data from public databases) can be delivered to a central‘knowledge brokering service’, which then makes thecontent machine-readable and allows key pieces ofinformation to be extracted by data-mining approaches. Thesepieces of information can then be presented to consumers,generating leads for further reading and research andknowledge discovery. Although the information-flow modelis analogous to Google’s, much more information aboutconcepts, entities and the nature of their relationships to eachother are first embedded into the indexed content in a way thatcan be understood by specialist searching software. The maindriver for the participating pharmaceutical companies is theadmirably altruistic goal of finding machine-based ways ofidentifying literature/database content of relevance more

quickly, which it anticipates will have wider benefits to theresearch community at large. Sadly, with increasing‘digitalisation’ of information – and the electrification of themeans to access and extract it – if research papers are notstructured and coded in such a way as to be read automatically byintelligent machines, scouring a large volume of informationbeyond the capabilities of individual human researchers todigest, then it is likely that the research results and conclusionswill be increasingly overlooked. But do remember that youprobably read this in a hard copy journal first!

Nigel ChaffeyE-mail: n.chaffey@bathspa.ac.uk

Cite as: Chaffey N. 2010. Plant Cuttings, February.

Annals of Botany 105(2): iii–vi.

Book Reviews Annals of Botany 105: vi–xi, 2010

Available online at www.aob.oxfordjournals.org

doi:10.1093/aob/mcp228Published electronically: 6 October 2009

The moss Physcomitrella patens.Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 36Knight C, Perroud P-F, Cove D.2009.Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.£105 (hardback). 368 pp.

Physcomitrella patens – the so-called Arabidopsis of the mossworld or ‘green yeast’ – is the firstnon-vascular plant to have itsgenome sequenced. This book is areview of previous and currentresearch on this model moss and an

invitation for others to consider using P. patens for their work.This is a beautifully produced, well edited and generally

easy-to-read volume for plant scientists. Bryological termsare well explained and there is a useful glossary for thoseunfamiliar with some common bryological terms and con-cepts. More knowledge is assumed with regard to moleculartechniques, and an expanded glossary for those perhaps morefamiliar with the bryology but less so with the experimentalbiology would have been useful. Such an addition might alsowiden the target audience somewhat from the specialist plantscientist to the interested biologist.

The editors state in the preface that the book covers abroad range of topics including evolutionary and ecologicalstudies using P. patens, its unique features and particularvalue in a variety of molecular work, as well as the use ofP. patens to investigate standard biological processes. Theyhave, on the whole, produced such a book and should be con-gratulated for this achievement. There is a focus on molecularwork, which reflects the bulk of research to date on P. patens,but serious attempts are made to widen the scope and addresssome of the scientific gaps in recent studies.

The opening chapter is an up-to-date and easy-to-under-stand introduction to the current state of knowledge of theevolutionary history of land plants, and the positioning ofbryophytes, especially mosses, on the tree of life. Despite

promises in the chapter title, ecology is scarcely covered,which highlights the main omission in this volume and alsoprevious research. Chapter 2 gives an excellent overview ofthe limited amount of experimental evolutionary studies onmosses in general, suggesting that ‘classical genetic analysisof natural variation has been under utilised in the mossresearch community of late’. How true this is! This chapterpertinently illuminates the vast and exciting possibilities forfuture research in this area. Of particular interest is therecent development of P. patens mapping lines by the author.

Further chapters cover a vast range of research areas, somebetter established than others. Topics include: genomics,gene targeting and small RNAs, development, maintenanceand the stress responses of P. patens. The exploration of game-tangial development is accompanied by some clear figures thatnicely illustrate the different growth stages, while the expla-nation of gene trapping techniques to identify novel genesimportant in development brings this section up to date. Thechapter on the role of abscissic acid in stress (particularly dehy-dration and desiccation) is clear and succinct, providing a goodoverview of the current state of knowledge. The final chapteron pathogenesis in mosses is a comprehensive view of thegreat potential for using P. patens in molecular plant pathologystudies. Interestingly, P. patens appears to be susceptible tonumerous infections in the lab, yet is much less susceptibleto disease in nature – although as the authors point out, thisis likely due to limited sampling in the field.

The section of colour prints in the middle of the book isformed from a composite of figures from the different chapters.This was initially confusing, but the beautiful colour prints are awonderful addition and serve to highlight the difference in detailthat can be observed from the black and white photographs.

This is an excellent book on P. patens and will hopefullyencourage its further use by molecular plant scientists.However, the scope of this book is broader and it shouldalso be of interest to evolutionary biologists and ecologists.Just as the value of Arabidopsis in such studies is increasing,I hope that this book is the spark that ignites greater amountsof research on the evolution and ecology of mosses.

Jennifer RowntreeE-mail jennifer.rowntree@manchester.ac.uk

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