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The Evolution of American Ecology, 1890–2000

with a useful introduction to Arabidopsis biology and genetic manipulation as well as to the often confusing terminology used in flowering time control. Glover defines three major pathways— autonomous, photoperiodic, and vernalization—which feed into the floral pathway integrators that actually promote flowering. In this regard, Glover does not do herself any favors by using atypical terminology when discussing the flowering-repressor gene FLC (FLOWERING LOCUS C), included as part of the “autonomous inhibition” pathway. The odd point here is the use of the term “autonomous” in relation to FLC. There is also a well-characterized floral induction pathway that is more commonly referred to simply as the “autonomous” pathway. These autonomous loci act through several different genetic mechanisms to deactivate the floral repressor FLC and thereby allow flowering to occur. This is the first time I have seen FLC termed an “autonomous inhibitor,” and I can understand Glover’s logic, but, as a rule, FLC is discussed in the literature as a component of the vernalization pathway. One can always quibble about terminology, but I found the use of autonomous inhibition versus autonomous induction to be tricky in two regards. First, readers have to pay very close attention to catch which pathway is being discussed at any particular time (not necessarily a bad thing), and second—and more problematically— it may lead to confusion when readers go to the primary literature and do not see the same usage. This being said, the complexities of flowering time control in Arabidopsis make it one of the hardest subjects to explain clearly. Glover has achieved that quite well, and the data covered are very up to date, which will extend the shelf life of this text. The latter part of the molecular genetic section focuses on the genetic control of floral meristem and floral organ identity. This subject is the one area that has been thoroughly covered in many other texts and literature reviews, so it is hard to add much that is new, but Glover does an excellent job of explaining the work from first principles. In particular, she gives full coverage to the fact that the A-class component of the ABC model of floral organ identity, which is often considered essential to the development of sepals, does not actually appear to be well conserved. This point often gets short shrift in other reviews, but it is very important for students to grasp as early as possible.