Molecular Biology: Structure and Dynamics of Genomes and Proteomes

Citation

Zlatanova, J. (2023). Molecular Biology: Structure and Dynamics of Genomes and Proteomes (2nd ed.). Garland Science.

Chapter Summary

The book has twenty-two chapters and a glossary, in about 732 pages with 688 colour illustrations. The publisher describes it as illustrating the principles behind the transmission and expression of genetic information at the level of DNA, RNA and proteins, with emphasis on the experimental basis of discovery and on structural mechanisms. It is written for advanced undergraduate or graduate-level courses.

Chapters 1–2: To the Cell and Beyond: The Realm of Molecular Biology; From Classical Genetics to Molecular Genetics

The opening chapters place molecular biology in relation to the cell and then trace the move from classical to molecular genetics.

Chapters 3–4: Proteins; Nucleic Acids

Two chapters on the molecules at the centre of the book: proteins and nucleic acids.

Chapters 5–6: Recombinant DNA: Principles and Applications; Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions

A chapter on recombinant DNA, including applications, and one on how proteins and nucleic acids interact. The publisher lists the CRISPR-Cas gene-editing system among the topics new to this edition.

Chapters 7–8: The Genetic Code, Genes, and Genomes; Physical Structure of the Genomic Material

The genetic code, genes and genomes are followed by a chapter on the physical structure of the genomic material.

Chapters 9–13: Transcription in Bacteria; Transcription in Eukaryotes; Regulation of Transcription in Bacteria; Regulation of Transcription in Eukaryotes; Transcription Regulation in the Human Genome

Five chapters on transcription, with bacteria and eukaryotes treated separately for both the process and its regulation, and a final chapter on regulation in the human genome. The publisher notes new material on transcription termination.

Chapter 14: RNA Processing

A single chapter on RNA processing, which links transcription to translation.

Chapters 15–18: Translation: The Players; Translation: The Process; Regulation of Translation; Protein Processing and Modification

Translation is divided into its components, the process itself, its regulation, and then what happens to proteins afterwards.

Chapters 19–22: DNA Replication in Bacteria; DNA Replication in Eukaryotes; DNA Recombination; DNA Repair

The final chapters treat the maintenance of DNA: replication in bacteria and in eukaryotes, recombination and repair. A glossary follows.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–8: foundations

• Proteins and nucleic acids: Chapters 3 and 4 give each class of molecule its own chapter.
• Recombinant DNA: principles and applications (Chapter 5).
• Protein–nucleic acid interactions: Chapter 6.
• Physical structure of the genomic material: Chapter 8.

Chapters 9–14: transcription and RNA

• Transcription in bacteria and eukaryotes: Chapters 9 and 10.
• Transcription regulation: Chapters 11–13, including regulation in the human genome.
• RNA processing: Chapter 14.

Chapters 15–22: translation and DNA maintenance

• Translation and its regulation: Chapters 15–17.
• Protein processing and modification: Chapter 18.
• Replication, recombination and repair: Chapters 19–22.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Experimental emphasis. The publisher states that the book highlights the experimental basis of important discoveries, and a review of the first edition in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (December 2016) says the authors connect classical techniques with recent advances and give a sense of history in every chapter.
• Structure first. The title and the publisher's description place structures and dynamics at the centre, and the contents give separate chapters to proteins, nucleic acids and protein–nucleic acid interactions before any process is discussed.
• Complete central dogma and DNA maintenance. Transcription, RNA processing, translation, replication, recombination and repair each receive several chapters.
• Study aids. The publisher notes learning objectives for each chapter and a list of relevant online videos.

Limitations

• Review evidence is for the first edition. The one published review quoted by the publisher dates from 2016, so statements about the second edition's new material rest on the publisher's description.
• Structural orientation. The book is organized around molecular structure and mechanism. The contents have no chapters on genome sequencing and analysis as such, or on development, so these topics need another text.
• Size. About 732 pages in 22 chapters is more than a one-semester course covers, and it is written for advanced readers who already have molecular biology or genetics and basic biochemistry.

Where It Fits in the Course

Zlatanova is a structure-focused text in the molecular biology list. Molecular Biology: A Very Short Introduction and Fundamental Molecular Biology are the gentler starting points; the second is a compact textbook that concentrates on core ideas. Molecular Biology of the Gene, descended from Watson's 1965 book, and Molecular Biology: Principles of Genome Function, which is organized around the genome and treats bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes side by side, are undergraduate textbooks. Lewin's Genes is the comprehensive text on gene structure, organization and expression.

Choose Zlatanova when the course emphasizes how molecular structure and single-molecule and structural experiments explain gene expression, and read it after one of the shorter texts.

How to Use This Book

It is meant for advanced undergraduates and graduate students with an introductory course in molecular biology or genetics and basic biochemistry.

• Core: Chapters 3–4 and 6 for structure, Chapters 9–10 and 14–16 for the main path from DNA to protein.
• Regulation and replication: Chapters 11–13 and 17–22 can follow, in the order a course takes them. A reader mainly interested in DNA metabolism can go directly from Chapter 8 to Chapters 19–22.
• Background chapters: Chapters 1–2 can be skimmed by readers who already know the history and the classical genetics.
• Study: use the learning objectives at the start of each chapter and the glossary at the end.