Aimed at an international audience of researchers, this book contains a mixture of general discussion and experimental protocol. The techniques discussed cover a broad range of molecular and organismal biology, and allow the manipulation of developing organisms.

H. F. LINSKENS and J. HESLOP-HARRISON The chapters of this volume deal with intercellular interaction phenomena in plants. Collectively they provide a broad conspectus of a highly active, if greatly fragmented, research field. Certain limitations have been imposed on the subject matter, the most impor tant being the exclusion of long-range interactions within the plant body. It is true that pervasive hormonal control systems cannot readily be demarcated from controls mediated by pheromones or information-carrying molecules with more limited spheres of action, but consideration is given in this volume to the main classes of plant hormones and their functions only incidentally, since these are treated adequately in other volumes of this Encyclopedia series (V - ume 9-11) and in numerous other texts and reviews. Similarly, certain other effects, such as those associated with nutrients and ions, are not considered in any detail. Furthermore, we have excluded intracellular interactions, and also consideration of transport phenomena, which are treated in detail in Vol ume 3 of this Series. Other aspects of inter-cellular interaction, such as cell surface phenomena and implications of lectin-carbohydrate interactions, and plant-virus inter-relationships, are treated in other sections of this Encyclopedia (Volumes 13B and 14B, respectively). In the volume on physiological plant pathology (Volume 4 of this series) special attention has been given to host pathogen interaction. These aspects of our subject will therefore be excluded in the present treatise.

This book takes a broad look at the current status of research on receptors in higher and lower plants. It starts with a discussion of some hormone receptors (auxins, ethylene and gibberellin) in higher plants, and then considers the role of cyclic AMP and its receptors in the slime mould Dictyostelium.

A guide to methods of identification and characterization of the molecules that mediate cellular interactions in a variety of systems. Methods are included for preparing probes, analyzing adhesive and junctional interactions, and determining functionally important structural features of molecules.

Despite the considerable success in treating diseases of the heart and blood vessels, they still remain the major cause of mortality throughout the world. One of the reasons underlying this problem is our lack of understanding of the molecular and cellular aspects of the processes involved. These problems are fully discussed in Cellular Interactions in Cardiac Pathophysiology, which draws together 25 contributions from leading investigators from all parts of the world. The contributions are grouped under three headings: Extracellular matrix and cardiocyte interaction; Myocytic adaptations and myocardial injury; and Signal transduction.