Genomics and Evolution of Microbial Eukaryotes

Genomics and Evolution of Eukaryotic Microbes by Laura A. Katz and Debashish Bhattacharya is a concise, up-to-date text on microbial eukaryotic (protists) diversity and genome evolution. Understanding the diversity of protists is of paramount importance, considering that these microorganisms affect both our environment and health. Indeed, this group of organisms contains some of the deadliest known pathogens to men, such as the causative agent of malaria: Plasmodium falciparum. With a goal to convey a basic appreciation and understanding of the topic to a wide scientific community, the authors have assembled a volume of 15 articles representing the analyses and interpretations of leaders in the field. The first section provides an overview of the tremendous diversity and phylogeny of protests, which amount to approximately 200,000 described species. This section sets the stage for the proceeding sections by presenting current hypotheses in the field. Part two addresses the evolutionary genomics of protists via the examination of a few examples that exemplify the unique genomic architecture represented within the different clades. Finally, the third section of the text aims to provide the reader with an in-depth knowledge of synthesized data from the completed genomes of protists, including the approaches used to characterize the respective genomes. The last section is particularly interesting in that it brings to the forefront many discoveries challenging some of the principles of genome evolution. Using a precise writing style, the authors successfully have provided an easy-to-understand text for the complex and important field of protist evolutionary biology. Furthermore, the organized layout of the chapters makes it easy for the reader to progress through the complex layers of the field. Consequently, this book would provide a viable text for students from a broad range of disciplines interested in understanding both the micro and macro working of genomes.