The series of books on the biotechnology of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants provides a survey of the literature, focusing on recent information and the state of the art in tissue culture and the in vitro production of secondary metabolites. This book, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants VII, like the previous six volumes published in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1994, is unique in its approach. It comprises 28 chapters dealing with the distribu- tion, importance, conventional propagation, micro propagation, tissue culture studies, and the in vitro production of important medicinal and pharmaceutical compounds in various species of Aesculus, Althaea, Baptisia, Berberis, Beta, Bowiea, Camp to theca, Chrysanthellum, Citrus, Claviceps, Coleonema, Dianthus, Dunaliella, Epimedium, Euphorbia, Forsythia, Gomphrena, Larix, Lobelia, Medicago, Papaver, Phytolacca, Pueraria, Santalum, Santolina, Sapium, Tabebuia, and Tripterygium. This book is tailored to the needs of advanced students, teachers, and research scientists in the field of pharmacy, plant tissue culture, phytochemistry, biochemical engineering, and plant biotechnology in general. New Delhi, July 1994 Professor Y. P. S. BAJAJ Series Editor Contents I Aesculus hippocastanum L. (Horse Chestnut): In Vitro Culture and Production of Aescin P. GASTALDO, A. M. CAVIGLIA, and P. PROFUMO (With 7 Figures) 1 General Account ...1 ...2 In Vitro Culture Studies ...4 3 Summary and Conclusions ...10 4 Protocol...11 References ...11 II Althaea officinalis L. (Marshmallow): In Vitro Culture and the Production of Biologically Active Compounds I. IONKovA and A. W. ALFERMANN (With 10 Figures) 1 General Account...13 ...2 Biotechnological Approaches...21 .

The idea of Volums 4 and 5 of this series is a combination of a very condensed but broad review, handbook and textbook on most of the theoretical and practical aspects of pyrethroids of interest to chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, toxicologists and other people involved in insecticidal research, development, ecotoxicolo gy, application, patenting and commercialization of pyrethroids, as seen from a point of view of an industrial chemist once actively in volved in pyrethroid research. In order to provide a mode1 data base for testing quantitative structure activity relationships, the unique wealth of the numerous and diverse biological data dispersed in the literature is listed in about 110 tables, put in relation to each other and other standard compounds, together with many structural formulas of the com pounds involved. A number of data are published for the first time. Some of the more important reeent QSAR-studies are briefly acknowledged. Conformational aspects of bioactive pyrethroids are discussed (from synthesis, QSAR, X-ray); some of the X-ray derived conformations are published for the first time. The molecular basis of pyrethroid biological action is taken into consideration as intensively as possible. Stereochemical aspects are considered wherever they are involved in synthesis, biological activity, mode of action, metabolism (Vol. 4), and particularly in the complex problems in the production and relation of iso merically enriched trade products (Vol. 5). Since pyrethroid research is now, in manyaspeets, a finished chapter of applied research, a historieal treatment of the course of inventions is given (inventions, patent priorities).

This volume characterizes the current state of natural science and socioeconomic modeling of the impacts of climate change and current climate variability on forests, grasslands, and water. It identifies what can be done currently with impact assessments and suggests how to undertake such assessments. Impediments to linking biophysical and socioeconomic models into integrated assessments for policy purposes are identified, and recommendations for future research activities to improve the state of the art and remove these impediments to model integration are provided. This book is for natural and social scientists with an interest in the impacts of climate change on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their socioeconomic impacts, and policy makers interested in understanding the status of current assessment capabilities and in identifying priority areas for future research.

Silvology is the general science of forest ecosystems, without the usual division between Man and Nature. This systematic treatment of forests intends to integrate and harmonize existing approaches with the help of systems modeling in a hierarchy of close system levels, according to criteria of biological architecture, biomass production and species composition. Scientists and practitioners will appreciate this synoptic treatment of forests and their ecology, allowing the balance of holistic and reductionist viewpoints, and the placement of phenomena and techniques. Topics covered include: - introduction of the methods, - sections on forest organisms, - a special chapter on trees, - eco-units, i.e. forest ecosystems developing after some zero-event like fire, storm or waterlogging, - silvatic mosaics built by the eco-units of different size, architecture and species composition, - a summary of silvological rules determining system's behaviour at every level, e.g. fragmentation and fusion, transfer of functions, irreversibility and process oscillation.

H. BINDING and J. REINERT In collaboration with the first authors of this volume This volume is devoted to the development of cell clones and plants from ma nipulated cells: isolated protoplasts, cell fusion bodies, and transformed cells. Isolated protoplasts represent cells which are liberated from their walls and separated from the differentiation pattern of the organism. Investigations on re generation from protoplasts provide a better understanding of the process and control of developmental pathways. Whereas protoplast isolation results in alteration of the state of differentiation of a cell, protoplast fusion is a means for the creation of cells with novel genetic constitution. Fascinating features are (1) to hybridize cells which-unlike gametes -did not derive from meiosis products, (2) to bring together foreign plastids and mitochondria and to investigate their parasexual reactions, and (3) to match ge netic traits which had been separated for long periods of evolution. Highly sophisticated techniques have already been elaborated for the transfer of genes by the use of isolated DNA and gene transfer systems. Highly promising results have already been obtained by the use of Ti plasmids of Agrobacterium, but direct DNA transformation is also proving to be useful. Most of the results in these areas are preliminary and/or limited to a few sys tem.lt is the aim of this volume to present the main features, but at the same time to draw attention to problems and perspectives of protoplast regeneration and so matic cell genetics in order to stimulate further investigations."

27 chapter cover the distribution, economic importance, conventional propagation, micropropagation, tissue culture, and in vitro production of important medicinal and pharmaceutical compounds in various species of Ajuga, Allium, Ambrosia, Artemisia, Aspilia, Atractylodes, Callitris, Choisya, Cinnamomum, Coluria, Cucumis, Drosera, Daucus, Eustoma, Fagopyrum, Hibiscus, Levisticum, Onobrychis, Orthosiphon, Quercus, Sanguinaria, Solanum, Sophora, Stauntonia, Tanecetum, Vetiveria, and Vitis. Like the previous volumes 4, 7, 15, and 21 in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants series, the volume is tailored to the need of advanced students, teachers, and research scientists in the area of plant biotechnology andbioengineering, pharmacy, botany and biochemistry.

"Forests in Development: A Vital Balance," shows some of the main advances in forestry over the six years spanning between the XII World Forestry Congress in Canada and the XIII WFC held in Buenos Aires. The book covers most of the themes of the XIII WFC, from biodiversity through production, policies, environmental services, and economic aspects, linked by sustainability. It provides a comprehensive view of forestry today, conveying its different aspects through one solid piece addressed by authors whose work denotes a concept of sustainable forest management which is not so much a puzzle laboriously put together as a many-faced unity, steered to achieve ultimately a better quality of living for present and future generations.

Insect pest control has continuously evolved from inorganics to botanicals, to chlo- rinated hydrocarbons, to organophosphorus compounds and methylcarbamates, then synthetic pyrethroids and most recently synthetic nicotinoids as the major classes. These insecticides allowed high standards of crop protection at minimal cost. A limitation in each new class of compounds is the selection of resistant strains and ultimate control failures and this serves as a driving force to discover and develop replacement compounds to circumvent resistance and overcome problem areas. The nicotinoids now play a critical role in meeting this need. Three generations of chemicals are involved in the history of nicotinoid insecti- cides. The first generation was the botanical nicotine used for at least three centuries to control sucking insect pests but largely replaced in the 1940s and 1950s by the more effective organophosphorus compounds and methylcarbamates, some with systemic properties. Synthesis programs based on nicotine as a prototype did not yield compounds that could compete with other synthetic insecticides. The second generation was the nitromethylene type such as nithiazine, discovered by Shell sci- entists in a screening/optimization program. The nitromethylenes had the potency, selectivity, and systemic properties but lacked the field effectiveness largely because of photolability (so close yet so far from a major commercial product). The third generation required a series of advances made by Bayer researchers starting from nithiazine as the model and enhancing its photostability and potency with a nitroimine and chloropyridyl moiety, respectively, to give imidacloprid, the subject of much of this monograph.

One of the United States Food and Drug Administration's most difficult tasks is the assessment of risk-benefit ratios for a broad spectrum of therapeutic and prophylactic drugs. Furthermore, it is now widely recog nized that no drug, chemical or even natural substance is completely devoid of risk. Nowhere has this issue been the subject of more controversy than with steroidal contraceptive drugs. Regulated as a special class of products because of their prophylactic use in healthy individuals for prevention of pregnancy rather than for treatment of disease, steroid contraceptives drugs undergo more extensive animal safety tests than any other pharmaceutical agent. This view also contemplates the availability of alternative contraceptive measures posing fewer risks, but the use of less effective methods must take into consideration the hazards associated with pregnancy itself. In April 1983, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Insti tutes of Health in cooperation with the World Health Organization, the Population Council, and the Agency for International Development sponsored a three-day workshop to evaluate current guidelines for preclinical safety studies of contraceptive drugs in light of our extensive knowledge of the side effects of marketed products. The meeting included presenta tions by experts in the fields of comparative metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, carcinogenicity, toxicology, coagulation, lipid metabolism, epidemiology and pathology at a meeting of the Fertility and Maternal Health Drugs Advisory Committee of the National Center for Drugs and Biologics, Food and Drug Administration."

In order to produce a superior scholarly treatise in bio medical science, three important conditions need to be met. First, the subject needs to be of recognized importance and preferably one in which a sizeable volume of new knowledge has been added recently. Second, it needs to be quite evident that the field involved re quires much more up-to-date coverage than it has received and third, the choice of the editors and in turn the authors needs to be recognized as outstanding. This major treatise fills these criteria in an admirable way. There are few who would deny the importance of knowledge concerning the circulatory system. This all pervasive system is the route by which virtually all of the cells and tissues of the body receive their nutrition and it is the major route by which metabolic waste products are carried away. Furthermore, the diseases that involve the circulatory system are, by far, the underlying causes of death and morbidity in the largest number of Americans, Western Europeans and several other populations of industrialized nations. Not only is atherosclerosis-induced-ischemic disease of the heart, brain and extremities widespread in these populations but venous occlusive disease also takes a great toll from phlebothrombosis, pulmonary embolism, etc.

One of the most significant challenges facing mankind in the twenty-first century is the development of a sustainable global economy. Within the scientific community, this calls for the development of processes and technologies that will allow the sustainable production of materials from renewable natural resources. Plant material, in particular lignin, is one such resource. During the annual production of about 100 million metric tons of chemical wood pulps worldwide, approximately 45 and 2 million metric tons/year of kraft lignin and lignosulfonates, respectively, are also generated. Although lignosulfonates have found many applications outside the pulp and paper industry, the majority of kraft lignin is being used internally as a low-grade fuel for the kraft pulping operation. A surplus of kraft lignin will become available as kraft mills increase their pulp production without expanding the capacity of their recovery boilers that utilize lignin as a fuel. There is a tremendous opportunity and an enormous economic incentive to find better uses of kraft lignin, lignosulfonates and other industriallignins. The pulp and paper industry not only produces an enormous amount of lignins as by products of chemical wood pulps, but it also utilizes about 10 million metric tons of lignin per year as a component of mechanical wood pulps and papers. Mechanical wood pulps, produced in a yield of 90-98% with the retention of lignin, are mainly used to make low-quality, non-permanent papers such as newsprint and telephone directories because of the light-induced photooxidation of lignin and the yellowing of the papers.

The topics in this volume explore the etiology, cellular mechanisms, epidemiology, genetics, models and potential therapeutic measures for the blinding diseases of retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Special focus is highlighted in the areas of Mechanisms of Photoreceptor Degeneration and Cell Death (extremely important because very little is known how or why photoreceptors die in these diseases, despite an abundance of genetic information), Age-Related Macular Degeneration (with several novel approaches to its analysis), Usher Syndrome (the most severe form of retinitis pigmentosa, which includes an early or congenital loss of hearing along with blindness), and Gene Therapy. In addition, the section on Basic Science Related to Retinal Degeneration is particularly strong with several laboratories reporting on new discoveries in the area of outer segment phagocytosis, a key component of photoreceptor-retinal pigment epithelial cell interactions in normal and degenerating retinas.

During the course of the developnent of most areas of scien- tific research certain events occur that serve to bring a particular area into focus. We feel that this symposilHll volume serves that role with regard to the study of the reproductive biology of amphib- ians. The collection of vnrks contained in this volume provides an excellent review of a diversity of past contributions to this field of investigation and brings together in one volume the major ap- proaches that have been utilized to study amphibian reproductive biology. The work emphasizes recently-completed studies and therefore can be considered to be an up-to-date account of the field. Equally signif icant, however, the contributors to this volume have excelled in pointing out directions for future research that will be of im- mense value in integrating the component parts of reproductive bi- ology, i.e., genetics, developnental biology, physiology, behavior, and ecology, into an eVOlutionary framework.

In the conflict between logging as a material resource and preservation the forests are becoming depleted throughout the world and this depletion is aggravated by the effects of air pollution. The concept of utilization is thus now being expanded to include vital societal values. These issues are nowhere more acute than in Central and Eastern Europe, where obsolete, poorly maintained industrial plant is common. Air pollutant levels are so high that one area has been called the Black Triangle. Timber is required in this region as a building material and logging for fuelwood is practised, giving rise to a complex linkage between industry, energy supply, deforestation, agriculture, value-added forestry products and economic development. This book presents current information on national and regional issues relating to environmental threats to forest land, focusing on: ecology, environment and science; forest ownership and management; forest product utilization; government and public agency roles. The recommendations, action items and the human network needed for regional-level implementation are detailed in `situation', `position' and `state of the art' papers. The final objective is to develop a plan of action to help abate the negative impacts while sustaining or expanding the forests, the economy and the energy sufficiency of the region.

The authoritative overviews in this volume provide a wealth of practical information on current approaches to the study of insect-plant interactions. Methods described include direct behavioral observation; assays of host finding, oviposition, and feeding behavior of insect herbivores; post-ingestion physiological effects; measurement of food quality and sensory responses of insects to plant stimuli; chemical isolation and identification of active phytochemicals; evaluation of plant resistance to insects; and the biochemistry of allelochemic interactions.

Tree based production systems abound especially in the tropics. Despite the pervasiveness of such multipurpose trees-outside-forest resources, they have not attracted adequate attention in the development paradigms of many nation states. These multispecies production systems impact the ecosystem processes favourably. Yet, our understanding of the diversity attributes and carbon dynamics under agroforestry is not adequate. This book focuses on the role of multispecies production systems involving tree and crop species as a means for carbon sequestration and thereby reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Sixteen chapters organized into three broad sections titled: Measurement and Estimation, Agrobiodiversity and Tree Management, and Policy and Socioeconomic Aspects represent a cross section of the opportunities and challenges in current research and emerging issues in harnessing carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry systems. "

Fruit flies are enormously important economic pests, as California has learned over the past few years (remember the Mediterranean Fruit Fly?). The problem is expected to get worse, and issues of both basic research and control measures are very important for this pest. This book is the edited, camera-ready proceedings of a recent international symposium on fruit flies of economic importance. It covers current knowledge of fruit fly physiology, genetics, morphology and behavior. It discusses action programs for controlling and using fruit flies in agronomy, as well as the problem of fruit flies in the fruit growing industry.

Nitrogen Fixation by symbiotic organisms is considered an important contribution to the solution of food problems throughout the world. For manyyears, Chinese scientists have focused their research in this area. Today more than half of the total nitrogen fertilizers applied are from biological fixation sources. The editor is an international renowned scientist at the Chinese Academy of sciences. He has brought together contributions from various research fields in China and Europe.Together they present the state-of-the-art in nitrogen-fixation research. The studies range from actino- mycete fixation induced in various genera andspecies of plants, mechanisms and chemical modeling of enzyme systems togenetical engineering of organisms.

The papers in this volume were presented at the Symposium on Steroid Hormone Receptor Systems held October 18-20, 1978, at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Mass. The meeting was organized to review, discuss, and disseminate new knowledge about the regulation and function of the receptor proteins which mediate estrogen, progestin, glucocorticoid, and androgen action. The symposium brought together leading scientists whose interests span the spectrum of biological organization. On this occasion, Drs. Elwood V. Jensen and Etienne E. Baulieu were honored as recipients of the Tenth Annual Gregory Pincus l1emorial Award for their pioneering studies of steroid hormone receptors. The material covered in this book focuses on the molecular mechanisms which control receptor site availability and function. The topics discussed include recent work on receptor antibodies, antiestrogen action, receptor heterogeneity, nuclear binding and processing of receptor, receptor activation and inactivation mechan isms, interactions between receptor systems, influence of biological rhythms, membrane binding sites, and the evolution of steroid-bind ing proteins. Although studies on steroid receptors have led to the development of new approaches for cancer therapy and contraception, much remains to be discovered in this rapidly expanding field. Hope fully, this book will provide added impetus to the quest for a full understanding of steroid receptor systems by drawing attention to the unresolved questions yet to be answered. Hhile the book is intended primarily for those interested in hormone action, it should be of value to a more general audience including cell, molecular, and developmental biologists."

This book arose from a meeting held at the University of Washington, Seattle, in July of 1986. The meeting was a satellite symposium of the XXXth International Congress of Physiological Sciences which occurred in Vancouver, canada, at that time. 2 Adjustments in the cytoplasmic Ca ] concentration of cells occur in response to a variety of external signals. These fluctuations are a cen tral component of one mechanism by which cells adapt their activities to changes in the external environment and to the requirements of whole body 2 homeostatic mechanisms. It is now clear that redistribution of Ca + within 2 intracellular compartments, as well as changes in the rates of Ca + influx and extrusion at the whole cell level, occur during signal-dependent 2 changes in the cytoplasmic Ca + concentration. In summarizing current research in this area, this volume considers first the properties of indi vidual cation transporting activities located in various cell membranes. It then moves to the cellular level, where the consequence of individual transporting activities acting in concert is examined. l D.phasis is also 2 p1 aced on pa tho1 ogica1 conditions which resu1 t in loss of cell Ca + regu1 a tion as a part of the disease process. We hope that this approach will help the reader to integrate developments in this large and rapdi1y changing fie1 d."

The newest installment in this superb series presents descriptions of the latest DNA recombinants molecule technology. The text combines reports on basic research in genetics with discussions of specific new industrial applications (as well as refinements of older ones) that are likely to prove highly profitable in the years to come.

Experts in herbicide research and development - chemists and plant physiologists -, have written 15 chapters that review all aspects pertinent to peroxidizing herbicides, compounds of topical interest since extremely low use rates ensure high environmental safety. Topics covered include structure-activity relationships, relevant patent literature, preparative methods, modes of action, greenhouse screening, laboratory assays, plant pigment biochemistry, and enzymology of the decisive target enzyme of this class of herbicides. This comprehensive review will be welcomed as a unique and timely compilation of the current status of peroxidizing herbicide research and development. It will be of interest to professional chemists and biologists in agrochemical companies, universities and agricultural colleges.

An extraordinary development of the knowledge, concepts and biomedical applications has occurred during the past two decades in the biological sciences, including the Reticuloendothelial Sys- tem (RES). For example, it is now widely recognized that distinct classes of cells are involved in the recognition of "exogenous" invaders of the body such as microorg~nisms and other foreign an- tigens, as well as of "endogenous" parasites represented by trans- formed neoplastic cells and altered "self" antigens. Prominent among cell populations involved in such recognition of antigens and subsequent immune responses are those constituting the RES. In recent years, there has been much discussion and indeed contro- versy as to what constitutes such a system and even whether the term "RES" is appropriate. Some investigators feel that the phago- cytes are the most important cells of the RES as they playa major role in the defense mechanism of the host. Mononuclear phagocytes include tissue macrophages as well as circulating monocytes and their precursors. Although phagocytosis is a major functional ac- tivity, it is only one of their several functions. The important role of phagocytes and other mononuclear cells in antibody forma- tion, cell-mediated immunity, specific and non-specific resistance to microorganisms and tumor cells, as well as homeostatic adjust- ments in general has become the focus of attention for many inves- tigators.

Advances in Microbial Ecology was established by the International Commis sion on Microbial Ecology to provide a vehicle for in-depth, critical, and, it is hoped, provocative reviews on aspects of both applied and basic microbial ecol ogy. In the five years of its existence, Advances has achieved recognition as a major source of information and inspiration both for practicing and f"

During the 1970s and 1980s, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis, Bong. Carr. ) was planted extensively on northern Vancouver Island (B. C. , Canada) to regenerate slashburned clearcuts previously occupied by old-growth Thuja p1icata, Donn, Tsuga heterophy11a, Raf. Sarg. , and an ericaceous unders tory shrub salal (Gaul ther ia sha11on, Pursh [CH sites 1 ) . The planted Sitka spruce grew well initially on these sites, but experienced nutritional stress and reduced growth 8 to 14 yr after planting (Germain, 1985; Weetman et a1. , 1990a,b). Accompanying the onset of the nutritional stress was the reestablishment of a complete ground cover of salal, and it has been suggested that there is a causal connection between these two temporally synchronous events (Weetman et al. , 1990a,b). Other ericaceous species have been implicated in nutritional stress in conifer plantations (Mallik, 1987; Robinson, 1972; Handley, 1963; Rose et a1. , 1983). Three hypotheses to explain this nutritional stress were tested in the study reported in this paper: (1) that salal competition for N can provide an adequate explanation for the observed nutritional stress; (2) that salal inhibits the availability of nutrients to seedlings by interfering with their mycorrhizae; and (3) that the fertility of these CH sites declines after 8 yr following clearcutting and slashburning due to the termination of the flush of nutrients (or "assart effect") associated with this disturbance. A series of pot and field experiments was carried out to test these hypotheses. 1 2.