing of pubimmunoassays and the antibodies. The final as vaccines. and diagrams are exto” book, theoretical topics are discussed in to anyone who is faced information to identi-
JOHN A. HANOVER National Institute
of Health
recombinant phage banks, dideoxy sequencing, and transformation of leaf discs with Agrobacteria completes the volume. It is hard to tell who will benefit most from this methods compilation, the students or the faculty. The selection of experiments should satisfy the cravings of students to learn the most prominent techniques of molecular biology. The experimental detail and organization of the book are superb and should provide any faculty grappling with course work in plant molecular biology a top notch, turnkey laboratory course. The manual will be equally valuable to postdoctoral students who are entering the plant field because of the wide applicability of the techniques described. This volume will be a valuable addition to all plant science faculties.
tobacco
ARTHUR WEISSBACH Roche Institute of Molecular Biology
0003-2697/89 $3.00 Copyright 0 1989 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.