T. Ryan Gregory - The Evolution of the Genome

The Evolution of the Genome provides a much needed overview of genomic study through clear, detailed, expert-authored discussions of the key areas in genome biology. This includes the evolution of genome size, genomic parasites, gene and ancient genome duplications, polyploidy, comparative genomics, and the implications of these genome-level phenomena for evolutionary theory. In addition to reviewing the current state of knowledge of these fields in an accessible way, the various chapters also provide historical and conceptual background information, highlight the ways in which the critical questions are actually being studied, indicate some important areas for future research, and build bridges across traditional professional and taxonomic boundaries.

The Evolution of the Genome will serve as a critical resource for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and established scientists alike who are interested in the issue of genome evolution in the broadest sense.

The Evolution of the Genome
Edited by T. Ryan Gregory
(Click here for the full table of contents)

Part IV: ...and more duplications

Chapter 7: Polyploidy in plants
Jennifer Tate, Douglas E. Soltis, and Pamela S. Soltis

Chapter 8: Polyploidy in animals
T. Ryan Gregory and Barbara K. Mable

Part V: Sequence and structure

Chapter 9: Comparative genomics in eukaryotes
Alan Filipski and Sudhir Kumar

Chapter 10: Comparative genomics in prokaryotes
T. Ryan Gregory and Rob DeSalle

Part VI: The genome in evolution

Chapter 11: Macroevolution and the genome
T. Ryan Gregory

Dr. T. Ryan Gregory completed his B.Sc. (Honours) in biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1997, and his Ph.D. in evolutionary biology and zoology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada in 2002. He has been the recipient of several prestigious scholarships and fellowships, and was named the winner of the 2003 Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, one of the nation’s premier research awards. During the preparation of this volume, he has been a postdoctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Natural History Museum in London, England.

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Reviews:

"[The Evolution of the Genome] provides an impressive overview of the key areas in genome biology... Wherever one opens this well written book, he will read it with great pleasure."
                - Lab Times, 4/2006, p.58
                 (Read the full review)

"Overall, Gregory's volume does an excellent job of reviewing and detailing genomic-level phenomena across all living (and even some fossil) organisms. Each chapter is taxonomically comprehensive, with many references and excellent tables. ...this text provides a comprehensive view of the genome as an evolving level of biological organization that significantly enhances and complements the view of the genome as a string of letters."
                - Michael E. Steiper, Hunter City University of New York, USA
                (Read the full review in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

"The Evolution of the Genome represents a very readable, concise and up-to-the-minute overview of current knowledge in the key areas of genome biology ... I found little to criticize in this book ... this is a magnificent book, apt to become an important reference work for graduate students, researchers and university teachers with a professional interest in genomics and evolutionary biology. I am sure it will find a wide distribution in university libraries and at its modest price also on private book shelves."
                - Nikolaus Malchus, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain
                (Read the full review at the Society for Experimental Biology online)

"The Evolution of the Genome by Ryan Gregory and his co-authors is one of the most exciting books on large-scale evolutionary phenomena I have read in the past decade."
                - Robert L. Carroll, Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

"Availability of complete genomic sequences has begun to revolutionize many areas within and even outside biology. This book provides the essential grammar to students and experts alike toward understanding the language of genomes."
                - Juergen Brosius, University of Munster, Germany

"Ryan Gregory sees the genome as a distinct level of biological organization. To Gregory and his collaborators in The Evolution of the Genome, the genome has its own internal structures and interactions among its parts. This is a dynamic way of looking at the genome, and one that suggests solutions to many problems -- such as why some kinds of organisms have much larger genomes than others. In recognizing the hierarchical organization of the genome itself, Gregory has pioneered the analysis of how the genome fits into the broader aspects of biological organization and evolution. The Evolution of the Genome is an indispensable source on current understanding of genomic evolution."
                - Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

"This book is very timely in the age of genomic biology. It provides an impressive coverage of information on genome evolution and brings us a step closer to solving the mystery of genome size variation in nature."
                - France Dufresne, Université du Québec à Rimouski, QC, Canada

"This book achieves a remarkable overview and synthesis of past and current ideas in genetics and developmental biology. Of special value beyond the comprehensive reviews of basic concepts and pertinent literature is the clarity of the discussions. I recommend this book for a liberal education in the fundamentals of what has become an awesomely complex field."
                - Ellen Rasch, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA

"A very useful book for my evolutionary genetics classes."
                - Leo W. Beukeboom, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

"Your book was a treat to read. I could not stop reading it -- very well written! It was a great introduction for a novice (me) to the field of genomic evolution."
                - Abhay Krsna, Research Assistant, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Exeter, UK

"Although one might assume that the size of an organism's genome would vary in proportion to the complexity of the organism, such is not the case. For example, an individual rice cell has 0.50 pg (weight) of DNA dispersed in 24 chromosomes, whereas an onion cell has 16.75 pg in 14 chromosomes. This conundrum is termed the C- (or G-) value paradox, and is largely at the core of this book: just what is the significance of the genome size of an organism or of differences among related organisms? Starting with the fundamentals, the first two chapters discuss what is known about genome size in plants and animals. Several chapters follow that discuss the various mechanisms by which genome size can evolve, including duplications or deletions of genes, chromosomes, or entire genomes; genomic parasites such as transposable elements; and polyploidy. Later chapters delve into studies that have compared the genomes of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, often using the newly available DNA sequence data. Sixteen experts in the field contributed to this work, but the editor has done a good job of pulling the chapters together so they flow well, with references to the other chapters where appropriate. Summing Up: Recommended."
              - Kathleen A. Clark, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, in Choice: Current Reviews
                for Academic Libraries, July 2005.

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Additional details:

Pages: 740 + xxvi
Publisher: Elsevier/Academic Press
Publication date: 2005
Release date: December 22, 2004
ISBN: 0123014638
Dimensions: 9.1" x 6.3" x 1.3" (23.1cm x 16.0cm x 3.3cm)
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (1.0kg)
List price: $69.95 (USD)

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