BOOKS RECEIVED
249
outbreak of typhoid fever it caused, and to the H-group R factor it carried, all of which
were well defined long before this book was finished. And there are other errors of omission
and commission. But these will no doubt be corrected in the next edition. In the meantime,
this book is strongly recommended.
E. S . ANDERSON
Negative strand viruses
Edited by B. W. J. MAHYand R. D. BARRY. 2 volumes. 1975. London: Academic
Press. Pp. 553 and 373. Vol. 1, E14.50; vol. 2, E10-50.
These two volumes are a successful and up-to-date sequel to the earlier book from
the Cambridge group, “ Biology of large RNA viruses ”, and they deal with the same agents
apart from the oncornaviruses. The 65 articles, from an International Meeting attended
by 120 virologists, comprehensively cover genome transcription and replication, translation
of virus message and virion structure (vol. l), and virus-coded polypeptides in infected cells,
genetics and virus-membrane interactions (vol. 2). These are considered mainly from the
point of view of biochemistry. Perhaps reflecting the organisers’ own research interests,
viral immunology, for example, is conspicuously absent and this is something which could
well be corrected at future meetings. Given the fact that geneticists, molecular biologists
and biochemists are increasingly using viruses and virus-induced changes in cells as a probe
to investigate cellular functions, these books can be expected to have a wide circulation and
appeal; deservedly so, because the papers have been carefully edited and reproduced with
numerous plates and figures to a very high standard. The longer articles attempt to review
particular areas of the subject while the associated shorter ones mostly present new data.
The mixture is a good one.
A particularly notable feature of the two volumes is the amount of important comparative
virology. Thus, although the myxoviruses, rhabdoviruses and parainfluenza viruses are
gathered together by the single unifying feature of possessing “ positive strand ” virion RNA,
which cannot be used as messenger RNA unless first transcribed to give “ negative strand ”
mRNA, they nevertheless differ dramatically in other aspects of pathogenicity, genetics and
molecular biology. Influenza virus, for example, differs in having a segmented genome
with replication cycle involving both cytoplasm and nucleus. On the other hand, these
various viruses provide similar problems of structure and chemistry. Do the glycoprotein
spikes penetrate the lipid bilayer to the underlying M protein? What is the function of the
M protein and how are virus structural proteins inserted into the plasma membrane of
infected cells? To be able to compare such problems within four covers is immensely
helpful and must lead to fruitful recombination or reassortment of ideas among specialists
of each virus group.
Particularly good contributions are those of D. H. L. Bishop and M. Bratt on transcription of VSV and NDV respectively, P. W. Choppin on proteolytic cleavage and glycosylation of influenza haemagglutinin, and A. J. Hay on synthesis of influenza proteins. These
are among the larger review-type papers. S . Fazekas de St Groth in a lucid and mainly
theoretical paper, itself rather unusual nowadays in virology, discusses his controversial
and stimulating theory of the phylogeny of influenza relating to the origin of new pandemic
strains and the direction of antigenic drift. His model system helps to explain the asymmetry
of the serological cross-reactions, long observed between influenza subtypes, in terms of
“ senior ” antigenic determinants, which have a bulkier amino-acid component, and “ junior ”
determinants. Senior viruses can be selected in the laboratory and may be more broadly
reacting immunologically when used as vaccine strains. Important shorter papers are
those of Gregoriadis, showing apparent similarity between influenza M protein and the
non-structural NSI protein, and of A. Haywood describing the use of the liposome model to
study virus-cell interactions.
Of course many of the papers have since been published elsewhere, but this in no way
detracts from the value of the books as a whole. The two volumes will be a very considerable
asset to laboratories dealing with RNA viruses and also to biologists and biochemists
Downloaded from www.microbiologyresearch.org by
IP: 88.99.165.207
On: Sat, 17 Jun 2017 18:31:27
250
BOOKS RECEIVED
entering virology. For the more traditional biological or medical virologists the books
offer an easily digested assessment of modern biochemical methods in research virology.
J. S. OXFORD
Biochemistry of antimicrobial action
By T. J. FRANKLIN
and G. A. SNOW. 1975. London: Chapman and Hall. Pp. xii and 224.
f3-95.
Many medically-qualified microbiologists have not had the advantage of a formal
course in microbiology. Certain science graduates who have received formal training in
chemistry or biochemistry undoubtedly wish to apply their hard-won knowledge in the
medical field. Such persons might be expected to buy this book, the first to gain insight into
biochemical modes of action, the second to relate their training to the medical usage of
antimicrobial agents. Each will, however, obtain a slightly distorted view of the subject.
After an introductory chapter that whets the appetite, the M.B. is likely to find subsequent
sections somewhat heavy going, particularly those on polypeptide antibiotics, intercalating
agents and the ionophors, the last of these calculated to make the head spin (how many
medical microbiologists know what ORD is, for instance?). The section on antiseptics
is helpful and could have been longer; however, it is curious that there is no mention
of iodophors.
The majority of compounds mentioned in this book have no clinical value, so that the
biochemist will receive a rather blurred view of their medical importance. It is surprising
that there is no mention of anaerobic bacteria; this gives rise to fallacious statements such
as Lincomycin and . . . clindamycin are inactive against gram-negative species ” (p. 129).
Proprietory names are almost completely absent, except for Dettol ” and “ Septrin
(“ Bactrim is not mentioned), which will be a relief for some readers and a hindrance for
others. Perhaps a separate section for this might have been usefully included.
There appears to be some uncritical carry-over from the first edition, published in1971 ;
for example, the hoary myth of “ cephalosporoates ”, analogous to penicillinoates, can be
found on p. 189, there is no mention of amikacin (BB-K8) on p. 206, and the mode of action
of griseofulvin is still talked of in terms of “ curling factor ” (p. 154).
Throughout the book there are clearly delineated chemical formulae, which will be
welcomed by many. However, despite the stress on biochemistry, there is no illustration
of molecules in a state of physiological ionisation and, oddly enough, p K appears not to
merit a mention in the Index. The chapter on penetration, a new feature, is a worthwhile
attempt to clarify a field in which knowledge is at present fragmentary, and the final chapter,
on mechanisms of resistance, is very clear.
The overall impression to the reviewer, after reading the book several times, is that
it might lull biochemists and antimicrobial chemists into a false sense of security. The
statement on p. 12, “ New antibiotics continue to appear, but the urgency of discovery is
now much less since most of the important infections are now controllable ”, is, to a medical
microbiologist, a very dangerous one. Methicillin was not a true advance, as it merely
restored the sfatus quo of the 1940’s; the true advances of ampicillin and gentamicin are
now in danger of being eroded by the emergence of resistance. There is no place whatever
for complacency in the field of antimicrobial agents, either from the biochemical or the
medical standpoint.
J. M. T. HAMILTOWMILLER
“
”
“
“
”
”
Practical chemical microbiology and mycology : techniques and interpretations
By P. L. WOLF,BETTYRUSSELL
and ADRIENNE
SHIMODA.1975. Chichester, Sussex: John
Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Pp. xix and 551. 212.50.
This book is the bench manual of the Stanford Hospital Clinical Laboratory reproduced
directly from the typewritten draft. Despite its title, it deals only with bacteriology, serology
and mycology; there are no sections on viruses, chlamydia, mycoplasmas or rickettsiae.
Downloaded from www.microbiologyresearch.org by
IP: 88.99.165.207
On: Sat, 17 Jun 2017 18:31:27