Book Reviews

Traditionally, recombination has been studied mainly as an important consequence of meiosis. The use of molecular genetics and transformation has led to an increasing interest in recombination in somatic cells. The importance of recombination comes not only from the interest in the process itself, which became amenable to analysis with molecular techniques, but also from the applied point of view. The integration of transgenes in the recipient genome either at apparently random sites or at homologous DNA sequences allows the analysis of gene function by insertion mutagenesis and gene replacement. Transgenic plants, furthermore, led to unexpected findings such as gene silencing etc. This multi-author book, written by the leading groups in this field, gives an excellent overview of this relatively new topic in plant biology. As stated by the editor, despite the rapid development in this field, final answers are often not provided. This book therefore serves as a basis for much exciting research to come. The discussion of the (often still hypothetical) mechanisms, together with good cross-references to work in non-plant organisms, mean that the book is extremely valuable for this purpose.