Annals of Botany 91: 940-941, 2003
© 2003 Annals of Botany Company
Ridge, I. (ed) Plants
Plants.
Irene Ridge, ed. 2002.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
£26·99 (softback). 352 pp.
This book for students new to plant biology emphasizes the functional side of plant life. Although the topic is large, Irene Ridge and her five co-writers (Mary Bell, Hilary Denny, Jeremy Roberts, Sue Downs and Phil Parker) have kept the size down to a length that is well suited to the study desk rather than the coffee table. Careful reading of this thoughtfully prepared text by any reasonably diligent student should establish a sound but flexible framework on which to base future years of botanical learning. The book distils many of the essentials but still leaves the reader feeling in touch with modern ideas on where plants come from in evolutionary terms, what they are made of, and how they grow, develop, reproduce and interact with their environment. The book covers much ground in just six chapters (Plant evolution and structure; Photosynthesis; Water and transport; Mineral nutrition; Growth and development; and Interactions between plants and microbes). There is also a CD-ROM which gives guidance on how to use an optical microscope and describes two examples of plant ‘improvement’ through genetic engineering. Overall, the emphasis is on seed-bearing plants, and there is no specific section dealing with ecological matters. However, evolutionary aspects of lower plants and their reproductive cycles are dealt with in Chapter 1, whilst adaptive and ecological aspects are woven into the writing throughout much of the rest of the book, along with examples drawn from many species. The whole benefits greatly from inputs by a sizeable team of graphic artists and designers, etc., who have based their work on existing graphs and illustrations that are meticulously catalogued and referenced. The book was originally destined for use in one of The Open University’s courses (Biology: Uniformity and Diversity). This results in a text of great clarity, augmented by a wealth of clear and relevant illustrations, and punctuated by questions that continuously assess the reader’s grasp of the narrative. These might prove an irritation to some, but on the whole I think they are helpful, especially since the answers are given straight away rather than being hidden away at the back or in footnotes. A minor downside to links with a larger educational package is that, on occasions, the writing refers to information supposedly given to the reader in another form. This is particularly evident in the chapter on photosynthesis where the concepts of antennae and cyclic phosphorylation are brought in without the usual introductory stake-outs that are such an outstanding feature of much of the book. Summaries or conclusions are provided at the end of many sections and all chapters. The writing thus remains firmly on the side of the reader throughout.
If I had to single out one chapter for special praise it would be Irene Ridge’s ‘Water and transport in plants’. Much of it concerns the water relations of plants. This is a notoriously difficult topic with which to hold students’ interest. However, the consummate ease with which the author puts across this topic in an interesting and convincing way is an inspiration. It is worth buying the book for this part alone. The chapter by Hilary Denny on mineral nutrition works its way confidently through the intricacies of uniports, symports and antiports, and much more besides, while consistently emphasizing principles rather than force-feeding a dead weight of complex information. A sense of what is fresh knowledge and what remains uncertain is retained. Despite inevitable omissions, such as nitrate signalling in lateral root formation, and the occasional oddity, such as the use of glucose transport to illustrate membrane transport of minerals, the writing builds to a pleasing whole. A decidedly low-profile topic is thus put over as a developing and cohesive branch of plant science that combines many experimental approaches and techniques with a satisfyingly quantitative dimension. The prominence given to mineral nutrition (52 pages) is entirely justified in view of the impressive progress made in the subject in recent years, and of the underpinning role of mineral extraction by roots for almost all land-based biology. The section on ‘Plant growth and development’ by Jeremy Roberts, Sue Downs and Phil Parker moves at pace through a great deal of material but is fairly up to date in a fast-moving subject that has gained a new lease of life from mutational analysis and nuclear genome sequencing in arabidopsis. A neat introduction points to plastic development as a means by which plants cope with the vicissitudes of a sessile lifestyle. The account then moves logically on from embryogenesis to seed production, germination, and to hormones as major drivers of development, particularly when environmental influences such as submergence, gravity, unilateral light and red : far-red ratio take a hand. I thought the space given to a historical treatment of phototropism might have been better used to introduce nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in plants and to say a little more about signal transduction of hormones other than ethylene. Excellent accounts of photoperiodic control of flowering, and of senescence and fruit ripening, bring this penultimate chapter to a close. The high standards are maintained in the last chapter by Hilary Denny concerning interactions between plants and micro-organisms. This is another huge subject. The author pilots the reader through a representative range of interactions where the ‘balance of advantage’ between plant and microbe ranges from the impervious to the necrotrophic. The complexities of infection processes, mechanisms of pathogenic resistance, sensitivity and hypersensitivity, and the myriad of underpinning interactions are well described. Phytoalexins, hypersensitivity, pathogenesis-related proteins, systemic acquired resistance, oxidative bursts and various signalling activities involving calcium, nitric oxide and salicylic acid all find a place, along with non-pathogenic relationships between plants and micro-organisms. These include nitrogen-fixing organisms. The chapter ends on an ecological note that highlights the impact of mycorrhizal associations on biodiversity.
There can be little doubt that this book would make an excellent introductory text for university level students of plant science. It is affordable, well-illustrated, up to date and of manageable length. It conveys many insights into biological principles and a strong sense of the place of plants in the living world. I recommend it strongly.
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