PREFACE
Only seventeen years have passed since Luria, in the first modern review of bacterial genetics,* stigmatized bacteriology as "one of the last strong
holds of Lamarckism," and stated t h a t "scant knowledge and lack of agree
ment have until recently prevailed even in the most elementary facts of reproduction and character transmission in bacteria.'' T h e winds of change had begun to blow, however. Two germinal discoveries—the chemical identity of pneumococcal transforming principle as D N A , and the existence of genetic recombination in Escherichia coli—had recently been reported, and led Luria to suggest t h a t "we m a y find ourselves on the threshold of a deep change in our ideas of bacterial heredity.'' T h e amplitude with which this cautious prognostication has been fulfilled is evidenced by m a n y of t h e contributions contained in the present volume. I n 1947, the dominant role t h a t bacterial genetics would soon play in the formulation of our general concepts of heredity could scarcely have been foreseen by the most far- sighted or optimistic exponent of this new branch of genetics; yet the con
nection has been so intimate t h a t chapters on genetic fine structure, genetic replication mechanisms, and gene-enzyme relationships find a natural place in a volume devoted to the consideration of bacterial genetics.
The Editors wish to thank the contributors for their cooperation in the preparation of this, the final volume of " T h e Bacteria." As in the past we are deeply grateful for the expert help furnished so unfailingly by the publishers and the members of their staff.
March 1964 I. C . G U N S A L U S R . Y . S T A N I E R
* Bacteriol. Revs. 1 1 , 1 (1947).
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