In the decade following the publication of the first edition of Cellular Biology of the Uterus, advances in this field have been so rapid as to require not merely a revision of the earlier text but an essentially new volume. Even the title of the book has been changed, to Biology of the Uterus, to reflect the incorporation of more material based on classical anatomy and physiology. This histological and embryological information provides a necessary, though often lacking, background for the protein chemist and molecular biologist, and a bridge between biochemistry and biophysics, on the one hand, and clinical medicine, on the other. Thus, major practical problems in human reproduction, such as the mode of action of contraceptive agents and the cause of the initiation of labor, may be approached on a firm scientific footing. This text deals primarily with the biology of the uterus itself (comparative and human) rather than with placentation or pregnancy, and as such is a synthesis of data derived from many techniques, conventional and modern. Inasmuch as it is clearly beyond the competence of anyone scientist to prepare such a text on the basis of personal knowledge and experience, the aid of distinguished biologists from this country and abroad was enlisted. All of these authors, acknowledged experts in their respective fields, agreed to extensive revision of their chapters or preparation of entirely new contributions.

An introductory discussion of basic chromosome structure and function preceeds the main text on the application of cytogenetic approaches to the analysis of the manipulation of both the genetic make-up and the genetic transmission system of plant breeding material. Analysis using light and electron microscopy, segregations and molecular techniques, yields information for assessing the material before and after manipulation. Much attention is given to quantitative methods. Manipulation not only involves the construction of specific genotypes, but also chromosomal transmission systems. Although analysis and manipulation in the somatic cycle are considered, the focus is on the generative cycle, with emphasis on analysis and subsequent segregation of specifically constructed material. The book is intended for plant breeders and other scientists interested in the analysis and manipulation of breeding material at the chromosomal level. Comparisons with molecular and cell biological approaches are made, and the potential of the various methods is evaluated.

It would have been very easy to expand on all the sections of the first edition but I decided to try to retain the relatively short, introductory nature of the book. Some new material has been added, particularly where it has been possible to update data, and there has been some change of emphasis in places, in order to reflect changing world conditions. The book retains its original purpose, however, of introducing systems thinking as applied to agriculture. I am grateful to Angela Hoxey for help in preparing this edition, especially in relation to the preparation of tables and figures. C. R. W. SPEDDING v Preface to the First Edition The agricultural systems of the world represent a very large subject. Their study involves a great deal of fairly detailed knowledge, as well as a grasp of the structures and functions of the systems themselves. This book has been written as an introduction to such a study and it concentrates on an overall view, rather than on the detail, partly because of the need to relate the latter to some larger picture in order to appreciate the relevance and significance of the detail. This problem-of seeing the relevance of component studies and the significance of physical, biological and economic detail, and indeed principles-is encountered by many agricultural students right at the beginning of their university careers.

In evolutionary time scales natural disturbances have affected the vegetation on Earth. During the Quaternary the forest biomes of the tropics were subjected to manifold disturbances. Climate changes and climate oscillations were associated with changing precipitation and drought regimes, flooding, siltation, landslides, etc. The prehistorical forest was also influenced by the effects of large wildlife populations. Large-scale catastrophies in the forest biomes were mainly caused by abiotic environmental alterations, the small-scale disturbances were and still are related to both biotic and abiotic processes. Both the large-and the small-scale disturbances have played a significant role in shaping distribution, dynamics, structure and composition of the paleoforest. After the expansion of hominids and early humans, and later, by modern humans, the anthropogenic influences on the tropical forest began to overlap natural disturbances. Today's anthropogenic impacts on the tropical forests differ qualitatively and quanitatively from the natural disturbances. The speed of tropical deforestation and savannization is dramatically increasing. The physical and chemical impacts of forest conversion and biomass burning add to other anthropogenic influences on the atmosphere and climate. The expected anthropogenic climate change will also have considerable impacts on the tropical flora and fauna. The book on "Tropical Forests in Transition" synthesizes information on changing environmental conditions and human impacts on the tropical forest by looking back to the paleoecology, analyzing the impact of modern human populations and modeling the future of the tropical forest in a changing environment. The aim of the book is to strengthen multidisciplinary thinking in disturbance ecology.

In this volume experts present the latest status of mathematical and statistical methods in use for the analysis and modeling of plant disease epidemics. Topics treated are - methods in multivariate analyses, ordination and classification, - modeling of temporal and spatial aspects of air- and soilborne diseases, - methods to analyse and describe competition among subpopulations, e.g. pathogen races and - their interaction with resistance genes of host plants - assemblage and use of models - mathematical simulation of epidemics. New chapters on the modeling of the spreading of diseases in air and in soil are included in this second edition.

Cotton is a multipurpose crop and produces lint, the most important source of fiber used in the textile industry, oil, seed meal, and hulls.
Twenty-three chapters on various aspects of in vitro manipulation and other biotechnological approaches to the improvement of cotton are arranged in six sections. Special emphasis is placed on interspecific hybridization, somaclonal variation, transgenic cotton resistant to insects and herbicides, and re-engineering of fiber.
This book is of special interest to advanced students, teachers, and research workers in the field of cotton breeding, genetics, tissue culture, molecular biology, and plant biotechnology in general.

Chemicals inhibiting the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids form a new and promising class of herbicides. This volume discusses in an authoritative way recent developments in this field and covers important aspects of these potent herbicides (synthesis, structure-activity, mode of action, selectivity, weed resistance, metabolism).

The study of plant development in recent years has often been concerned with the effects of the environment and the possible involvement of growth substances. The prevalent belief that plant growth substances are crucial to plant development has tended to obscure rather than to clarify the underlying cellular mechanisms of development. The aim in this book is to try to focus on what is currently known, and what needs to be known, in order to explain plant development in terms that allow further experimentation at the cellular and molecular levels. We need to know where and at what level in the cell or organ the critical processes controlling development occur. Then, we will be better able to under stand how development is controlled by the genes, whether directly by the continual production of new gene transcripts or more indirectly by the genes merely defining self-regulating systems that then function autonomously. This book is not a survey of the whole of plant development but is meant to concentrate on the possible component cellular and molecular processes involved. Consequently, a basic knowledge of plant structure is assumed. The facts of plant morphogenesis can be obtained from the books listed in the General Reading section at the end of Chapter 1. Although references are not cited specifically in the text, the key references for each section are denoted by superscript numbers and listed in the Notes section at the end of each chapter."

Lord Rutherford has said that all science is either physics or stamp collecting. On that basis the study of forest biomass must be classified with stamp collecting and other such pleasurable pursuits. Japanese scientists have led the world, not only in collecting basic data, but in their attempts to systematise our knowledge of forest biomass. They have studied factors affecting dry matter production of forest trees in an attempt to approach underlying phYf'ical principles. This edition of Professor Satoo's book has been made possible the help of Dr John F. Hosner and the Virginia Poly technical Institute and State University who invited Dr Satoo to Blacksburg for three months in 1973 at about the time when he was in the final stages of preparing the Japanese version. Since then the explosion of world literature on forest biomass has continued to be fired by increasing shortages of timber supplies in many parts of the world as well as by a need to explore renewable sources of energy. In revising the original text I have attempted to maintain the input of Japanese work - much of which is not widely available outside Japan - and to update both the basic information and, where necessary, the conclusions to keep them in tune with current thinking. Those familiar with the Japanese original will find Chapter 3 largely rewritten on the basis of new work - much of which was initiated while Dr Satoo was in Blacksburg.

"Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology" contains timely review articles concerned with all aspects of chemical contaminants (including pesticides) in the total environment, including toxiological considerations and consequences. It attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of advances, philosophy, and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of residues of these and other foreign chemicals in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

The field of the molecular basis of plant disease is rapidly developing. The nineteen chapters of current information in Molecular Strategies of Pathogens and Host Plants are written by well known experts in the United States and Japan, and cover recent progress in the genetics and molecular biology of bacteria and fungi which are pathogens of plants. This research emphasizes the genes which are responsible for production of toxins, enzymes, and hormones that lead to pathogenicity and specificity in plant-pathogen interactions. Several chapters also examine the biochemistry of the plant's response to microbial attack.

The increasing use of biotechnology for the improvement of agricultural crop species has gained momentum, and recent developments (see Crops J) have shown beyond doubt the far-reaching implications of biotechnological approaches for future agricultural research and plant- breeding programs. The production of novel plants and somaclones showing resistance to pests, diseases, herbicides, and salt and the early release of disease-free as well as improved cultivars have become reality. The present volume comprises 31 chapters and deals with the impor- tance, distribution, conventional propagation, micropropagation, and methods for the in-vitro induction of genetic variability in various fruits, vegetables, grasses, and pasture crops such as grapes, strawberry, brambles, red raspberry, currants, gooseberry, kiwifruit, blueberry, cran- berry, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cucumber, chico- ry, taro, rhubarb, lettuce, spinach, quinoa, kale, fescue, bromegrass, Ber- mudagrass, napier grass, foxtail millet, turtle grass and others. (The cere- als and other vegetable crops are discussed in Crops J, Vol. 2 of the series). Micropropagation of some fruit crops such as strawberry, grape, and raspberry is already being practiced on a large scale in various countries. Likewise, test-tube-derived plants of certain crops such as brassicas, let- tuce, and taro and improved pastures are being utilized, while the technology for mass propagation of certain other crops is being worked out. These recent developments emphasize the urgent need to arouse awareness among horticultural scientists and plant breeders to enable them to incorporate these modern innovative approaches into routine crop improvement programs.

Books dealing with climatic change are commonplace, as are those concerned with effects of environmental stresses on plants. The present volume distinguishes itself from earlier publications by highlighting several interrelated environmental stresses that are changing in intensity as the climate warms in response to the accumulation of 'greenhouse' gases. The stresses examined at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop upon which this book is based include atmospheric pollutants, flooding and sub mergence, drought and cold. In future, successful farming or landscape management will ultimately depend on strategies that offset the effects of these and other environmental constraints, while exploiting more favourable features. However, the to predicted speed of climate change may exceed the rate at which new approaches farming, forestry, landscape management and genetic conservation can be developed through experience and retroactive response. The alternative is to anticipate future needs and thus identify appropriate management and legislative strategies by research and discussion. The contents of this volume contribute to these vital processes, upon which the productivity of agroecosystems and conservation of natural ecosystems may increasingly depend. Those with any lingering doubts concerning the gravity of the likely future situation are especially encouraged to read the opening chapter. For convenience, chapters discussing pollution, flooding, drought and cold are grouped in separate sections. However, many authors have taken care to emphasise that interactions between the changing combinations of stresses pose particular problems for plants and plant communities."

Plants are a major source of medicines, flavors, fragrances, and various pharmaceutical and industrial products. Biotechnology is being put to the service for mass clonal propagation of plants, and to produce impor- tant secondary products in cell cultures. In some cases cell cultures ac- cumulate higher amounts of products than the intact plant cells in situ, and such cultures can be stored through immobilization and cryopreser- vation. An in vitro-produced anti-inflammatory drug, shikonin, has been commercialized, and the recent observations on the increased pro- duction of atropine and hyoscyamine by Agrobacterium rhizogenes- mediated transformed "hairy roots" have encouraged the acceptance of such biotechnologies by the pharmaceutical industry. In an earlier volume, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants I, various aspects of in-vitro culture of cells, bioreactors, micropropagation, im- mobilization, and cryopreservation were discussed. The present volume concerns the application of these biotechnologies to 29 genera of medicinal and aromatic plants. It deals with the distribution, economic importance, conventional propagation, micro propagation, review of tissue culture studies, and the in-vitro production of important medicinal and pharmaceutical compounds in various species of Angelica, Anisodus, Basel/a, Bupleurum, Camellia, Co ix, Coptis, Cryp- tomeria, Datura, Dioscorea, Foeniculum, Gardenia, Geigeria, Heimia, Humulus, Hyoscyamus, Jasminum, Macleaya, Mucuna, Nicotiana, Pimpinel/a, Rauwolfia, Ruta, Salvia, So/anum, Saponaria, Stevia, Tabernaemontana, and Zingiber. The potential role of biotechnology for industrial production is discussed. Biotechnology enables the production and isolation of products of higher purity and also opens the possibility of making desired molecular alterations in products.

The biomedical community often complains of the crowded schedule of important meetings to be attended. It was thus with some reser vations when the individuals participating in this conference accepted the invitation to attend a small gathering to discuss the "Comparative Pathophysiology of Circulatory Disturbances," held over three days in November, 1971. At the end of it they had changed their minds and were enthusiastic over the wisdom to hold meetingsof this kind. The conference was conceived some years earlier when it was apparent to the conveners that little opportunity exists in the common mammoth meetings to exchange detailed information and, p- haps more importantly, to transmit points of view between scientists of different disciplines. In particular, the voice of veterinarians and comparative biologists is not often heard by medical investigators, and vice versa. Thus, many animal models exist in nature whose investigative exploitation might make important contributions to an understanding of human disease, yet they are unknown to medical scientists. Conversely, veterinarians are often not aware of the needs of such models and their recognition is often delayed unduly. This conference, attended by investigators of various back grounds was called to help correct these deficiencies, at least in a small segment of study, that concerned with circulatory pathophysiology."

Modern forest products research had its start hardly fifty years ago. Today we are in a position to apply the title "wood science" to the field of wood technology that is based on scientific investigation, theoretical as well as experimental. It is this research that fosters new uses for wood as a raw material and that creates the foundation for new industries for the manufacture of wood-base materials such as plywood, laminated products, particle and fiber board and sand wich construction. Wood technology in its broadest sense combines the disciplines of wood anatomy, biology, chemistry, physics and mechanical technology. It is through this interdisciplinary approach that progress has been made in wood seasoning, wood preservation methods, wood machining, surfacing and gluing, and in the many other processes applied in its utilization. In 1936 the senior author published a book entitled, "Technologie des Holzes," which was a first approach to a universal reference book on wood technology. The first edition of Volume I of the Textbook of Wood Technology, co-authored by H. P. BROWN, A. J. P AN SHIN, and C. C. FORSAITH, was published in 1948. An indication of the rapid development of this field can be gained from the fact that the second edition of "Technologie des Holzes und der Holzwerkstoffe," completely revised, was needed by 1951. It contains 2233 pages compared with the 764 pages of the 1936 edition."

Presenting an analysis of the water relationships of the major groups of organisms: fungi, plants and animals, the text examines water stress at all levels of biological organization. Topics covered include: 1) organic osmotic agents: their distributions, modes of action, and mechanisms of regulation; 2) desiccation stress; mechanisms for preserving cellu lar integrity under conditions of low cellular water activity; 3) water stress and water compartmentation in plants; and 4) freezing stress: the prevention and regulation of ice formation in biological fluids, and mechanisms for overcoming the damaging effects of low temperatures on cellular integrity. Common adaptive strategies in diverse organisms are emphasized, as well as the fundamental physical-chemical properties of aqueous solutions that establish the nature of the interactions among water, low molecular weight solutes and macromolecules.

The aim of this work is to check the possibility of substantial energy savings in the European agricultural mechanisation. In this analytical survey the possibilities of energy saving in stationary plants nor the indirect savings in chemical inputs are considered. The analysis has been essentially bibliographical, without any direct experimental analysis. After some general considerations on the European farming structure and the present energy requirements of the sector, ,the European agricultural machines and tractors industry is outlined. At the start of this analytical survey, the working schemes and the energy requirements are examined for the different crops. The evolution of tractor manufacturing and the derived machines is also surveyed, gathering the specific implements into the main groups: tractors (and derived machines); soil tillage machines, intercultivation machines and harvesting machines. The evolution and the energy saving potential in tractors and farming machines management is examined and the actions for development are outlined.

Modem Methods of Plant Analysis When the handbook Modern Methods of Plant Analysis was first introduced in 1954 the considerations were: 1. the dependence of scientific progress in biology on the improvement of existing and the introduction of new methods; 2. the difficulty in finding many new analytical methods in specialized journals which are normally not accessible to experimental plant biologists; 3. the fact that in the methods sections of papers the description of methods is frequently so compact, or even sometimes so incomplete that it is difficult to reproduce experiments. These considerations still stand today. The series was highly successful, seven volumes appearing between 1956 and 1964. Since there is still today a demand for the old series, the publisher has decided to resume pUblication of Modern Methods of Plant Analysis. It is hoped that the New Series will be just as acceptable to those working in plant sciences and related fields as the early volumes undoubtedly were. It is difficult to single out the major reasons for success of any publication, but we believe that the methods published in the first series were up-to-date at the time and presented in a way that made description, as applied to plant material, complete in itself with little need to consult other publications. Contributing autllors have attempted to follow these guidelines in this New Series of volumes.

With one new volume each year, this series keeps scientists and advanced students informed of the latest developments and results in all areas of botany. The present volume includes reviews on structural botany, plant physiology, genetics, taxonomy, and geobotany.

This volume arises from an International Symposium on Flow and Transport in the Natural Environment held in Canberra, Australia, in September 1987. The meeting was hosted by the CSIRO Division of Environmental Mechanics (now the Centre for Environmental Mechanics) to mark the opening of the second stage of its headquarters, the F.C. Pye Field Environment Laboratory, twenty-one years after the opening of the first stage. Those twenty-one years have seen much progress in our understanding of the physics of the natural environment and the occasion provided an ideal opportunity to review advances in our knowledge of flow and transport phenomena, particularly with regard to flow and transport in soils, plants and the atmosphere. The contents of this volume are based very closely on the Symposium's program. Undoubtedly, our choices of topics were idiosyncratic, but we believe that those we have selected exhibit progress, innovation, and much scope for practical application. Rather than being encyclopaedic, we have sought to deal with thirteen selected topics in depth.

Two aspects of the biotechnology of medicinal and aromatic plants are of immediate application. (1) Micropropagation under controlled germ- free conditions which enables their fast multiplication and availability throughout the year irrespective of external environment - this is specially useful for elite and rare plants. (2) A large-scale culture and low-temperature storage of cells enables retention of their biosynthetic potential for the production of important secondary metabolites, med- icines, flavours and other pharmaceutical products. This book has been compiled with a view to bringing together information and literature on the biotechnology and the present state of the art of plant cell cultures for their potential use in the pharmaceutical industry. This volume comprises 29 chapters on the biotechnology of med- icinal and aromatic plants grouped into three sections, (1) microprop- agation, immobilization, cryopreservation, bioreactors, production of secondary metabolites and their impact in pharmacy, (2) production through cell cultures of antitumour compounds, lrDopa, shikonin, an- thraquinone, morphinan alkaloids, caffeine, berberine, valeoptriates, rosmarinic acid, quinine, tropanes, hypoxoside, ellipticine, paeoniflorin, saponins, cardenolides etc, and (3) distribution, economic importance, conventional propagation, review of the tissue culture work on micropropagation and the in vitro production of compounds of medicinal and pharmaceutical interest in various species of Cannabis, Centaurium, Cinchona, Digitalis, Duboisia, Hypoxia, Lithospermum, Ochrosia, Paeonia, Panax, Papavar, Rehmannia, Rhamnus and Rhaza.

"Instead of dirt and poison we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnisning mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light." Mindful of Swift's dictum, this compilation is offered as an exhaustive coverage of a smallish literature on the synthesis and secretion of beeswax, its elaboration into combs and the factors which bear on the execution of these processes by honeybees. To codify any aspect of the biology of an animal of agricultural importance is to sift through myriad observations and experiments, centuries old, that come down to us enshrouded in the folk literature. It is evident that wars and languages have also acted as barriers to the dissemination of knowledge about honeybees. Thus, particular care has been given to the primacy of discovery and its con textual significance. I have endeavoured to not over-interpret data and to allow the authors' works to speak for themselves. I have also tried to indicate some of the more obvious gaps in our knowledge of honeybees in relation to wax and to suggest some directions as to where we might proceed, aided by discoveries made on other animals and plants. This was done to remind the seasoned bee-hand of our general neglect of beeswax biology, historically constituting less than a percentage point of the apicultural literature."

The change in greenhouse operation and technology in the last 20 years has been unprecedented. Photoperiodic control, mist propagation, green house cooling, clean stock programs, CO injection, to name a few, have 2 all been inaugurated as regular greenhouse practices in this time. The introduction of new markets, new production centers, shifts in public attitudes, and the realization that greenhouse production is not simply growing crops, but the management of an enterprise in which people work, h ve combined to make this agricultural practice a challenging and rewarding vocation. The greenhouse grower, manager, and student who are training for this vocation have not had an up-to-date text book for many years. It has been our goal to bring both published and unpublished work together in this book, and to provide a bench mark from which we can continue to move forward. It is not until a process of writing a text begins that one fully realizes how far we have come-and where we need to go. It is with some sadness that we realize that this book is not likely to remain long as an expression of the state-of-the-art. We do not expect it to be easy reading; for new terms, new technology, and new ways of doing things are not always easy."