The book is designed to provide a review on the methods and current status of conservation of the tropical plant species. It will also provide the information on the richness of the tropical plant diversity, the need to conserve, and the potential utilization of the genetic resources. Future perspectives of conservation of tropical species will be discussed. Besides being useful to researchers and graduate students in the field, we hope to create a reference for a much wider audience who are interested in conservation of tropical plant diversity.

Current trends in population growth hint that global food production is unlikely to gratify future demands under predicted climate change scenarios unless the rates of crop improvement are accelerated. Crop production faces numerous challenges, due to changing environmental conditions and evolving needs for new plant-derived materials. These challenges come at a time when the plant sciences are witnessing remarkable progress in understanding fundamental processes of plant growth and development. Drought, heat, cold and salinity are among the major abiotic stresses that often cause a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular alterations which adversely affect plant growth, development and productivity, consequently posing a serious challenge for sustainable food production in large parts of the world, particularly in emerging countries. This emphasizes the urgency of finding better ways to translate new advances in plant science into concrete successes in agricultural production. To overcome the pessimistic influence of abiotic stresses and to maintain the food security in the face of these challenges, new, improved and tolerant crop varieties, contemporary breeding techniques, and cavernous understanding of the mechanisms that counteract detrimental climate changes are indubitably needed to sustain the requisite food supply. In this context, Improvement of Crops in the Era of Climatic Changes, Volume 1 provides a state-of-the-art guide to recent developments that aid in the understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses and lead to new horizons vis-a-vis prime strategies for translating current research into applied solutions to create strong yields and overall crop improvement under such unfavourable environments. Written by a diverse group of internationally famed scholars, Improvement of Crops in the Era of Climatic Changes, Volume 1 is a brief yet all-inclusive resource that is immensely advantageous for researchers, students, environmentalists, soil scientists, professionals, and many others in the quest of advancement in this flourishing field of research.

Isoprenoids are important in primary and secondary metabolism. They have implications in a myriad of physiological processes notably in plants, microorganisms and parasites, and biological activities at the cellular, organism, and ecosystem levels. The importance of isoprenoids in various areas of the scientific world has spurred intense research worldwide. Also their role in "nutraceuticals" has stimulated scientific curiosity. Literature on isoprenoids is widely scattered in journals with quite differing readerships and geographic distribution. A comprehensive book on isoprenoids does not exist. Isoprenoid Synthesis in Plants and Microorganisms: New Concepts and Experimental Approaches fills this gap by presenting the latest and the most applicable information on isoprenoids. The most recent TERPNET conference serves as the backdrop and provides much of the inspiration for the topics covered in the book. Additional topics of interest are covered as well, making Isoprenoid Synthesis in Plants and Microorganisms: New Concepts and Experimental Approaches the most comprehensive review of isoprenoid synthesis to date.

Trees that are indispensably supportive to human life pose a formidable challenge to breed them to suit to human needs. From soft drinks to breweries to beverages to oil to tires, the value added products from trees give a spectrum of products to human kind. While attempts to tap these resources through conventional breeding are underway, the quick and elegant way of manipulating the genetic systems at the genome level is an essential chapter of modern science. Books featuring genomics of tree crops are few, and genomics is such a science that changes rapidly. Genomics of Tree Crops is an earnest attempt towards compiling genomics of tree crops. Plant genomics has made monumental strides in the last decade providing insights into intra-genomic phenomena such as heterosis, epistasis, pleiotropy and other interactions between loci and alleles within the genome. In contrast, the investigation of the roles and functions of single genes is a primary focus of molecular biology and is a common topic of modern genetic research. A genome is the sum total of all of an individual organism's genes. Thus, genomics is the study of all the genes of a cell, or tissue, at the DNA (genotype), mRNA (transcriptome), or protein (proteome) levels. The complete sequencing of the three billion base pair human genome with 25,000 genes identified and the invention of DNA microarrays ushered in a new era in the science of genomics leading to explosive advancements in oncology diagnostics. This impetus into the genomics era lead the way toward advances in plant genomics which started with Arabidopsis thaliana and went through an array of crops such as rice, maize, papaya, various cereals and legumes, with pigeon pea added to the list towards the end of 2011. Trees, on the other hand, are the least attended taxa with regard to genomic research. Some of the areas that attained attention of the scientists are: DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, genomics of flowering, gene flow, spatial structure, local adaptation and assisted migration in trees, transformation of fruit trees, genomics of tropical and temperate fruit trees, genomics of Hevea rubber, genomics of papaya and genomics of palms. Genomics of Tree Crops compiles this information with chapters authored by experts on these crops.

The book will be a broad and comprehensive look on Jatropha until the details since the book is being contributed by international experts worldwide that have already published works in the international press of Science. Illustrations, tables geographic maps, GPS location, etc are added by each contributors according to the feeling they have concerning what they think their contribution should be. This book will benefit the scientific community immensely. Being aware of any challenges related to Jatropha, i.e. (i) its economy in Asia (India, China) and South America (Brazil), (ii) basics of biofuel technology, (iii) physiology, (iv) farming, (v) byproducts, (vi) biotechnology, (vii) genetic resource (germplasm) and their benefit for the crop by genetic transfer, (viii) genetic map, (ix) comparative genetics, (x) genomics. Breeders and technologist will have access to a complete digested view on Jatropha to decide where and how they should move on with their investigations.

Jatropha curcas or Physic Nut is a small tree (bush plant) that produces fruits under tropical climate. The fruits contained seed that are ~40% oil rich. This oil is excellent for biodiesel. The bush is a now new coming crop because it may cope with harsh environmental conditions such as semi-aridity and poor land. It is considered as one alternative for climate mitigation that does not compete with arable land normally dedicated to food crop and can be used to regain degraded land or fight desertification. This bush has been considered seriously by the international community only recently (~2006-2008), but worldwide scientists did an outstanding job to drawn Jatropha out of its semi-wild status and bring it on the industrial scene. Problems remains, but we have now a comprehensive picture of this crop and almost every technological challenged were addressed. From now, the job will have to concentrate on breeding in order to domesticate this species. Therefore, it is the right time to sum up worldwide contributions in a comprehensive book with a breeding looking to improve the chance of this plant to stabilize as a crop and to fulfil with the expectations that humans invested in it. A book with this perspective will help international community to give a step on. The book will be a broad and comprehensive look on Jatropha until the details since the book is being contributed by international experts worldwide that have already published works in the international press of Science. Illustrations, tables geographic maps, GPS location, etc are added by each contributors according to the feeling they have concerning what they think their contribution should be.

Recherches Chimiques sur la Vegetation was a seminal work in the development of the understanding of photosythesis and plant chemistry. The original publication, which was the first concise summation of the basics of plant nutrition, was a landmark in plant science. It was twice translated into German during the nineteenth century, but no English translation has been published. This translation will interest those in the plant, chemical, agricultural, and soil sciences, and the history of science, who find English more accessible than French or German and who wish to learn more about the early research on photosynthesis and plant science. A further note about the translation: This project is more than just a translation because it includes an extensive introduction as well as notes that provide explanations for archaic terminology and other background material. In the twentieth century, eminent photosynthesis researcher Eugene Rabinowitch described Recherches Chimiques sur la Vegetation as the first modern book on plant nutrition. Historian of chemistry Henry Leicester called the book a classic, noting that the first important generalization about biochemistry in the nineteenth century came from it. Plant physiologist P. E. Pilet stated that the book laid the foundations of a new science, phytochemistry. Soil scientist E. Walter Russell attributed to de Saussure the quantitative experimental method, which more than anything else made modern agricultural chemistry possible. Chemist Leonard K. Nash stated that de Saussure brought the studies of plant nutrition begun by Priestley, Ingen-Housz, and Senebier close to completion, finishing the basic experimental work and providing a convincing theoretical interpretation of the field, and also opened up new vistas of experiment and thought. In the two centuries since Recherches Chimiques sur la Vegetation was published, luminaries in various branches of science, including plant biology, chemistry, and soil science, have consistently praised it highly. In the nineteenth century, noted botanist Alphonse de Candolle and equally noted plant physiologist Julius von Sachs expressed great admiration for it. Although de Saussure's ideas were forgotten for a time, famed chemist Justus von Liebig, who invented artificial fertilizer, rediscovered them in the 1840s and brought them to the attention of the agricultural community, stressing their importance for increasing crop yields.

Environmental conditions and changes, irrespective of source, cause a variety of stresses, one of the most prevalent of which is salt stress. Excess amount of salt in the soil adversely affects plant growth and development, and impairs production. Nearly 20% of the world's cultivated area and nearly half of the world's irrigated lands are affected by salinity. Processes such as seed germination, seedling growth and vigour, vegetative growth, flowering and fruit set are adversely affected by high salt concentration, ultimately causing diminished economic yield and also quality of produce. Most plants cannot tolerate salt-stress. High salt concentrations decrease the osmotic potential of soil solution, creating a water stress in plants and severe ion toxicity. The interactions of salts with mineral nutrition may result in nutrient imbalances and deficiencies. The consequence of all these can ultimately lead to plant death as a result of growth arrest and molecular damage. To achieve salt-tolerance, the foremost task is either to prevent or alleviate the damage, or to re-establish homeostatic conditions in the new stressful environment. Barring a few exceptions, the conventional breeding techniques have been unsuccessful in transferring the salt-tolerance trait to the target species. A host of genes encoding different structural and regulatory proteins have been used over the past 5-6 years for the development of a range of abiotic stress-tolerant plants. It has been shown that using regulatory genes is a more effective approach for developing stress-tolerant plants. Thus, understanding the molecular basis will be helpful in developing selection strategies for improving salinity tolerance. This book will shed light on the effect of salt stress on plants development, proteomics, genomics, genetic engineering, and plant adaptations, among other topics. The book will cover around 25 chapters with contributors from all over the world.

The mechanisms underlying endurance and adaptation to environmental stress factors in plants have long been the focus of intense research. Plants overcome environmental stresses by development of tolerance, resistance or avoidance mechanisms, adjusting to a gradual change in its environment which allows them to maintain performance across a range of adverse environmental conditions. Plant Acclimation to Environmental Stress presents the latest ideas and trends on induced acclimation of plants to environmental stresses under changing environment. Written by experts around the globe, this volume adds new dimensions in the field of plant acclimation to abiotic stress factors. Comprehensive and lavishly illustrated, Plant Acclimation to Environmental Stress is a state-of-the-art guide suited for scholars and researchers working in the field of crop improvement, genetic engineering and abiotic stress tolerance.

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.

Plants have a very specific and efficient mechanism to obtain, translocate and store nutrients from the surrounding environment. The precise mechanism that helps a plant in nutrient translocation from root to shoot also, in the same way, transfers and stores toxic metals within their structure. Metal toxicity generally causes multiple direct or indirect effects on plants, affecting nearly all of their physiological functions. Plant tolerance to heavy metals depends largely on plant efficiency in uptake, translocation and sequestration of heavy metals in specific cell organelles or specialized tissues. The main purpose of this book is to present a holistic view of the recent advancement in the field of accumulation and remediation using plants, the green solar powered alternative to ameliorate heavy metal from the polluted environment. The key features of the book are related to metal transporters and metal accumulation mechanisms under heavy metal stress in plants, plant transcriptional regulation and responses under metal contamination, multiple toxic metal contaminations and its phytoremediation approaches etc. Based on the advancement of research in recent years, the information compiled in this book will bring an in-depth knowledge on the bioaccumulation of metals, their transportation in natural conditions or genetically modified plants and their strategy to cope with the toxicity to survive in the hostile environment.

In this work, the authors present topical research in the study of the morphology, evolutionary diversification and implications for the environments of flowers. The topics discussed in this compilation include the bioactive components from asteraceae flowers; the classification, phylogenetic status and uses as ornamental groundcover of the arachis species; understanding the role of pigments in flowers; flowers as sources of therapeutic molecules; the floral development of sauvagesia (ochnaceae) revealing different origins of presumed staminodes; pollen grain diameter, in vitro pollen germination and regression between grain diameter and in vitro pollen germination in pickerelweed (pontederia cordata L.) and the development of novel pollination techniques to overcome the effects of heteromorphic incompatibility and herkogamy in pickerelweed.

This rigorous yet accessible text introduces the key physical and biochemical processes involved in plant interactions with the aerial environment. It is designed to make the more numerical aspects of the subject accessible to plant and environmental science students, and will also provide a valuable reference source to practitioners and researchers in the field. The third edition of this widely recognised text has been completely revised and updated to take account of key developments in the field. Approximately half of the references are new to this edition and relevant online resources are also incorporated for the first time. The recent proliferation of molecular and genetic research on plants is related to whole plant responses, showing how these new approaches can advance our understanding of the biophysical interactions between plants and the atmosphere. Remote sensing technologies and their applications in the study of plant function are also covered in greater detail.

Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light, Second edition, is fully updated and offers eight new chapters for a comprehensive look at photobiology. The chapters cover all areas of photobiology, photochemistry, and relationship between light and biology, each with up-to-date references. The chapter authors (of which seven are new) have very different backgrounds, and have produced a truly cross-disciplinary treatise. The book starts with the physics and chemistry of light, and how to handle light in the laboratory and measure it in the field, the properties of daylight, and new uses of light in research. It deals with the evolution of photosynthesis and with the mechanisms of its primary steps. Four chapters deal with how organisms use light for their orientation in space and time: The biological clock and its resetting by light, the light-dependent magnetic compass, and photoperiodism in animals and plants. There are also several medically oriented chapters and two chapters specifically aimed at the photobiology educator.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of hormones and behavior. Topics include the neuroendocrine regulation of sedation and excitation in neonatal chicks; the behavior of the mother and vasopressin; inhibited TRHergic pathway of amygdala and insular cortex may participate in high anxiety levels and decreased food intake of dehydrated-induced anorexic rats; the difference between morning and evening thyrotropin response to protirelin(TRH); altered energy balance in response to sleep restriction; hormones in breast carcinogenesis; ecdysteriods and honeybee social behaviors; and changes in appetite-associated hormone and feeding behavior in advanced age.

Model studies focus experimental investigations to improve our understanding and performance of systems. Concentrating on crop modeling, this book provides an introduction to the concepts of crop development, growth, and yield, with step-by-step outlines to each topic, suggested exercises and simple equations. A valuable text for students and researchers of crop development alike, this book is written in five parts that allow the reader to develop a solid foundation and coverage of production models including water- and nitrogen-limited systems.

The book inculcates a holistic approach to improve crop productivity and quality for ensuring food security and nutrition to all. This warrants to identify various stress conditions prevalent globally and tailor crop adaptability and productivity to the maximum accordingly, employing physio-molecular modern tools and techniques with judicious amalgamation with conventional crop husbandry. As a result, the book chapters encompass diverse environmental factors, internal physio-molecular processes and their modulations with a final goal of expanding area under cultivation by utilization of constraint terrains of poor site quality and augmenting sustainable crop productivity and quality on the face of rapidly changing climate. The book includes role of plant hormones, nano-sensors, nanomaterials etc. in stress tolerance responses, capturing recent advancement in the field of stress tolerance, enlarging scope of coverage by gleaning modern literature and providing glimpses of futuristic scenario of agriculture practices that can render 'balance staple food rich in nutrition, vitamins and minerals' to teeming billions of global human populations. Thus, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the role of stress environment and understanding stress physiology for developing stress tolerant crops. The book covers current knowledge and future prospects to achieve enhanced food security under stress environment of crops. The renowned contributors elegantly crafted each chapter, suited alike to both classroom texts for graduate students and reference material for researchers. The language and style are simple and lucid with liberal use of illustrations. This book should be on the shelf of university/ personal libraries for inquisitive students and enlightened researchers.

This collection reviews advances in research on improving barley cultivation across the value chain. Part 1 reviews advances in understanding barley physiology in such areas as plant growth, grain development and plant response to abiotic stress. Chapters also review current developments in exploiting genetic diversity and mapping the barley genome. Building on this foundation, the second part of the book summarises advances in breeding with chapters on breeding trial design as well as advances in molecular breeding techniques such as genome wide association studies (GWAS) and targeted induced lesions in genomes (TILLING). Part 3 looks further along the value chain at ways of optimising cultivation practices. There are chapters on post-harvest storage as well as fungal diseases, weeds and integrated methods for their management. The final part of the book assesses current developments in optimising barley for particular end uses such as malting, brewing and animal feed as well as current research on the nutraceutical properties of barley.

At the biological crossroads of the Americas, Costa Rica hosts one of the widest varieties of plants in the wold, with habitats ranging from tidal mangrove swamps, and lowland rainforests, to dry tropical evergreen and deciduous forests.
Field Guide to Plants of Costa Rica is a must-have reference guide for beginner and expert naturalists alike. It provides a thorough survey of more than 850 plant species, each entry accompanied by color photos and a concise yet detailed narrative description. Plants are conveniently grouped by the different types of vegetation: palms, tall trees, shrubs, woody vines, herbaceous vines, herbs, grasses and ferns. Along with 1400 color photographs, the guide also includes an illustrated glossary of plant parts, five maps of Costa Rica, and laminated covers for durability in the field. With so much readily accessible information, this book is essential for exploring Costa Rica's common and conspicuous flora from the plants growing along the roadside to the best natural parks.

This book on potassium in abiotic stress tolerance deals with the ongoing trend in increasing abiotic stresses and interlinked issues food security. As mineral nutrient potassium holds an important place in agriculture and is involved in various physiological and biochemical processes. It takes part in protein synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, enzyme activation, cation-anion balance, osmoregulation, water movement, energy transfer, and regulates stomata and photosynthesis. Potassium plays an important role as abiotic stress buster. This book will deal with potassium relevance to plant functions and adaptations, range of its biological functions, role of potassium in abiotic stress tolerance, analyses of mechanisms responsible for perception and signal transduction of potassium under abiotic stress, critical evaluation of and cross-talks on nutrients and phytohormones signaling pathways under optimal and stressful conditions, and interaction of potassium with other nutrients for abiotic stress tolerance. This book will be of interest to teachers, researchers, scientists working on abiotic stresses. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, forestry, ecology, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

The cell as the basis of plant life; the matter and mechanics of cells wall; chloroplast; the root; soil and absorption mineral; habitat-related aspect of mineral metabolism; water relations and absorption; absorption of water; ascent of sap, transpiration and water balance, respiration, photosynthesis.