Experimental and Applied Acarology 31: 315–316, 2003.© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Book Review

Hoy, M.A., Insect Molecular Genetics: An Introduction to Principles andApplications, 2nd edition. Academic Press, San Diego, USA, 2003, xxi+544 pages, H/B, ISBN 0-12-357031-X. Price US$ 79.95

Molecular biology is revolutionizing virtually every aspect of the study ofinsects and other arthropods, including mites, and the rate of discovery con-tinues to increase. At the time of writing of this new edition of Insect Mo-lecular Genetics, the Drosophila melanogaster genome had been completelysequenced. By the time this review appears, several other insect genomes willhave been completed and more are on the way. These genome sequences par-allel similarly rapid advances in other areas of arthropod biology. Keeping upwith a field moving at such a blazingly fast rate is not easy and is only possiblewith a solid background in the basic concepts and methods. Insect MolecularGenetics is a textbook aimed at upper division undergraduate and beginninggraduate students that provides just such a background. Workers in non-molecular areas will find it a very useful and relatively painless introductionto the genetics and molecular biology of arthropods.

As expected from an introductory textbook, Insect Molecular Geneticsbegins at the beginning with a basic discussion of DNA, genes and DNAreplication, followed by a discussion of the steps leading from a DNA se-quence to a protein. More insect-specific material is used to illustrate chro-mosome structure and function, genetic systems, intracellular symbionts andembryonic development. The second part of the book gives a quick but ef-fective tour of the many techniques used in molecular genetics, including thepolymerase chain reaction (PCR) in its many forms, cloning, libraries andDNA sequencing. These chapters will be especially useful to non-molecularbiologists struggling to understand what their molecular colleagues are talk-ing about. I personally found the chapter on transformation vectors very help-ful. The remainder of the book covers ‘Applications in Entomology’, which,as we would expect from Hoy, also contains some material on mites. Sexdetermination and behaviour genetics each receive a chapter, which are fol-lowed by a 50 page tour of molecular systematics of arthropods. I think manyreaders will find this chapter especially useful for its explanations of the manymethods and types of sequences used in molecular systematic studies. Mo-lecular genetics at the population level is covered with a listing of the manymethods available to uncover genetic variation followed by an extremely brief

316

section on analysis – this will not make the reader a population geneticist,but, as with the other chapters, discussions of case studies, copious referencelists and pointers to websites will show the way forward. The final chapteris the most intensely practical and is the subject that provides the motivationfor much work in the field. Pest management through transgenic techniquesapplied to both beneficial and pest species is a field with huge potential. Hoycovers this very well, using many examples and discussing both the technicaland social issues surrounding the use of this technology.

If pressed, I could find many points in Insect Molecular Genetics to quibbleabout. This is only natural in a work that covers such a vast range of materialin a brief and accessible format. The production of the book is adequate,though a few of the figures could have been better reproduced and use ofcolour would have enhanced the understandability of many diagrams.

However, I enthusiastically recommend this book to any student or es-tablished researcher in need of an introduction to the molecular genetics ofarthropods.

Richard H. ThomasDepartment of Zoology, The Natural History Museum,

Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UKe-mail: r.thomas@nhm.ac.uk