The problems engendered by the conflicting imperatives of development and ecology show no sign of ending, and every day more locations are added to the list of landscapes poisoned by human activity. This vital book, featuring an international set of authors, is a key reference for researchers and environmental managers, as well as anyone involved in the mining industry or landscape remediation. The comprehensive coverage of current approaches to phytoremediation begins by examining the problem. It looks at natural and human-induced toxins, and their effects on natural vegetation as well as agricultural crops. Particular attention is paid to the two largest challenges to remediation - heavy metals, and the salt stress that is impeding agricultural productivity worldwide. The text moves on to focus on the efficacy of different plant species in removing toxic pollutants from the environment. Along with analysis of a number of case studies, this section includes new and updated information on the mechanism of toxin-tolerance in plants.

Cotton production today is not to be undertaken frivolously if one expects to profit by its production. If cotton production is to be sustainable and produced profitably, it is essential to be knowledgeable about the growth and development of the cotton plant and in the adaptation of cultivars to the region as well as the technology available. In addition, those individuals involved in growing cotton should be familiar with the use of management aids to know the most profitable time to irrigate, apply plant growth regulators, herbicides, foliar fertilizers, insecticides, defoliants, etc. The chapters in this book were assembled to provide those dealing with the production of cotton with the basic knowledge of the physiology of the plant required to manage the cotton crop in a profitable manner.

Understanding the physiology of plants is fundamental to horticultural studies and practice. Aimed at undergraduates, this major textbook covers applied aspects of physiology related to horticultural crops. The author discusses specific physiological processes in relation to horticultural management, maintaining a focus throughout on how horticultural practices influence plant productivity and quality. Principles of Horticultural Physiology begins by guiding students through the basics of plant physiology; plant anatomy and plant classification, before covering plant hormones, growth and development, and factors related to the external environment including water, light, temperature and soil. Greenhouse culture is also discussed, as well as practical management techniques including seeding, pruning and grafting. The book concludes with real-world horticultural considerations of harvesting crops, packaging and transportation, postharvest physiology and marketing plant products, as well as a fascinating chapter on plants and human nutrition. One of the text's chief virtues is the accessible way the author conveys sometimes complex information in an easy to follow style. An ideal resource for undergraduate students of horticulture, this book will act as a guide throughout the entire course.

With the predicted increase of the human population and the subsequent need for larger food supplies, root health in crop plants could play a major role in providing sustainable highly productive crops that can cope with global climate changes. While the essentiality of roots and their relation to plant performance is broadly recognized, less is known about their role in plant growth and development. "Root Genomics" examines how various new genomic technologies are rapidly being applied to the study of roots, including high-throughput sequencing and genotyping, TILLING, transcription factor analysis, comparative genomics, gene discovery and transcriptional profiling, post-transcriptional events regulating microRNAs, proteome profiling and the use of molecular markers such as SSRs, DArTs, and SNPs for QTL analyses and the identification of superior genes/alleles. The book also covers topics such as the molecular breeding of crops in problematic soils and the responses of roots to a variety of stresses.

Plant-based medicines play an important role in all cultures, and have been indispensable in maintaining health and combating diseases. The identification of active principles and their molecular targets from traditional medicine provides an enormous opportunity for drug development. Using modern biotechnology, plants with specific chemical compositions can be mass propagated and genetically improved for the extraction of bulk active pharmaceuticals. Although there has been significant progress in the use of biotechnology, using tissue cultures and genetic transformation to investigate and alter pathways for the biosynthesis of target metabolites, there are many challenges involved in bringing plants from the laboratory to successful commercial cultivation. This book presents the latest advances in the development of medicinal drugs, including topics such as plant tissue cultures, secondary metabolite production, metabolomics, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics and future biotechnological directions.

Allelopathy is an ecological phenomenon by which plants release organic chemicals (allelochemicals) into the environment influencing the growth and survival of other organisms. In this book, leading scientists in the field synthesize latest developments in allelopathy research with a special emphasis on its application in sustainable agriculture. The following topics are highlighted: Ecological implications, such as the role of allelopathy during the invasion of alien plant species; regional experiences with the application of allelopathy in agricultural systems and pest management; the use of microscopy for modeling allelopathy; allelopathy and abiotic stress tolerance; host allelopathy and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; allelopathic interaction with plant nutrition; and the molecular mechanisms of allelopathy. This book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students in the fields of plant physiology, agriculture, ecology, environmental sciences, and molecular biology.

Plants are sessile and prone to multiple stresses in the changing environmental conditions. Of the several strategies adopted by plants to counteract the adverse effects of abiotic stress, phytohormones provide signals to allow plants to survive under stress conditions. They are one of the key systems integrating metabolic and developmental events in the whole plant and the response of plants to external factors and are essential for many processes throughout the life of a plant and influence the yield and quality of crops. The book 'Phytohormones and Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants' summarizes the current body of knowledge on crosstalk between plant stresses under the influence of phytohormones, and provides state-of-the-art knowledge of recent developments in understanding the role of phytohormones and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This book presents information on how modulation in phytohormone levels affect regulation of biochemical and molecular mechanisms.

Along the undisturbed shores, especially of the Mediterranean Sea and the European North Atlantic Ocean, is a quite widespread plant called Beta maritima by botanists, or more commonly sea beet. Nothing, for the inexperienced observer's eye, distinguishes it from surrounding wild vegetation. Despite its inconspicuous and nearly invisible flowers, the plant has had and will have invaluable economic and scientific importance. Indeed, according to Linne, it is considered "the progenitor of the beet crops possibly born from Beta maritima in some foreign country". Recent molecular research confirmed this lineage. Selection applied after domestication has created many cultivated types with different destinations. The wild plant always has been harvested and used both for food and as a medicinal herb. Sea beet crosses easily with the cultivated types. This facilitates the transmission of genetic traits lost during domestication, which selection processes aimed only at features immediately useful to farmers and consumers may have depleted. Indeed, as with several crop wild relatives, Beta maritima has been successfully used to improve cultivated beet's genetic resistances against many diseases and pests. In fact, sugar beet cultivation currently would be impossible in many countries without the recovery of traits preserved in the wild germplasm. Dr. Enrico Biancardi graduated from Bologna University. From 1977 until 2009, he was involved in sugar beet breeding activity by the Istituto Sperimentale per le Colture Industriali (ISCI) formerly Stazione Sperimentale di Bieticoltura (Rovigo, Italy), where he released rhizomania and cercospora resistant germplasm and collected seeds of Mediterranean sea beet populations as a genetic resource for breeding and ex situ conservation. Retired since 2009, he still collaborates with several working breeders, in particular, at the USDA Agricultural Research Stations, at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS), and at the Athens University (AUA). He has edited books, books chapters and authored more than 150 papers. Dr. Lee Panella is a plant breeder and geneticist with the USDA-ARS at Fort Collins, Colorado. He earned his B.S. in Crop and Soil Science from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of California at Davis. His research focus is developing disease resistant germplasm using sugar beet wild relatives. He is chairman of the USDA-ARS Sugar Beet Crop Germplasm Committee and has collected and worked extensively with sea beet. Dr. Robert T. Lewellen was raised on a ranch in Eastern Oregon and obtained a B.S. in Crop Science from Oregon State University followed by a Ph.D. from Montana State University in Genetics. From 1966 to 2008 he was a research geneticist for the USDA-ARS at Salinas, California, where he studied the genetics of sugar beet and as a plant breeder, often used sea beet as a genetic source to produce many pest and disease resistant sugar beet germplasm and parental lines, while authoring more than 100 publications.

Millions of trees live and grow all around us, and we all recognize the vital role they play in the world's ecosystems. Publicity campaigns exhort us to plant yet more. Yet until recently comparatively little was known about the root causes of the physical changes that attend their growth. Since trees typically increase in size by three to four orders of magnitude in their journey to maturity, this gap in our knowledge has been a crucial issue to address. Here at last is a synthesis of the current state of our knowledge about both the causes and consequences of ontogenetic changes in key features of tree structure and function. During their ontogeny, trees undergo numerous changes in their physiological function, the structure and mechanical properties of their wood, and overall architecture and allometry. This book examines the central interplay between these changes and tree size and age. It also explores the impact these changes can have, at the level of the individual tree, on the emerging characteristics of forest ecosystems at various stages of their development. The analysis offers an explanation for the importance of discriminating between the varied physical properties arising from the nexus of size and age, as well as highlighting the implications these ontogenetic changes have for commercial forestry and climate change. This important and timely summation of our knowledge base in this area, written by highly respected researchers, will be of huge interest, not only to researchers, but also to forest managers and silviculturists.

These proceedings bring together diverse disciplines that study nitrogen fixation and describe the most recent advances made in various fields: chemists are now studying FeMoco, the active site of nitrogenase in non-protein surroundings, and have refined the crystal structure of the enzyme to 1.6 angstroms.

Originally published in 1954, this collection of the posthumous papers of the eminent plant physiologist Frederick Frost Blackman includes six papers that were unpublished at the time of his death, all of which address the topic of plant respiration. The data was collected over the course of one year from experiments performed on the effect of oxygen on the respiration of apples, and the text begins with an introduction by the noted botanist George Edward Briggs. This book will be of value to anyone interested in Blackman's work or in the history of botany and plant physiology.

This volume summarizes current research on the influence of plant polyphenols on human health, promoting collaboration between chemists and biologists to improve our understanding of their biological significance, and expanding the possibilities for their use.

This book covers the hot topics of angiosperm structure and evolution in several chapters discussing vegetative and reproductive characters. It also looks at the implications of ancestral angiosperm characters for an herbaceous origin and the phylogeny of angiosperms from a structure and molecular perspective.

This book is a comprehensive account of recent advances in the endophytic research. It covers recent perspective of endophytic research, molecular diversity, bioprospecting of novel genes using high throughput molecular techniques, and most importantly application of endophytes in practicing sustainable agriculture. Endophytic micro-organisms are mysterious living component associated mutually with plant roots and soil microbes. Various endophytic bacteria have attracted considerable attention for their ability to promote plant growth through direct mechanisms or by acting as biocontrol agents. Endophytes also find use in biocontrol, medicine, agriculture and food industry. This is a useful reading for the student of agriculture, environmental microbiology and biotechnology.

The Genetics and Genomics of the Brassicaceae provides a review of this important family (commonly termed the mustard family, or Cruciferae). The family contains several cultivated species, including radish, rocket, watercress, wasabi and horseradish, in addition to the vegetable and oil crops of the Brassica genus. There are numerous further species with great potential for exploitation in 21st century agriculture, particularly as sources of bioactive chemicals. These opportunities are reviewed, in the context of the Brassicaceae in agriculture. More detailed descriptions are provided of the genetics of the cultivated Brassica crops, including both the species producing most of the brassica vegetable crops (B. rapa and B. oleracea) and the principal species producing oilseed crops (B. napus and B. juncea). The Brassicaceae also include important "model" plant species. Most prominent is Arabidopsis thaliana, the first plant species to have its genome sequenced. Natural genetic variation is reviewed for A. thaliana, as are the genetics of the closely related A. lyrata and of the genus Capsella. Self incompatibility is widespread in the Brassicaceae, and this subject is reviewed. Interest arising from both the commercial value of crop species of the Brassicaceae and the importance of Arabidopsis thaliana as a model species, has led to the development of numerous resources to support research. These are reviewed, including germplasm and genomic library resources, and resources for reverse genetics, metabolomics, bioinformatics and transformation. Molecular studies of the genomes of species of the Brassicaceae revealed extensive genome duplication, indicative of multiple polyploidy events during evolution. In some species, such as Brassica napus, there is evidence of multiple rounds of polyploidy during its relatively recent evolution, thus the Brassicaceae represent an excellent model system for the study of the impacts of polyploidy and the subsequent process of diploidisation, whereby the genome stabilises. Sequence-level characterization of the genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica rapa are presented, along with summaries of comparative studies conducted at both linkage map and sequence level, and analysis of the structural and functional evolution of resynthesised polyploids, along with a description of the phylogeny and karyotype evolution of the Brassicaceae. Finally, some perspectives of the editors are presented. These focus upon the Brassicaceae species as models for studying genome evolution following polyploidy, the impact of advances in genome sequencing technology, prospects for future transcriptome analysis and upcoming model systems.

In contrast to books on specific bioactive compounds, this book deals with the role of mevalonic acid metabolites (isoprenoids and their derived structures) in metabolism, development, and functions of organisms, which, though diverse, show various levels of communication. Different disciplines are brought together in a discussion of the messenger functions of terpenoids within and between organisms belonging to five biological kingdoms: bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, and vertebrates (including humans). The present volume covers evolutionary aspects of terpenoids in plant physiology, plant-insect relationships, semiochemicals, and in life sciences, with special emphasis on cancer research and treatment. The book provides proposals for multidisciplinary model systems for the study of interrelationships of organisms utilizing terpenoid messengers, and discusses novel strategies for insect control and multifactor treatments of cancer utilizing terpenoids. This book is of interest to scientists, and students at an advanced level: biologists, plant breeders, pharmacologists, specialists in medical fields, especially oncologists, physicians in general, and anyone with a basic biochemical and physiological knowledge.

In a field of mature bananas, plants can be seen at all stages of vegetative growth and fruit maturity, providing a fascination for anyone who has an interest in growing crops. Banana farmers in the tropics can harvest fruit every day of the year. The absence of seasonality in production is an advantage, in that it provides a continuity of carbohydrate to meet dietary needs as well as a regular source of income, a feature that perhaps has been under-estimated by rural planners and agricultural strategists. The burgeoning interest in bananas in the last 20 years results from the belated realization that Musa is an under-exploited genus, notwithstanding the fact that one genetically narrow group, the Cavendish cultivars, supply a major export commodity second only to citrus in terms of the world fruit trade. International research interest in the diversity of fruit types has been slow to develop, presumably because bananas and plantains have hitherto been regarded as a reliable backyard source of dessert fruit or starch supplying the needs of the household, and in this situation relatively untroubled by pests, diseases or agronomic problems.

Stalking the Wild Sweetgrass: Domestication and Horticulture of the Grass Used in African-American Coiled Basketry is concerned with the historical domestication of sweetgrass, the main construction/structural grass used in the three century old African-American tradition of coiled basketry in South Carolina. During the plantation era in southern agriculture, sweetgrass baskets were made for post-harvest processing and storage of rice by enslaved Africans from Lower Cape Fear, North Carolina to northern Florida. Enslaved Africans from the Rice Kingdom in Africa were prized for the basketry and rice agronomic skills and were specially sought by slavery traders. Today, this ancient craft still thrives in the community of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Authored by one of the most renowned experts in the field and filled with illuminating color photographs, this volume provides knowledge of the horticulture of an extremely important wild plant and an example of the perils of plant- and people-based research and experimentation. As one of the few authoritative texts on the subject, Stalking the Wild Sweetgrass: Domestication and Horticulture of the Grass Used in African-American Coiled Basketry is a resourceful volume on wild sweetgrass, suitable for researchers and students alike.

In recent years, the study of the plant cell cycle has become of major interest, not only to scientists working on cell division sensu strictu , but also to scientists dealing with plant hormones, development and environmental effects on growth. The book The Plant Cell Cycle is a very timely contribution to this exploding field. Outstanding contributors reviewed, not only knowledge on the most important classes of cell cycle regulators, but also summarized the various processes in which cell cycle control plays a pivotal role. The central role of the cell cycle makes this book an absolute must for plant molecular biologists.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a seemingly ubiquitous enzyme of profound physiological importance, which plays essential roles in respiration, acid-base homeostasis, bone resorption, calcification, photosynthesis, several biosynthetic pathways and a variety of processes involving ion, gas and fluid transfer. This enzyme, which is present in at least three gene families (a, ss, ?), has found favour as a model for the study of evolution of gene families and for site-directed mutagenesis in structure/function relationships, for protein folding and for transgenic and gene target studies. Since the early use of CA inhibitors as diuretics and in treating congestive heart failure, the enzyme has been target of considerable clinical attention. Much of this is now focused on endeavours to produce a new generation of such drugs for the effective treatment of glaucoma and other potential applications. Recent data, suggesting links between CA and various disease processes, including cancer, have stimulated further...

Arabinogalactan-proteins are distributed throughout the plant kingdom and are present in leaves, stems, roots, floral parts, and seeds. At the subcellular level, AGPs are localized on the plasma membrane, in the cell wall, in secretory and endocytotic pathway organelles, in stylar and root secretions and in the medium of cultured cells. The widespread distribution of AGPs indicates that they perform important functions. An expansion of knowledge regarding AGPs has been initiated and sustained through new experimental approaches, including the development of monoclonal antibody probes and cloning of cDNAs corresponding to core polypeptides. Regulated expression and other evidence points to the involvement of AGPs in plant reproductive development, pattern formation, and somatic embryogenesis, as well as in the processes of cell division, cell expansion, and cell death. AGPs also have an importance to industry. One example is gum arabic, an exudate from Acacia senegal, a mixture of AGPs and polysaccharides which has unique viscosity and emulsifying properties that have led to many uses in the food as well as other industries.

Plant breeders continue to make significant advances in developing high yield ing, adaptable, disease-free crops. These advances, however, are not realized until an efficient seed production system is in place that rapidly increases geneti cally superior crops and makes them available to the consumer in large quantities at a reasonable cost. Successful seed production requires seed to be genetically pure, free of admixtures, and able to establish rapidly a uniform stand. Seed production is a complex process. Rigorous production criteria are followed by both seed producer and seed companies to ensure that high-quality seed is produced and marketed. These criteria become even more stringent in hybrid seed production. This volume identifies the factors most critical in a successful seed production operation. The fundamental considerations common to all seed crops are established in Part I, Principles of Seed Production. From this founda tion, the practices of seed production are provided in detail in Part II, Seed Production of Specific Crops."

The Boron '97 meeting was a great success in summarising all recent developments in basic and applied research on boron's function, especially in plants. New techniques have since been developed and new insight has been gained into the role of boron in plant and animal metabolism. Nevertheless, there were still lots of open questions. The aim of the present workshop held in Bonn as a satellite meeting to the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium was thus to gather all actual information which has been gained since the Boron '97 meeting and to compile knowledge, both from animal and plant sciences. Furthermore, applied aspects had to be addressed too, as there is an increasing awareness of boron deficiencies even in crops such as wheat, which have formerly not been considered as responsive to boron application. Genetic differences in boron demand and efficiency within one species are a further important topic which has gained importance since the 1997 meeting. More in-depth knowledge on the mechanisms of boron efficiency are required as an increased efficiency will be one major possibility to maintain and improve crop yields for resource-poor farmers. Nevertheless, it has also clearly been shown that an adequate supply of boron is needed to obtain high yields of crops with a high quality, and that a sustainable agriculture has to provide an adequate boron supply to compensate for inevitable losses through leaching (especially in the humid tropics and temperate regions) and for the boron removal by the crop.

The technique of chlorophyll fluorescence has a relatively short history, beginning with the observations by Kautsky (Kautsky and Hirsch, 1931). Since that time there have been several* reviews devoted to the subject, with most of them highly theoretical (Bohlar-Nordenkampf and Oquist, 1993; Dau, 1994; Schreiber et aI. , 1994). There have also been many books devoted to generalized spectrophotometric and microscopic fluorescence techniques. However, to the best of our knowledge there has not been a book completely devoted to the practical applications and uses of chlorophyll fluorescence in plant biology. As techniques mature, applications multiply and so do their potential advantages. The chlorophyll fluorescence technique is maturing as can be seen in the increasing numbers of publications that are devoted to its use. Therefore, we considered that now was a good time to compile the existing knowledge for the applied use of this technique and provide a single volume to which a novice or experienced user could refer. Highly trained experts in the field of photobiology have primarily used the chlorophyll fluorescence technique in the past. In that work, understanding the mechanisms and controls of the photosynthetic processes was the main focus of activity and discussion. Much of the equipment used was highly specialized and expensive, or in some cases one-of-a-kind lab designed units. However, the development of several reliable commercially available chlorophyll fluorescence monitoring instruments has changed the potential user base for the technique.

Commercial development of cultured-derived food ingredients has attracted interna tional interest. As consumers have become more health conscious in recent years, the de mand for natural food ingredients and disease-preventative phytochemicals has increased tremendously. Plant Cell and Tissue Culture provides an alternative method for controlled production of these products. A wide range of food ingredients has been shown to be pro duced in culture. Much progress has been made in advancing this technology to the point that large-scale production has become possible. This book is developed from the Symposium "Plant Cell and Tissue Culture for Food Ingredient Production" which was held on April 13-17, 1997 at the American Chemical So ciety National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. In this book, international experts in acade mia, government, and industry discuss current advances in the field of plant cell and tissue culture with special emphasis on its application for food ingredient production. Topics re lated to various aspects of plant cell and tissue culture technology are discussed, including overviews of recent advances in plant metabolic pathway studies, process development for improving yields, and bioreactor design and operation for large-scale production. Economic considerations and issues related to the commercial development of culture-derived food in gredients are discussed. Also included are the safety assessment schemes and regulatory frameworks set up by regulatory agencies around the world.