Overview
Molecular Genetics of Bacteria fulfills the need for a comprehensive, primary textbook in bacterial genetics. It is ideally suited as a textbook for advanced undergraduate level courses and as background reading for graduate level courses. It is also recommended reading for scientists in all fields of biology, many of which depend upon the concepts and techniques covered in this book. While the book concentrates of necessity on the bacterium Escherichia coli, about which most is known, it also uses examples from other bacteria as appropriate. The material in each chapter has been substantially updated to reflect exciting developments in the field of bacterial molecular genetics and its relationship to other fields, including eukaryotic cell biology and development. Recent years have been a period of "consolidation" in biology with many seemingly diverse areas being discovered to be different manifestations of the same phenomenon, and these relationships have been emphasized. It has also been a period of major technical advances, including genomics and microarrays, which are also covered in the book. The second edition retains the same organization and style as the first edition, and the order of presentation of the topics has been largely unchanged as this order was popular with most instructors using the textbook. As before, each chapter also contains a chapter summary, a set of discussion questions to encourage speculation, problems (with answers), and suggested readings, all of which are updated to reflect advances in the field. It also retains the use of "boxes" to present related material of interest to each topic without breaking the continuity of the text. The second edition will continue to serve as an important text for all courses in bacterial molecular genetics and as background for courses in molecular biology and biotechnology.Covers molecular phylogeny, plasmid addiction, cancer & mismatch repair, the Ames test, nitrogen fixation, etc.
Synopsis
This undergraduate textbook introduces the field of bacterial molecular genetics and describes the mechanisms of mutations and gene exchange in bacteria and phages, particularly in the bacterium E. coli. The second edition adds a final chapter on the application of molecular genetic analysis to the study of gene structure, function, and development in bacteria. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Doody Review Services
Reviewer:Rebecca T. Horvat, PhD, D(ABMM)(University of Kansas Medical Center)
Description:Just as the title implies, this book covers every aspect of the molecular genetics of bacteria. The clarity of presentation and the book's unique features make these topics come alive. Because of the many new technical advances that have occurred in the last few years, the third edition is clearly needed.
Purpose:This is designed as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate course or a graduate course. It is very hard to find a book as well designed for teaching as this one is. It clearly should be considered one of the top textbooks in this field.
Audience:Although written as a textbook for students, as I was evaluating it, I continually was drawn in and had to stop to read more on subjects I had not reviewed in many years. The authors have produced a great textbook.
Features:In the front cover of the book is a nice figure showing the structure of the amino acids, the genetic codes, and the nucleotide structure. This is very helpful to have at the very beginning of this book. The book starts with chapters that describe bacterial chromosomes, gene expression, bacterial inheritance, and genetic mutations and then moves on to cover plasmids, phages, conjugation, regulation of genes, and repair of DNA. Each chapter is stuffed with incredibly good illustrations and contains boxed material that provides more details about a specific topic or interesting facts. At the end of each chapter is a summary of key concepts, a set of questions that assist students in learning, and a list of problems that should lead students to a deeper understanding. At the end of the book is an extensive glossary of terms. This book is an excellent resource for teaching the subject of bacterial genetics.
Assessment:This is clearly the best textbook I have seen for teaching bacterial genetics. I think the reason it is in the third edition is the well thought out design of each chapter and the clear and precise descriptions of the processes. This edition has included all the new information that is being discovered about bacterial genetics.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Rebecca T. Horvat, PhD, D(ABMM)(University of Kansas Medical Center)Description: Just as the title implies, this book covers every aspect of the molecular genetics of bacteria. The clarity of presentation and the book's unique features make these topics come alive. Because of the many new technical advances that have occurred in the last few years, the third edition is clearly needed.
Purpose: This is designed as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate course or a graduate course. It is very hard to find a book as well designed for teaching as this one is. It clearly should be considered one of the top textbooks in this field.
Audience: Although written as a textbook for students, as I was evaluating it, I continually was drawn in and had to stop to read more on subjects I had not reviewed in many years. The authors have produced a great textbook.
Features: In the front cover of the book is a nice figure showing the structure of the amino acids, the genetic codes, and the nucleotide structure. This is very helpful to have at the very beginning of this book. The book starts with chapters that describe bacterial chromosomes, gene expression, bacterial inheritance, and genetic mutations and then moves on to cover plasmids, phages, conjugation, regulation of genes, and repair of DNA. Each chapter is stuffed with incredibly good illustrations and contains boxed material that provides more details about a specific topic or interesting facts. At the end of each chapter is a summary of key concepts, a set of questions that assist students in learning, and a list of problems that should lead students to a deeper understanding. At the end of the book is an extensive glossary of terms. This book is an excellent resource for teaching the subject of bacterial genetics.
Assessment: This is clearly the best textbook I have seen for teaching bacterial genetics. I think the reason it is in the third edition is the well thought out design of each chapter and the clear and precise descriptions of the processes. This edition has included all the new information that is being discovered about bacterial genetics.