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Plant pathogenesis and disease control
BOOK
REVIEWS
when there are so many examples. If all of them had been included, the book would have become, like many a boring microbiology text, an unwieldy encyclopedic tome. Besides, this book is clearly written, and written clearly, for a lay audience (there is a glossary of
technical words, which, nonetheless, have wisely been kept to a minimum). After dipping into the book a number of times, a postgraduate in my laboratory was sufficiently impressed that she bought a copy for her sister, an advertising executive. All of us,
Plant self defense
icity mechanisms, only seven out of the 132 references cited were published in the past 5 years. A similar Plant Pathogenesis and situation holds in the two chapters Disease Control on defense and offense mechanisms. by Hachiro Oku The author’s own work on fungal suppressors of defense responses is Lewis Publishers, 1994. L65.50 hbk (xii + 193 pages) naturally dealt with in great detail, ISBN 0 87371 727 9 but would have benefitted from an assessment of its physiological significance and genetic implications. he past few years have been Indeed, there is hardly any reference an exciting time for molecular plant pathology. The ap- to the nature of major dominant resistance genes or the race-specific plication of genetic and biochemical avirulence factors that may interapproaches has begun to reveal the act with them. Although several of molecular determinants of virulence and avirulence in pathogens, and the the most exciting breakthroughs in this area have occurred after the corresponding genes determining completion of this book, the Cladoresistance and its biochemical manisporium-f&urn-tomato system has festations in the host. Now is therebeen central to these advances for fore an opportune moment to take several years, but none of these stock of what has been achieved and seminal studies was discussed. to think how this information might This book contains a wealth of be applied to the design of new, eninformation that many of those vironmentally safe crop-protection newly entering this field may not be strategies. These are the stated goals of this aware of. There is a tendency among book, namely, how we can capi- molecular plant pathologists to forget that many of the phenomena talize on our knowledge of pathothat we are studying were disgenicity and natural defense mechcovered many years ago, and that anisms to develop a new generation there are many effective diseaseof protective agents. If this book control measures that are based on had been published 5 or 6 years ago, it might have functioned as knowledge of plant-microorganism interactions that do not have to inan updated complement to R.K.S. volve molecular biology. However, Wood’s epoch-making PhysiologiI cannot unreservedly recommend cal Plant Pathology’, a book that this book as a primer for the newly virtually defined a new discipline. That the journal Physiological Plant initiated as the use of English is often poor, and the meaning therefore Pathology subsequently changed not always clear. There are also its name to Physiological and Molnumerous spelling errors, particuectrlar Pfant Pathology reflects the larly in the names of chemical comhuge impact that molecular biology has had on the study of plant disease pounds and authors cited, and not all the figures are well explained. and defense. I was, therefore, somewhat disappointed that most of I am surprised that the publishers do not appear to have copy-edited this book looks back on the older, the book, as the readability and physiological literature, rather than offering a vision of what may be impression of quality could have been vastly improved by some possible in the future. For example, simple editing. in the chapter describing pathogen-
T
TRENDS
IN
MICROBIOLOGY
38
VOL.3
No.3
professional, student and layman, recommend Power Unseen. Tony Dean Dept of Biological Chemistry, Chicago Medical School, 3333 Green Bay Road, Chicago, IL 60064-3095, USA
In summary, this book manages to convey the author’s enthusiasm and love for plant pathology, and is a compilation of literature that many in this field will find interesting. The Japanese literature is particularly well represented. The author’s vision of where this field is going is somewhat unclear, as the approach is primarily descriptive, rather than analytical or synthetic. I do not, therefore, see this book as a ‘milestone for the development of harmless control measures for plant diseases’, as is suggested in the preface, although the author’s advocacy of such measures is to be applauded. Richard A. Dixon Plant Biology Divn, The Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK 73402, USA Reference 1 Wood. R.K.S. (1967) Phwioloaical Plant Pathology, Blackweli Scientific Publications
-JANUARY
1995
REVIEWS
when there are so many examples. If all of them had been included, the book would have become, like many a boring microbiology text, an unwieldy encyclopedic tome. Besides, this book is clearly written, and written clearly, for a lay audience (there is a glossary of
technical words, which, nonetheless, have wisely been kept to a minimum). After dipping into the book a number of times, a postgraduate in my laboratory was sufficiently impressed that she bought a copy for her sister, an advertising executive. All of us,
Plant self defense
icity mechanisms, only seven out of the 132 references cited were published in the past 5 years. A similar Plant Pathogenesis and situation holds in the two chapters Disease Control on defense and offense mechanisms. by Hachiro Oku The author’s own work on fungal suppressors of defense responses is Lewis Publishers, 1994. L65.50 hbk (xii + 193 pages) naturally dealt with in great detail, ISBN 0 87371 727 9 but would have benefitted from an assessment of its physiological significance and genetic implications. he past few years have been Indeed, there is hardly any reference an exciting time for molecular plant pathology. The ap- to the nature of major dominant resistance genes or the race-specific plication of genetic and biochemical avirulence factors that may interapproaches has begun to reveal the act with them. Although several of molecular determinants of virulence and avirulence in pathogens, and the the most exciting breakthroughs in this area have occurred after the corresponding genes determining completion of this book, the Cladoresistance and its biochemical manisporium-f&urn-tomato system has festations in the host. Now is therebeen central to these advances for fore an opportune moment to take several years, but none of these stock of what has been achieved and seminal studies was discussed. to think how this information might This book contains a wealth of be applied to the design of new, eninformation that many of those vironmentally safe crop-protection newly entering this field may not be strategies. These are the stated goals of this aware of. There is a tendency among book, namely, how we can capi- molecular plant pathologists to forget that many of the phenomena talize on our knowledge of pathothat we are studying were disgenicity and natural defense mechcovered many years ago, and that anisms to develop a new generation there are many effective diseaseof protective agents. If this book control measures that are based on had been published 5 or 6 years ago, it might have functioned as knowledge of plant-microorganism interactions that do not have to inan updated complement to R.K.S. volve molecular biology. However, Wood’s epoch-making PhysiologiI cannot unreservedly recommend cal Plant Pathology’, a book that this book as a primer for the newly virtually defined a new discipline. That the journal Physiological Plant initiated as the use of English is often poor, and the meaning therefore Pathology subsequently changed not always clear. There are also its name to Physiological and Molnumerous spelling errors, particuectrlar Pfant Pathology reflects the larly in the names of chemical comhuge impact that molecular biology has had on the study of plant disease pounds and authors cited, and not all the figures are well explained. and defense. I was, therefore, somewhat disappointed that most of I am surprised that the publishers do not appear to have copy-edited this book looks back on the older, the book, as the readability and physiological literature, rather than offering a vision of what may be impression of quality could have been vastly improved by some possible in the future. For example, simple editing. in the chapter describing pathogen-
T
TRENDS
IN
MICROBIOLOGY
38
VOL.3
No.3
professional, student and layman, recommend Power Unseen. Tony Dean Dept of Biological Chemistry, Chicago Medical School, 3333 Green Bay Road, Chicago, IL 60064-3095, USA
In summary, this book manages to convey the author’s enthusiasm and love for plant pathology, and is a compilation of literature that many in this field will find interesting. The Japanese literature is particularly well represented. The author’s vision of where this field is going is somewhat unclear, as the approach is primarily descriptive, rather than analytical or synthetic. I do not, therefore, see this book as a ‘milestone for the development of harmless control measures for plant diseases’, as is suggested in the preface, although the author’s advocacy of such measures is to be applauded. Richard A. Dixon Plant Biology Divn, The Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK 73402, USA Reference 1 Wood. R.K.S. (1967) Phwioloaical Plant Pathology, Blackweli Scientific Publications
-JANUARY
1995