This volume provides a fundamental overview of the current state of the art in natural products from marine algae, linking the complex and diverse natural resource with recent developments in extraction, analytical and bioactivity testing methodologies. Natural Products from Marine Algae: Methods and Protocols guides readers through protocols and techniques on algal biotechnology, metabolites, Solid-Liquid Extraction (SLE), Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE), Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Infra-red spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.Authoritative and cutting-edge, Natural Products from Marine Algae: Methods and Protocols hopes to aid scientists unravel and quantify algal chemical diversity and support further marine biotechnological developments.

"Plant Virus-Host Interaction" contains cutting-edge research in plant molecular virology, including pathogenic viroids and transport by insect vectors, interference with transmission to control viruses, and synergism, with pivotal coverage of RNA silencing and the counter-defensive strategies used by viruses to overcome the silencing response in plants.

With a clear focus on plant virus evolution, including quantitative and population genetics, "Plant Virus-Host Interaction" provides insights on the major factors favoring disease emergence, such as genetic change in pathogen and host populations and changes in host ecology and environment. The book also examines socioeconomic implications of widespread plant viral agents. Contributions from leading experts around the globe provide varied perspectives, while comprehensive coverage ensures a complete look at this exciting field.
Covers the emergence of new viral diseasesProvides molecular approaches for virus-host interactionHighlights RNA silencing and counter-defensive strategiesDiscusses socioeconomic implications of viral spread and mitigation techniques

This book provides an up-to-date coverage of green (vegetated) roof research, design, and management from an ecosystem perspective. It reviews, explains, and poses questions about monitoring, substrate, living components and the abiotic, biotic and cultural aspects connecting green roofs to the fields of community, landscape and urban ecology. The work contains examples of green roof venues that demonstrate the focus, level of detail, and techniques needed to understand the structure, function, and impact of these novel ecosystems. Representing a seminal compilation of research and technical knowledge about green roof ecology and how functional attributes can be enhanced, it delves to explore the next wave of evolution in green technology and defines potential paths for technological advancement and research.

This book, now in its second edition, provides researchers and operators a complete description of all aspects regarding the wild ancestor of sugar beet. The possibility of crossing modern crops with the ancestors from which they are derived in order to recover some traits lost through domestication is increasingly attracting interest. The selective process implemented by the first growers led to the elimination of features not considered useful at the time. Yet some of these lost traits have now become very important. In fact, in many areas sugar beet cultivation would now be impossible without the transfer of some genetic resistances from Beta maritima, the crop's ancestor. Moreover, the isolation of such traits is becoming increasingly critical with regard to current and future environmental and economic considerations on e.g. the use of pesticides. This second edition replaces certain photographs and has been updated to reflect the latest advances and findings. One chapter and several sections have been rewritten, and significant revisions have been made throughout the text. The new techniques provide breeders with massively improved analytical means for the safest and fastest selection procedures. Not only will these techniques allow Beta maritima to take on a far greater role as a source of favorable traits; the relative ease with which these characteristics can be transferred will also make it possible to use the germplasm of the whole genus Beta and Patellifolia, which to date has been highly complex, if not impossible, due to the difficulties of hybridization.

Human demand for energy has grown multi-folds in recent years. This is the result of rapidly increasing human population, which, in turn, has resulted in increased organic (petroleum) and inorganic pollution on the biosphere. Due to this, we are now facing a number of challenges to sustain life on earth. For example, the increased organic and inorganic pollution in our environment is leading to loss of biodiversity, degradation of environment and thus ultimately causing food insecurity. In this situation, it is imperative to keep updated ourselves with advances on the effects of pollutants, tolerance mechanisms and the potential of different plants and microbes in removing these pollutants from the environment. For this purpose, we invited a number of scientists worldwide to review the current scenario of the problems, current development, and future prospects of the challenges and their solutions in an International Conference on ''Plants and Environmental Pollution'' held in KAYSERI, TURKEY from 6-11 July 2009. The output of this conference has been summarized in the form of this book.

Plant genomics and biotechnology have recently made enormous strides, and hold the potential to benefit agriculture, the environment and various other dimensions of the human endeavor. It is no exaggeration to claim that the twenty-first century belongs to biotechnology. Knowledge generation in this field is growing at a frenetic pace, and keeping abreast of the latest advances and calls on us to double our efforts. Volume II of this two-part series addresses cutting-edge aspects of plant genomics and biotechnology. It includes 37 chapters contributed by over 70 researchers, each of which is an expert in his/her own field of research. Biotechnology has helped to solve many conundrums of plant life that had long remained a mystery to mankind. This volume opens with an exhaustive chapter on the role played by thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, which is believed to be the Drosophila of the plant kingdom and an invaluable model plant for understanding basic concepts in plant biology. This is followed by chapters on bioremediation, biofuels and biofertilizers through microalgal manipulation, making it a commercializable prospect; discerning finer details of biotic stress with plant-fungal interactions; and the dynamics of abiotic and biotic stresses, which also figure elsewhere in the book. Breeding crop plants for desirable traits has long been an endeavor of biotechnologists. The significance of molecular markers, marker assisted selection and techniques are covered in a dedicated chapter, as are comprehensive reviews on plant molecular biology, DNA fingerprinting techniques, genomic structure and functional genomics. A chapter dedicated to organellar genomes provides extensive information on this important aspect. Elsewhere in the book, the newly emerging area of epigenetics is presented as seen through the lens of biotechnology, showcasing the pivotal role of DNA methylation in effecting permanent and transient changes to the genome. Exclusive chapters deal with bioinformatics and systems biology. Handy tools for practical applications such as somatic embryogenesis and micropropagation are included to provide frontline information to entrepreneurs, as is a chapter on somaclonal variation.Overcoming barriers to sexual incompatibility has also long been a focus of biotechnology, and is addressed in chapters on wide hybridization and hybrid embryo rescue. Another area of accomplishing triploids through endosperm culture is included as a non-conventional breeding strategy. Secondary metabolite production through tissue cultures, which is of importance to industrial scientists, is also covered. Worldwide exchange of plant genetic material is currently an essential topic, as is conserving natural resources in situ. Chapters on in vitro conservation of extant, threatened and other valuable germplasms, gene banking and related issues are included, along with an extensive account of the biotechnology of spices - the low-volume, high-value crops. Metabolic engineering is another emerging field that provides commercial opportunities. As is well known, there is widespread concern over genetically modified crops among the public. GM crops are covered, as are genetic engineering strategies for combating biotic and abiotic stresses where no other solutions are in sight. RNAi- and micro RNA- based strategies for crop improvement have proved to offer novel alternatives to the existing non-conventional techniques, and detailed information on these aspects is also included. The book's last five chapters are devoted to presenting the various aspects of environmental, marine, desert and rural biotechnology. The state-of-the-art coverage on a wide range of plant genomics and biotechnology topics will be of great interest to post-graduate students and researchers, including the employees of seed and biotechnology companies, and to instructors in the fields of plant genetics, breeding and biotechnology.

This book provides insights on innovative strategies to build resilient food systems in the wake of challenges posed by climate change. Providing food security to the growing population especially in developing countries without exacerbating the environment is a major challenge. Climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity, leading to a decline in overall food availability and significantly increasing the number of malnourished children in developing countries. Interventions for enhancing the adaptive capacity of farmers especially of small holders needs immediate impetus. The policy formulation and development programs must reorient in the wake of the new expectations and deliverables. This book comprises of sixteen chapters that discuss the trends in global agriculture development and food system. The book highlights different aspects of household food and nutritional security. The chapters covering diverse aspects address food system, rural and urban food chain, factors affecting their sustainability and short and long term solutions to make them climate resilient. Important issues having significant implications on climate change such as Waste management, Value chain, Agri-marketing, etc. are also covered. The book would be an important resource for researchers in food science, environmental sciences and agriculture. It would also be beneficial for students and future scientists working on sustainable agriculture and food security.

This volume presents the issues and challenges of crop pathogens and plant protection. Composed of the latest knowledge in plant pathology, the book covers topics such as fungal diseases of the groundnut, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, plant pathogenic fungi in the genomics era, the increased virulence of wheat rusts and oat fungal diseases.

Written by experienced and internationally recognized scientists in the field, "Future Challenges in Crop Protection Against Fungal Pathogens "is a concise yet comprehensive resource valuable for both novice as well as experienced plant scientists and researchers.

This book covers the ethnobiology and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Solega people of southern India. Solega TEK is shown to be a complex, inter-related network of detailed observations of natural phenomena, well-reasoned and often highly accurate theorizing, as well as a belief system, derived from cultural norms, regarding the relationships between humans and other species on the one hand, and between non-human species on the other. As language-based studies are strongly biased toward investigations of ethno-taxonomy and nomenclature, the importance of studying TEK in its proper context is discussed as making context and encyclopedic knowledge the objects of study are essential for a proper understanding of TEK.

Recounting the compelling story of a scientific discovery that took more than a century to complete, this trail-blazing monograph focuses on methodological issues and is the first to delve into this subject. This book charts how the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of photosynthesis were teased out by succeeding generations of scientists, and the author highlights the reconstruction of the heuristics of modelling the mechanism-analyzed at both individual and collective levels. Photosynthesis makes for an instructive example. The first tentative ideas were developed by organic chemists around 1840, while by 1960 an elaborate proposal at a molecular level, for both light and dark reactions, was established. The latter is still assumed to be basically correct today. The author makes a persuasive case for a historically informed philosophy of science, especially regarding methodology, and advocates a history of science whose narrative deploys philosophical approaches and categories. She shows how scientists' attempts to formulate, justify, modify, confirm or criticize their models are best interpreted as series of coordinated research actions, dependent on a network of super- and subordinated epistemic goals, and guided by recurrent heuristic strategies. With dedicated chapters on key figures such as Otto Warburg, who borrowed epistemic fundamentals from other disciplines to facilitate his own work on photosynthesis, and on more general topics relating to the development of the field after Warburg, this new work is both a philosophical reflection on the nature of scientific enquiry and a detailed history of the processes behind one of science's most important discoveries.

As the demand for herbal medicines is increasing globally, the supply of medicinal plants is declining because most of this harvest is derived from wild and naturally growing resources. The genetic improvement of medicinal plants to produce higher yields and more active ingredients might help fulfil the increasing demand for medicinal plants. Medicinal plants are one of the most important sources of life-saving drugs for the world’s population. Increasing global demand for herbal medicines is accompanied by a dwindling supply of medicinal plants due to over-harvesting. Biotechnological interventions play a significant role in the improvement of crop yields and quality. Despite such progress in plant molecular biology, only limited biotechnology application has been seen in medicinal plants. Recent breakthroughs in high-throughput approaches have revolutionized this research area and shifted the focus towards omics approaches, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. This book discusses these technologies. Currently, there is no existing publication that focuses on omics and medicinal plants.

This book discusses and addresses the rapidly increasing world population demand for food, which is expected to double by 2050. To meet these demands farmers will need to improve crop productivity, which relies heavily on nitrogen (N) fertilization. Production of N fertilizers, however, consumes huge amounts of energy and the loss of excess N fertilizers to leaching results in the pollution of waterways and oceans. Therefore, increasing plant nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is essential to help farmers produce more while conserving the environment. This book assembles some of the best work of top researchers from academic and industrial institutions in the area of NUE and provides valuable insight to scholars and researchers by its comprehensive discussion of current and future strategies to improve NUE through genetic manipulation. This book should also be highly valuable to policy makers, environmentalists, farmers, biotechnology executives, and to the hard-core researchers working in the lab.

This edited book provides a comprehensive overview of modern strategies in fruit crop breeding in the era of climate change and global warming. It demonstrates how advances in plant molecular and genomics-assisted breeding can be utilized to produce improved fruit crops with climate-smart traits. Agriculture is facing a number of challenges in the 21st century, as it has to address food, nutritional, energy and environmental security. Future fruit varieties must be adaptive to the varying scenarios of climate change, produce higher yields of high-quality food, feed, and fuel and have multiple uses. To achieve these goals, it is imperative to employ modern tools of molecular breeding, genetic engineering and genomics for 'precise' plant breeding to produce 'designed' fruit crop varieties. This book is of interest to scientists working in the fields of plant genetics, genomics, breeding, biotechnology, and in the disciplines of agronomy and horticulture.

The secretory activity of plants is a manifestation of the fundamental property of all living organisms: the ability to exchange substances and energy with the environment. This book summarizes today's knowledge of all such secretory activities of higher plants. It equally considers the cellular aspects, intratissular and external secretion, gas excretion and the excretion of substances under extreme conditions as well as the biological effects of plant excreta. The first edition of the book was published in Russian in Moscow in 1989 (Nauka Publishing House), then the English larger variant - in Heidelberg-Berlin 1993 (Springer-Verlag).

Works cited in this useful survey are appropriate for students, librarians, and amateur and professional botanists. These encompass the plant kingdom in all its divisions and aspects, except those of agriculture, horticulture, and gardening. The majority of the annotations are for currently available in-print or electronic reference works. A comprehensive author/title and a separate subject index make locating specific entries simple. With materials ranging from those selected for the informed layperson to those for the specialist, this new edition reflects the momentous transition from print to electronic information resources. It is an appropriate purchase for public, college, university, and professional libraries.

"Plant Chemical Genomics: Methods and Protocols ," expert researchers in the field detail many of the techniques used for identification of bioactive compounds from a large selection of fields in plant biology including plant pathogenesis, immune responses, small RNA processing, endomembrane trafficking, lipids, plant hormone signaling and cell wall. The presentation of these and other examples as well as synthetic chemistry, computation and target identification provides a comprehensive overview of the practical aspects of chemical biology that are possible in plant systems. Small molecules and natural products that produce a phenotype in plants have been known for decades. The agrichemical industry has utilized small molecules based on known natural molecules such as auxins, cytokinins, abscissic acid and other growth regulators. In recent years, the screening and characterization of novel small molecules has enhanced our understanding of protein function, metabolic, signaling and endomembrane pathways, and their interactions in basic plant research.

Written in the highly successful "Methods in Molecular Biology "series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Phytohormones are known to affect the growth and development of plant directly as well as indirectly. Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic phytohormone which induces systemic resistance in plants and also regulates defence responses. The derivatives of SA also play an important role in the regulation of various physiological and developmental processes in plants under normal and stressful environmental conditions. SA regulates seed germination, photosynthesis, ethylene biosynthesis, enzyme activities, nutrition, flowering, legume nodulation and overall growth and development of plant. Recently, advancement in elucidating the specific pathways of SA signal transduction has been noticed which helps in understanding the expression of specific genes associated with different developmental programs. The horizon of SA-mediated regulation of various physiological processes has also expanded, and various studies enumerating the efficacy of exogenously applied SA in practical agriculture have also been documented. Therefore, information regarding such recent developments needs to be compiled in the form of a book. This book aims to provide a collective information regarding SA which makes it a versatile plant growth regulator. The chapters included both theoretical and practical aspects that could be of immense use for researches and possible significant developments in future. It is intended that this book will be a help for students, teachers, and researchers, in understanding the relation between the phytohormone and agricultural sciences.

Since the publication of "The coconut palm - A monograph" in 1960, considerable information has been accrued on the crop through work at research institutes, international organisations and development agencies. Although coconut cultivation is spread over 93 countries, providing employment and creating livelihood opportunities to 64 million families around the globe, smallholder coconut farmers are now facing numerous challenges. The wide gap between the potential and actual yield is a major concern, and as such it is necessary to disseminate knowledge in order to implement research findings. Coconut research in India, one of the leading coconut producing countries, is celebrating its centenary, making this an opportune time to review the research and development advances and the relevant technologies. This detailed, comprehensive book covers all aspects of coconut, from the origins to cultivation, breeding, physiology and value addition, as well as subjects of topical interest like nutrition and health, biotechnology, and climate change and carbon sequestration. Written by leading experts in the fields it emphasises that the livelihood of the small coconut landholders is the ultimate aim of scientists and developmental agencies, and outlines various important strategies to make coconut farming more remunerative globally. It discusses work in all the major coconut growing countries and outlines suggestions for international cooperation. Research work on the crop is comparatively difficult because of its perennial nature, longevity, height, long juvenile phase, large sized nuts, cross pollination and seed propagation. As these special features necessitate greater investment of resources, time and land, it is all the more imperative that research is not duplicated and the information and experience becoming available around the world is shared so that it can be fully utilised. In this context periodic publications, compiling all the available information on coconut assume greater significance. This book is therefore of great value to researchers, students, extension workers, developmental agencies and progressive farmers.

Plants are endowed with innate immune system, which acts as a surveillance system against possible attack by pathogens. Plant innate immune systems have high potential to fight against viral, bacterial, oomycete and fungal pathogens and protect the crop plants against wide range of diseases. However, the innate immune system is a sleeping system in unstressed healthy plants. Fast and strong activation of the plant immune responses aids the host plants to win the war against the pathogens. Plant hormone signaling systems including salicylate (SA), jasmonate (JA), ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins and brassinosteroids signaling systems play a key role in activation of the sleeping immune systems. Suppression or induction of specific hormone signaling systems may result in disease development or disease resistance. Specific signaling pathway has to be activated to confer resistance against specific pathogen in a particular host. Two forms of induced resistance, systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and induced systemic resistance (ISR), have been recognized based on the induction of specific hormone signaling systems. Specific hormone signaling system determines the outcome of plant-pathogen interactions, culminating in disease development or disease resistance. Susceptibility or resistance against a particular pathogen is determined by the action of the signaling network. The disease outcome is often determined by complex network of interactions among multiple hormone signaling pathways. Manipulation of the complex hormone signaling systems and fine tuning the hormone signaling events would help in management of various crop diseases. The purpose of the book is to critically examine the potential methods to manipulate the multiple plant hormone signaling systems to aid the host plants to win the battle against pathogens.

This book will shed light on the effect of salt stress on plants development, proteomics, genomics, genetic engineering, and plant adaptations, among other topics. Understanding the molecular basis will be helpful in developing selection strategies for improving salinity tolerance. The book will cover around 25 chapters with contributors from all over the world.