Molecular Approaches to Developmental Biology

mechanisms of DNA repair, replication, and recombination (the "three R's") in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The book opens with a 13-page summary of the conference written by Nicholas Cozzarelli. Cozzarelli's expertise is evident as he discusses many of the exciting observations and comments upon their significance and possible implications. His summary is especially useful since it helps condense and organize the morass of new observations and information which were presented at the conference. The first section of the book contains summaries of workshop sessions held at the conference. Each summary is three to seven pages long and is written by the workshop convenor himself. Although these summaries lack an editorial aspect, they concisely and clearly convey the essential information from the workshops. The last six sections of the book each contain 6-12 presentations from the conference. The six sections are: (1) enzymology of DNA replication, (2) multiprotein replication systems, (3) origins of DNA replication, (4) genetics of DNA replication, (5) mechanisms of general recombination, and (6) transposition and site-specific recombination. As mentioned previously, both eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems are covered, although the majority of the presented work dealt with prokaryotic systems. In particular, the presentations describing the application of physical chemical techniques to the study ofDNA replication and repair are especially interesting. These presentations describe the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, ultraviolet laser cross-linking, and X-ray crystallography to study prokaryotic replication complexes. The addition of physical chemists to the ranks of biochemists and geneticists studying the "three R's" is an exciting and promising development in this field. The main problem with this book is that much of its contents is no longer current, as research progresses at a very rapid pace in this field. The one-year delay between the conference presentations and their publication greatly diminishes the book's usefulness as a current review, although it would still be of great value as reference material. In summary, DNA Replication and Recombination is a large, comprehensive collection of fairly recent research in DNA replication, recombination, and repair, and would be a valuable addition to the library of anyone working in these fields.