All plant cells contain plastids in some shape or form, whether as proplastids (undifferentiated plastids), chloroplasts (photosynthetic), amyloplasts (starch-storing), elaioplasts (lipid-storing), leucoplasts (lacking pigments) or their derivatives, such as chromoplasts (pigment-storing), etioplasts and gerontoplasts (present in senescing tissues). This roll-call indicates their functional diversity and demonstrates that plastids lie at the very core of plant cellular function. As the author points out, they are not only of crucial importance in photosynthesis but also in the storage of primary foodstuffs, particularly starch.
Plastid biology aims at providing final-year undergraduates and graduate students with an overview of plastid biology and recent developments in the field. Kevin Pyke has carried out research into various aspects of plastid biology over the past 25 years and uses this experience to provide an authoritative overview of plastid biology. The book is organised into nine chapters and the topics covered include a consideration of different plastid types and how they relate to cell function; plastid genomes and how proteins are imported into plastids; photosynthesis and core aspects of plastid metabolism; plastid signalling and functionality within a cellular context; and plastid genetic manipulation.
All the important areas of plastid biology are considered in a didactic style with many related areas carefully explained at a level suitable for undergraduates, but it is not merely suitable for this audience. There was much that I learned despite having worked in the field of photosynthesis and leaf metabolism for many years. Much about plastid morphology and development is well illustrated, with further colour images available as a zip-file on-line (via the CUP catalogue (http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521711975). However, when writing about an organelle that is so deeply integrated into the rest of the cell, the question that has to be faced is where to stop. Aspects such as co-ordination of nuclear and chloroplastic protein synthesis and protein import are well covered, as is transport across the chloroplast envelope, and the enigmatic stromules are given their full due. However, the plastid is to some extent considered in isolation from the cell, so that processes such as photorespiration, that both originates and concludes in the chloroplast, are referred to, but not fully described. Similarly, while the structural impacts of a process such as C4 photosynthesis are discussed, there is little discussion of its metabolic implications, in which specific processes such as malate decarboxylation or PEP regeneration are greatly enhanced in the chloroplast, because some of the process lies outside the plastids, in the cytosol or in other organelles.
There are no references given in the text (except those giving credit for figures). A one-and-a-half page postlude ‘Further reading and resources’ lists sources (review journals, journals, books and internet resources) where a student might find a useful article to expand upon what has been written in the text. However, in my view not only undergraduates, but also interested graduates and researchers, need some guidance on what the author thinks are the critically important reviews in the field. For example, topics such as the function of the ATPase, thioredoxins, state transitions and Rubisco appear thick and fast in a few pages (pp. 71–77). Each deserves at least one pointer to where one might learn more about them. This is especially important for the many undergraduates who tend to rely almost wholly on the web searches such as Google for their sources of information.
In summary, Plastid biology is well-written, easy to read and is of potential interest to a wide audience, particularly now that there is renewed interest in improving photosynthesis to assure food security.