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Physiology and biochemistry of plant cell walls
Plant Science, 73 (1991) 127 ElsevierScientificPublishers Ireland Ltd.
127
Book Review Physiology and Biochemistry o f Plant Cell Walls, C. Brett and K. Waldron, Topics in Plant Physiology: 2. Series Editors: M. Black & J. Chapman. Unwin Hyman, London, 1990, 194 pp., ,~12.95. A plethora of photomicrographs and cartoons stuff this soft-backed minitext which heralds a new age of biochemical interpretations of plant cell wall structure and function. Within its 194 pages nestles an equivalent o f 40 pages o f diagrams, 38 pages o f photographs and 10 pages of interpretive 'boxed' messages. Actual text amounts to only 86 pages. Scattered throughout are boldfaced words to direct one's attention to a five-page glossary where one finds definitions for key words, most already resident in any collegiate dictionary. This book seeks to integrate biochemistry, physiology and fine structure in order to provide " . . . a full picture". In fact, it presents a mishmash of ideas gleaned from the literature with little or no substantive interpretation. For example, a partial structure o f spruce lignin, first published by Freudenberg and Neish in 1968, fills page 35 as
an example of this key component of cell walls. Surely, a more current view is called for here. Again, page 63 is dedicated to known metabolic inter-conversions that to lead nucleotide sugars, a schematic diagram published in 1980, and sorely in need of revision. Even with these shortcomings, the fact that an inexpensive booklet is now available in which the plant cell wall is singled out as a unique structure has its useful side. Classroom assignments might utilize the various topics presented here as launch platforms for further library study into the current status of selected cell wall features. As a text for instruction, however, this is not the book to recommend.
F.A. Loewus (Washington State University, Pullman, WA, U.S.A.)
127
Book Review Physiology and Biochemistry o f Plant Cell Walls, C. Brett and K. Waldron, Topics in Plant Physiology: 2. Series Editors: M. Black & J. Chapman. Unwin Hyman, London, 1990, 194 pp., ,~12.95. A plethora of photomicrographs and cartoons stuff this soft-backed minitext which heralds a new age of biochemical interpretations of plant cell wall structure and function. Within its 194 pages nestles an equivalent o f 40 pages o f diagrams, 38 pages o f photographs and 10 pages of interpretive 'boxed' messages. Actual text amounts to only 86 pages. Scattered throughout are boldfaced words to direct one's attention to a five-page glossary where one finds definitions for key words, most already resident in any collegiate dictionary. This book seeks to integrate biochemistry, physiology and fine structure in order to provide " . . . a full picture". In fact, it presents a mishmash of ideas gleaned from the literature with little or no substantive interpretation. For example, a partial structure o f spruce lignin, first published by Freudenberg and Neish in 1968, fills page 35 as
an example of this key component of cell walls. Surely, a more current view is called for here. Again, page 63 is dedicated to known metabolic inter-conversions that to lead nucleotide sugars, a schematic diagram published in 1980, and sorely in need of revision. Even with these shortcomings, the fact that an inexpensive booklet is now available in which the plant cell wall is singled out as a unique structure has its useful side. Classroom assignments might utilize the various topics presented here as launch platforms for further library study into the current status of selected cell wall features. As a text for instruction, however, this is not the book to recommend.
F.A. Loewus (Washington State University, Pullman, WA, U.S.A.)