P.H. Hofschneider – författare

Gene cloning for the production of recombinant DNA is usually performed with E. coli. There is, however, no doubt that gene cloning in organisms other than E. coli will assume a much more important role in the future: efficient cloning systems are needed for the analysis of gene expression and its regulation in eukaryotic cells, for the elucidation ofthe genetic mechanisms of transform a- tion, and for the study of the genetic rearrangement during dif- ferentiation and embryogenesis. Furthermore, optimal cloning systems will be required for practical applications in the near future: for the optimal production of antibiotics, amino acids, vitamins, enzymes etc. , for the expression of gene products under favorable energetic conditions for mass production, for the ex- pression of glycolysated animal proteins, for the genetic manipu- 'lation of plants -and in the more distant future, for gene therapy inman. The editors have therefore invited leading scientists to sum- marize the present status and the future applicability of gene cloning systems in their fields of research.To ensure a complete coverage of a genetic system, the editors have generally asked two authors to cover one system. This volume is a frrst and unique account of our knowledge of cloning systems employing organisms other than E. coli such as B. subtilis, pseudomonas, neurospora, saccharomyces and streptomyces, as well as of vectors and selection procedures for animal and plant systems including the liposome technique. October 1981 P. R.

The topic of this years'' ~osbach Colloquium was DNA integration. We have tried to bring together experts from different fields of research who are studying natural processes by which DNA molecules from differ­ ent sources are linked. It has been known for a long time that such linkage occurs between the chromosomes of bacteriophages and plasmids on the one hand and the chromosome of the bacterial host on the other. This process has been especially well studied in bacteriophage A. Since it is controlled in a complicated way, we began with a lecture by M. ptashne on these regulatory processes. H. Nash described the inte­ gration of bacteriophage A into the bacterial chromosome. To put this site-specific process into perspective, G. Mosig lectured on genetic recombination in prokaryotes in general and K. Murray described the use of bacteriophage A as an artificial vector for genetic engineering. A different kind of bacteriophage integration is shown by bacteriophage Mu, which is much less specific in its choice of an integration site than A. The properties of this phage were described by P. van de Putte.