Research on bacterial development has progressed at an impressive pace in the past ten years. This new book describes the exciting advances that have occurred as a result of the transition from the almost purely genetic to the molecular analysis of bacterial development.Prokaryotic Development focuses on the experimental systems in which a great deal is known about the molecular mechanisms of development. It devotes several chapters to the organisms that have yielded the most mechanistic information, allowing more in-depth coverage of developmental processes than previously available in one place. Introductory chapters describe the biology of each group of organisms in order to place the molecular analysis in a biological and phylogenic perspective.