Molecular Biology of Plant Tumors provides an opportunity to learn in detail about the latest insights into the mechanism of transformation of plant cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The study of the molecular mechanism responsible for the crown gall phenomenon (induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens) illustrates the point that the fundamental study of the cause(s) and mechanism(s) of abnormal growth might be one of the most efficient ways to understand cellular differentiation and the molecular basis of gene expression. The book is organized into three parts that contain research on abnormal plant growth, crown gall tumors, and potential vectors for genetic engineering in agriculture. The genetic structure responsible for the neoplasmic transformation of plant cells in crown galls is a bacterial plasmid (called Ti for tumor-inducing). Research described in this volume demonstrates that these Ti plasmids were designed by evolution as natural gene vectors with which some bacteria can introduce active genes into plants. These transferred genes are maintained by integration in the plant genome and their expression is directly or indirectly responsible for the tumorous growth pattern.

Written by internationally renowned experts, Clinical Ophthalmic Oncology provides practical guidance and advice on the diagnosis and management of the complete range of ocular cancers. The book supplies all of the state-of-the-art knowledge required in order to identify these cancers early and to treat them as effectively as possible. Using the information provided, readers will be able to provide effective patient care using the latest knowledge on all aspects of ophthalmic oncology, to verify diagnostic conclusions based on comparison with numerous full-color clinical photographs, and to locate required information quickly owing to the clinically focused and user-friendly format. In this volume, all aspects of the diagnosis, histopathology, genetics and treatment of retinoblastoma are discussed in detail.

Agrobacterium is a plant pathogen which causes the “crown-gall” disease, a neoplastic growth that results from the transfer of a well-defined DNA segment (“transferred DNA”, or “T-DNA”) from the bacterial Ti (tumor-inducing) plasmid to the host cell, its integration into the host genome, and the expression of oncogenes contained on the T-DNA. The molecular machinery, needed for T-DNA generation and transport into the host cell and encoded by a series of chromosomal (chv) and Ti-plasmid virulence (vir) genes, has been the subject of numerous studies over the past several decades. Today, Agrobacterium is the tool of choice for plant genetic engineering with an ever expanding host range that includes many commercially important crops, flowers, and tree species. Furthermore, its recent application for the genetic transformation of non-plant species, from yeast to cultivated mushrooms and even to human cells, promises this bacterium a unique place in the future of biotechnological applications. The book is a comprehensive volume describing Agrobacterium's biology, interactions with host species, and uses for genetic engineering.

Decades of research on the tumor suppressor p53 have revealed that it plays a significant role as a "guardian of the genome," protecting cells against genotoxic stress. In recent years, p53 research has begun to move into the clinic in attempts to understand how p53 is frequently inactivated in-and sometimes even promotes-human cancer. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine covers the rapid progress that has recently been made in basic and clinical research on p53. The contributors review new observations about its basic biology, providing updates on the functions of its isoforms and domains, the myriad stresses and signals that trigger its activation or repression, and its downstream effects on genome stability and the cell cycle that enforce tumor suppression in different cell and tissue types. They also discuss how p53 dysfunction contributes to cancer, exploring the various inherited and somatic mutations in the human TP53 gene, the impact of mutant p53 proteins on tumorigenesis, and the prognostic value and clinical outcomes of these mutations. Drugs that are being developed to respond to tumors harboring aberrant p53 are also described. This book is therefore essential reading for all cancer biologists, cell and molecular biologists, and pharmacologists concerned with the treatment of this disease.