This book reviews various ways DNA content is modulated in the cells of multicellular organisms. Insights arising from the methods make this an opportune time to explore what is known and what remains to be discovered about these processes.

This book reviews various ways DNA content is modulated in the cells of multicellular organisms. Although the processes of endopolyploidy, polyteny, aneuploidy, and chromatin diminution have been observed for well over a century, their biological significance has not been appreciated due to the lack, until recently, of molecular and statistical methods capable of examining such phenomena. Insights arising from the methods make this an opportune time to explore what is known—and what remains to be discovered—about these processes.

Key selling features:

• Provides up-to-date coverage on major advances in genomics, cell biology, and developmental biology
• Brings together information from a wide array of disciplines
• Focuses on topics that are important to a variety of fields, including both fundamental and applied life sciences
• Covers a large diversity of taxa, including animals, plants, and microbes
• Offers the first comprehensive overview of the topic in nearly 30 years