World Aquaculture 71 and his associates have produced a large body of knowledge and experience centered on this species. There are 26 chapters in this volume, many of which include black and white figures, illustrations, and photographs relating to relevant materials. Each page is arranged in two 2.5-inch columns of text, which I found difficult to read with ease. A number of larger chapters conclude with a useful section titled “Key Summary Points” and each chapter is organized with subheadings. Forty pages of the book are dedicated to an extensive glossary that adequately defines hundreds of relevant key terms. The references for this edition are provided at the end of the book rather than at the end of each chapter. An index allows the reader to locate quickly the topics and major species discussed throughout the book. The book begins with a chapter that defines biotechnology and reviews the history of genetics and the inclusion of biotechnology advances with cultured fishes and shellfish. The first few chapters cover basic principles of genetics as applied to aquaculture organisms. Topics in these chapters include the role of environmental effects and the extent that phenotypic variation play in production aquaculture and related research populations. The chapter on qualitative traits and their selection provides a number of practical examples through the use of illustrations of complete/incomplete dominance, dihybrid crosses, and epistasis. Unfortunately some of these illustrations are formatted in the same narrow columns as the text, making them difficult to interpret for students new to aquaculture genetics. A four-page chapter on strain selection could have been better developed than the brief examples from tilapia, channel catfish, and common carp. The chapter on inbreeding, random genetic drift, and maintaining genetic quality covers a number of considerations on this important topic. Chapters 6 through 11 address topics that are at the core of many of the advancements in aquaculture we see today. Specifically these chapters cover gynogenesis/ androgenesis, intraspecific crossbreeding, interspecific hybridization, selection, polyploidy and xenogenesis, and sex reversal. These chapters present concepts with a comprehensive review of relevant peer-reviewed work and readers will note numerous sections that have been updated with new advances and literature citations since publication of the first edition. The middle of the book contains discussion of most of the advanced topics in aquaculture genetics, representing application of recent molecular approaches to aquaculture. The most notable topics are addressed in chapters on biochemical/molecular markers, gene mapping, quantitative trait locus mapping, marker-assisted selection, gene Book Review expression, and gene transfer technology. The information is presented to demonstrate current uses and applications where applicable as well as an allusion to their future application in aquaculture generally. As with previous chapters, the author tends to rely on self-citation from his own experiences on a variety of topics, which greatly narrows the variety of available examples in the text. An advantage of this is the ability to demonstrate the application of these molecular techniques to a commercially important culture species, although this causes specific work to be referenced numerous times. Towards the end of the book a brief chapter summarizes the application of topics presented in other chapters—such as selection, hybridization, and other enhancement regimes—to commercial aquaculture. There are three lengthy chapters that address a variety of aspects related to transgenic organisms in aquaculture, including environmental risks, food safety, a case study on transgenic salmon, and government regulation of transgenic organisms. These chapters are well connected with each other and represent current views and levels of knowledge on an often controversial topic. The last remaining chapters are brief and cover genetic conservation, ethics, and constraints and limitations of biotechnology in aquaculture. These final chapters address important aspects of aquaculture biotechnology, beyond regular technical topics, and can be used as the basis for potential discussion or debate in an aquaculture genetics course. This volume would be most useful to upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in aquaculture who have had an introductory genetics course. This book can serve as a stand-alone text for an aquaculture genetics course. However, as with any book on such an expansive topic, the course could be supplemented with additional specific literature depending on the direction and depth of the course. There are sections that cover the application of biotechnology to natural fish populations; however, aquaculture is predominately featured. Fisheries students are advised to investigate the population genetics book by Hallerman (2003), which covers a number of biotechnology applications to natural populations. Researchers could also benefit from this book by the extensive literature citations used to support the written material. The literature covered and examples presented within this volume tend to emphasize channel catfish and its hybrids, making portions of the book appear excessively weighted to this species. Overall, the topics are ordered to provide a logical presentation of topics to its audience. Aquaculture and Fisheries Biotechnology: Genetic Approaches can be used to demonstrate principles of genetics as currently applied to aquaculture and many advanced topics and material just beginning to be integrated and realized in research and development programs for genetic improvement of commercially important species. 1Aquaculture Research Station, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Continued from page 3)
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