Those amazing microbes

The Outer Reaches of Life

by John Postgate, Cambridge University Press, 1994. UKL16.95 (ix + 276pages) ISBN 0 521 44010 6

If you wanted to choose an exciting topic in the microbiological field, you would be hard pressed to do better than that of Professor Postgate’s new book. In this slim, but packed, volume, he manages to expose many of the most exciting aspects of microbial ecology and physiology, including life at high and low temperatures, in extremes of pH and pressure, under autotrophic and oligotrophic conditions, and much, much more. There is even a brief discussion of molecular evolution and the possible role of the ‘RNA world’.

Mind you, Professor Postgate set himself an awesome task in trying to present the excitement of microbiology to the masses. For this is clearly his target. His greatest problem, and one that has been overcome with masterful skill, is that in presenting microbial physiology to a readership who may not have any background in chemistry or biology, he is forced to introduce and explain many basic but critical concepts. His explanations of pH, osmotic

pressure and membrane structure would make excellent reading for any high-school student and could be strongly recommended for all second year university biology students! Furthermore, he does it with ingenuity, enthusiasm, with flashes of humour and without condescension. He is even capable of poking f& at his own status, as typified by the account of his daughter’s attempt to penetrate the complexities of pH:

‘Dear and All-knowing father,’ she said, ‘I have a difficulty. What is pH?’ ‘Beloved daughter,’ I replied. ‘It is simple. It is but the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration.’

Nevertheless this is not just a book for the student! Like Steven Hawkins’ A Bvief History of Time (Bantam Books), it is written for anyone with a sense of enquiry and wonder at the amazing complexity and ingenuity of the natural world around us. This book is also rather

Protein folding -from thermodynamics to biotechnology

Mechanisms of Protein Folding

edited by Roger H. Pain, IRL Press, 1994. UK ,&25.00 (xviii + 265pages) ZSBN 0 19 963397 5

This book deals with the molecular mechanisms by which the amino acid sequence of a protein dictates its three-dimensional structure, and hence its biological function. As outlined by the editor in the Preface, this problem still ‘offers one of the most intriguing intellectual challenges in molecular biology, with direct relevance to a

variety of processes in cell biology’. Protein folding has, in recent

years, suddenly become of considerable practical use in ‘rescuing’ inactive proteins obtained in a variety of biotechnological procedures. Hence, the need in basic research and industry for a good guide on the theoretical and practical aspects of protein folding.

more penetrable than the average black hole.

In places, Postgate’s rather folksy style of writing does not always sit with complete comfort. The style also varies in consistency, differing between the anecdotal and the analytical. Maybe this is merely the conservatism of an aging academic, as my 14-year-old daughter, who is surely representative of the target audience, commented:

‘When I first looked at this book, I thought that it would be very complicated, but it was written in language I could understand - and what’s more, it was interesting. I never thought that science could be written in such a way!’

‘Tlze Outer Reaches of L$ is filled with fascinating insights; scientific, historical and anecdotal. In every paragraph there is imprinted the authors love and fascination with the subject, his enormous breadth (and depth) of knowledge, and his experiences as one of the world’s leading microbiologists for nearly four decades. If you want to know why Venetian gondolas are painted black, you’ll just have to read it!

Don Cowan (with thanks to Lre Cowan)

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University College

London, Gower Street, London, UK WClE 6BT.

This book meets this need, in that it offers a remarkable and comprehensive coverage of what is presently known on the basic mechanisms of protein folding.

The book consists of nine chapters, each written by prominent experts in the field. The first chapter, by Creighton, gives an overview of the problems of protein folding. It starts with useful definitions on the main stable states (native, unfolded and molten globule) of a protein and describes their characteristics. The properties of foldingunfolding transitions at equilibrium and their kinetics are described, and the results of key experimental studies are summarized. A general scheme, serving as a convenient working hypothesis, is presented at the end of this very clear introduction.

TlBTECHJANUARY1995WOL13)