Written primarily for mid- to upper-level undergraduates, this title the mechanisms of photosynthesis, its role in the evolution of plant-related organisms, from cyanobacteria to flowering plants, and its wider ecological and climatic significance. The primer brings together the latest research to show how the process of photosynthesis has evolved over the last three to four billion years - from its beginnings in bacteria to the various refinements now present in modern land plants. The authors explain how repeated endosymbiotic and gene gain/loss events have led to the evolution of the various algal groups and related non-photosynthetic groups, and how photosynthesis was modified as plants evolved and diversified into different ecological niches around the world. The role of photosynthesis in the alteration of the geology and biology of the earth, which enabled the colonisation of the land by plants and animals, is also explored. Finally, this title examines the limitations of photosynthesis and the emerging biotechnological improvements that could make this vital process even more attractive as a source of clean energy, food and other industrial products. Photosynthetic Life is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. The ebook offers a mobile experience and convenient access: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks. The online resources include: For students: - Self-test questions For registered adopters of the book: * Figures from the book, available to download

Environmental stresses represent the most limiting factors for agricultural productivity worldwide. These stresses impact not only current crop species, they are also significant barriers to the introduction of crop plants into areas that are not currently being used for agriculture. Stresses associated with temperature, salinity and drought, singly or in combination, are likely to enhance the severity of problems to which plants will be exposed in the coming decades. The present book brings together contributions from many laboratories around the world to discuss and compare our current knowledge of the role stress genes play in plant stress tolerance. In addition, strategies are discussed to introduce these genes and the processes that they encode into economically important crops, and the effect this will have on plant productivity.

The productivity of agricultural systems is the result of human alteration of originally wild organisms over millennia. The availability of germplasm, particularly from wild relatives of crop plants, is vitally important in the development of new and improved crops for both agriculture and horticulture. The handling of these genetic resources for both immediate and future human benefits has resulted in the decades of interdisciplinary scientific research described in this book. The applications of this work and the associated operational programmes in all parts of the world are discussed in the light of their impact on the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystem rehabilitation and the future health of our planet.

This is the 5th edition of a well-established book Principles of Plant Nutrition which was first published in 1978. The same format is maintained as in previous editions with the primary aim of the authors to consider major processes in soils and plants that are of relevance to plant nutrition.This new edition gives an up-to-date account of the scientific advances of the subject by making reference to about 2000 publications. An outstanding feature of the book, which distinguishes it from others, is its wide approach encompassing not only basic nutrition and physiology, but also practical aspects of plant nutrition involving fertilizer usage and crop production of direct importance to human nutrition. Recognizing the international readership of the book, the authors, as in previous editions, have attempted to write in a clear concise style of English for the benefit of the many readers for whom English is not their mother tongue. The book will be of use to undergraduates and postgraduates in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry and Ecology as well as those researching in Plant Nutrition.

Plants are able to respond and adapt to changing environmental and endogenous signals by the induction of the synthesis of specific proteins, acting to modify cellular metabolism. Environmental signals include temperature, anaerobiosis and pathogen attack amongst others, whilst endogenous signals include changes in the level of plant growth regulators. In this 1992 text, leading researchers discuss the role that inducible proteins play in cellular metabolism, and the approaches being used to delineate the molecular events leading to their synthesis. Chapters discuss molecular approaches to the study of gene expression, the identification and characterisation of trans-acting transcription factors and attempts to dissect other parts of the signal transduction pathway by the search for pathway mutants. This review volume will be of great value and interest to final year undergraduates, graduate students and researchers in the fields of plant biochemistry and molecular biology.

In Virus-Insect-Plant Interactions, the world's leading scientists discuss the latest breakthroughs in understanding the biological and ecological factors that define these complex transmission systems and how this knowledge might be used to our advantage in producing innovative, user and environmentally friendly approaches to controlling the spread of plant pathogens by insects. This is an invaluable reference work for researchers, teachers, and students. There are many quick-reference figures and tables, the contents pages include individual chapter abstracts, and each chapter ends with its own bibliography.
Key Features
* presents the most significant research breakthroughs of the past two decades
* contains eighteen chapters by forty-two world-renowned researchers
* invaluable reference work for researchers, teachers and students
* each chapter ends with its own bibliography
* contents pages of forematter include individual chapter abstracts
* contains many quick-reference figures and tables

In the third edition of this very successful textbook, the author describes a practical approach to the important physiological and ecological factors that determine the survival of the green plant. The book has been extensively rewritten to keep abreast of recent discoveries. Much more information on the growth and development of plants is included to stress that the survival of a plant species may depend on all stages of the plant's life cycle. Practical techniques are described to show how many of the ideas discussed can easily be investigated. The book is therefore very useful for project work as well as class practicals in both schools and introductory biology and botany courses at university.

Demand for agricultural crops and nutritional requirement continues to escalate in response to increasing population. Also, climate change exerts adverse effects on agriculture crop productivity. Plant researchers have, therefore, focused to identify the scientific approaches that minimize the negative impacts of climate change on agricultural crops. Thus, it is the need of the hour to expedite the process for improving stress tolerance mechanisms in agricultural crops against various environmental factors, in order to fulfil the world's food demand. Among the various applied approaches, the application of phytohormones has gained significant attention in inducing stress tolerance mechanisms. Jasmonates are phytohormones with ubiquitous distribution among plants and generally considered to modulate many physiological events in higher plants such as defence responses, flowering and senescence. Also, jasmonates mediate plant responses to many biotic and abiotic stresses by triggering a transcriptional reprogramming that allows cells to cope with pathogens and stresses. Likewise, salicylates are important signal molecules for modulating plant responses to environmental stresses. Salicylic acid influences a range of diverse processes in plants, including seed germination, stomatal closure, ion uptake and transport, membrane permeability and photosynthetic and growth rate. Understanding the significant roles of these phytohormones in plant biology and from agriculture point of view, the current subject has recently attracted the attention of scientists from across the globe. Therefore, we bring forth a comprehensive book "Jasmonates and Salicylates Signalling in Plants" highlighting the various prospects involved in the current scenario. The book comprises chapters from diverse areas dealing with biotechnology, molecular biology, proteomics, genomics, metabolomics, etc. We are hopeful that this comprehensive book furnishes the requisite of all those who are working or have interest in this topic.

This volume is a synthesis of current knowledge about the growth, development and functioning of plant canopies. The term canopy is taken to include not only the upper surface of woodland, as in the original definition, but also analogous surfaces of other plant communities. Although much research has been carried out on single leaves, canopies are much more than just a collection of individual leaves, and so exhibit properties of their own. It can be argued that it is primarily at the canopy rather than the leaf level that solutions to many practical problems about the growth of plants in the field can be found. In this volume, canopy properties are considered in terms of the processes, such as transpiration and photosynthesis, by which the canopy and its environment interact. Topics discussed include the meaning of canopy structure, interception of solar radiation, exchange processes, nitrogen nutrition, leaf demography and heliotropism. Key principles are illustrated by examples from a wide range of plant community types and geographical locations. This book will be of interest to advanced students and research workers in agriculture, botany, crop sciences, ecology and forestry.

The volume identifies how stressful conditions affect plants. Various stresses, such as drought, salinity, waterlogging, high and low temperatures, can have a major impact on plant growth and survival - with important economic consequences in crop plants. This book examines some of the more important stresses, shows how they affect the plant and then reviews how new varieties or new species can be selected which are less vulnerable to stress. The wide-ranging and important consequences of stress should ensure that the volume is widely read by plant biologists at the graduate and research level.

This long awaited third edition of Phytochemical Methods is, as its predecessors, a key tool for undergraduates, research workers in plant biochemistry, plant taxonomists and any researchers in related areas where the analysis of organic plant components is key to their investigations. Phytochemistry is a rapidly expanding area with new techniques being developed and existing ones perfected and made easier to incorporate as standard methods in the laboratory. This latest edition includes descriptions of the most up-to-date methods such as HPLC and the increasingly sophisticated NMR and related spectral techniques. Other methods described are the use of NMR to locate substances within the plant cell and the chiral separation of essential oils. After an introductory chapter on methods of plant analysis, individual chapters describe methods of identifying the different type of plant molecules: phenolic compounds, terpenoids, organic acids, lipids and related compounds, nitrogen compounds, sugar and derivatives and macromolecules. Different methods are discussed and recommended, and guidance provided for the analysis of compounds of special physiological relevance such as endogenous growth regulators, substances of pharmacological interest and screening methods for the detection of substances for taxonomic purposes. It also includes an important bibliographic guide to specialized texts. This comprehensive book constitutes a unique and indispensable practical guide for any phytochemistry or related laboratory, and provides hands-on description of experimental techniques so that students and researchers can become familiar with these invaluable methods.

Progress in Genetic Engineering of the Pyridine and Propane Alkaloid Biosynthetic Pathways of Solanaceous Plants; R.J. Robins, et al. Molecular Genetic Techniques Applied the Analysis of Enzymes of Alkaloid Biosynthesis; T.M. Kutchan. Polyketide Biosynthesis; W.R. Strohl, R. Plater. The Biologists Palatte; N. Courtney-Gutterson. Engineering Altered Glucosinolate Biosynthesis by Two Alternative Strategies; R.K. Ibrahim, et al. Genetic Manipulation of Lignin and Phenylpropanoid Compounds Involved in Interactions with Microorganisms; R.A. Dixon, et al. The Genetic Origins of Biosynthesis and Light-Responsive Control of the Chemical UV Screen of Land Plants; R. Jorgensen. Genetic Control of Monterpene Biosynthesis in Mints; R. Corteau, J. Gershenzon. Genetic Manipulation of Terpenoid Phytoalexins in Gossypium; A.A. Bell. Analysis of Secondary Metabolism in Arabidopsis; C. Chapple. Polyphenol Oxidase; J.C. Steffens, et al. Genetic Regulation of Lignin Biosynthesis and the Potential Modification of Wood by Genetic Engineering in Loblolly Pine; S. Ronald, et al. Index.

Biologically Active Natural Products: Pharmaceuticals demonstrates the connections between agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and explores the use of plants and plant products in the formulation and development of pharmaceuticals. Experts from around the world examine a multitude of topics, including evaluation of extracts from tropical plants for potential anticancer activity and cancer chemopreventive activity; use of Chinese lacquer tree sap products as pharmaceutical intermediates; and new approaches to drug discovery from the rainforest.

Structure and function of the components of the photosynthetic apparatus and the molecular biology of these components have become the dominant themes in advances in our understanding of the light reactions of oxygenic photosynthesis. Oxygenic Photosynthesis: The Light Reactions presents our current understanding of these reactions in thylakoid membranes. Topics covered include the photosystems, the cytochrome b6-f complex, plastocyanin, ferredoxin, FNR, light-harvesting complexes, and the coupling factor. Chapters are also devoted to the structure of thylakoid membranes, their lipid composition, and their biogenesis. Updates on the crystal structures of cytochrome f, ATP synthase and photosystem I are presented and a section on molecular biology and evolution of the photosynthetic apparatus is also included. The chapters in this book provide a comprehensive overview of photosynthetic reactions in eukaryotic thylakoids. The book is intended for a wide audience, including graduate students and researchers active in this field, as well as those individuals who have interests in plant biochemistry and molecular biology or plant physiology.

The plant cell wall plays a vital role in almost every aspect of plant physiology. New techniques in spectroscopy, biophysics and molecular biology have revealed the extraordinary complexity of its molecular architecture and just how important this structure is in the control of plant growth and development. The Second Edition of this accessible and integrated textbook has been revised and updated throughout. As well as focusing on the structure and function of plant cell walls the book also looks at the applications of this research. It discusses how plant cell walls can be exploited by the biotechnology industry and some of the main challenges for future research. Key topics include: architecture and skeletal functions of the wall; cell-wall formation; control of cell growth; role in intracellular transport; interactions with other organisms; cell-wall degradation; biotechnological applications of cell-walls; role in diet and health. This textbook provides a clear, well illustrated introduction to the physiology and biochemistry of plant cell walls which will be invaluable to upper level undergraduate and post graduate students of plant physiology, plant pathology, plant biotechnology and biochemistry.

Here are two physicists looking over the fence of physics, getting thrilled by the life and growth of trees, taking an altogether different, exciting view of wood: trees produce wood for their own benefit. They do not live for the benefit of man who builds his world using wood as a raw material. Timber is revealed in a different light, and the reader is taught to stop thinking of it in terms of defective beams and boards. Wood only fails as a part of the living tree. To us, the tree and wood biologists, this new definition is a real, inspiring challenge, which is just what Kubler and Mattheck intended it to be. Their answers may seem too simple or little logical to some of us; but the authors are not at a loss for sound and solid arguments. Their field studies prove the incredible, their hypotheses makes us want to get to the bottom of the un proven unbelievable. The authors' answers and arguments are bold and cour ageous. They arouse our curiosity and force us to fathom the facts. It seems as if Kubler and Mattheck wanted to trick us into believing that trees only live and react following mechanical rules and strategies. To tell the truth, that was what I first suspected the authors of: but I was wrong."

The second edition of this popular work provides a comprehensive account of all aspects of stomatal biology. The substantially revised text is thoroughly up to date and well illustrated with numerous line illustrations, photographs and comprehensive tables. The theory of gaseous diffusion through stomata is reviewed in a new chapter and sections on signal perception and transduction, guard cell ionic relations and guard cell metabolism have been added. A concluding chapter reviews the genetics and molecular biology of stomata. This work provides a comprhensive reference text which will appeal to advanced students, post-graduates and lecturers in plant physiology.

In a world of increasing atmospheric CO2, there is intensified interest in the ecophysiology of photosynthesis and increasing attention is being given to carbon exchange and storage in natural ecosystems. We need to know how much photosynthesis of terrestrial and aquatic vegetation will change as global CO2 increases. Are there major ecosystems, such as the boreal forests, which may become important sinks of CO2 and slow down the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on climate? Will the composition of the vegetation change as a result of CO2 increase?
This volume reviews the progress which has been made in understanding photosynthesis in the past few decades at several levels of integration from the molecular level to canopy, ecosystem and global scales.

This book is the first comprehensive volume on the computer simulation of plant development. It contains a full account of the algorithms used to model plant shapes and developmental processes, Lindenmayer systems in particular. With nearly 50 color plates, the spectacular results of the modelling are vividly illustrated. "This marvelous book will occupy an important place in the scientific literature." #Professor Heinz-Otto Peitgen# "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants will perform a valuable service by popularizing this enlightening and bewitching form of mathematics." #Steven Levy# " ... the garden here is full of delights and an excellent introduction to L-systems, ..." #Alvy Ray Smith, IEEE Computer Graphics and its Applications#

A summary of the ecology of the world's vegetation. The introductory chapters provide a basic back-drop to the subject. The subsequent chapters examine sequentially the form and function of each major biome throughout the world.This book should be of interest to ecologists; biogeographers; botanists; environmental scientists; land managers; conservation biologists and natural resource managers.

Analogous to genomics, which defines all genes in a genome irrespective of their functionality, metabolomics seeks to profile all metabolites in a biological sample irrespective of the chemical and physical properties of these molecules. Metabolomics has the potential of defining cellular processes as it provides a measure of the ultimate phenotype of an organism, as defined by the collage of small molecules, whose levels of accumulation is altered in response to genetic and environmentally induced changes in gene expression.This book presents a guide for new practitioners of metabolomics, providing insights as to the current use and applications of metabolomics.

This volume contains a collection of papers on the anatomy, physiology and action of stomata by experts in the field, presented in a form suitable for students of botany and plant science, and related subjects such as agriculture, forestry, and horticulture, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Special care has been taken to ensure that the book can be used as a text for undergraduate courses in plant, environmental and cell physiology at a reasonably advanced level. It provides an up-to-date assessment of our knowledge of stomata and the articles include: the structure and development of stomata; the measurement of stomatal aperture and conductance; the ion exchanges and metabolism of guard cells; work on isolated guard-cell protoplasts; the responses of stomata to a wide range of stimuli, including light, carbon dioxide, humidity, water stress, pollutants and disease organisms; the behaviour of stomata in the field; and a discussion of stomatal control of transpiration and photosynthesis.

The application of molecular techniques is rapidly transforming the study of plant systematics. The precision they offer enables researchers to classify plants that have not been subject to rigorous classification before and thus allows them to obtain a clearer picture of evolutionary relationships. Plant Molecular Systematics is arranged both conceptually and phylogenetically to accommodate the interests not only of general systematists, but also those of people interested in a particular plant family. The first part discusses molecular sequencing; the second reviews restriction site analysis and the sequencing of mitochondrial DNA. A third section details the analysis of ribosomal DNA and chloroplast DNA. The following section introduces model studies involving well-studied families such as the Onagraceae, Compositae and Leguminosae. The book concludes with a section addressing theoretical topics such as data analysis and the question of morphological vs. molecular data.

Life on earth depends on the photosynthetic use of solar energy by plants, and efforts to develop alternative sources of energy include a major thrust toward the use of photosynthesis to yield fuels. The study of photosynthesis is an especially convincing way of bringing together the disciplines of physics, chemistry, and biology and can be a valuable element in the teaching of biophysics and biochemistry. This book provides the only detailed modern treatment of the subject in a concise form. Part I outlines the historical development of the subject, emphasizing the chemical nature of photosynthesis and the roles of chlorophylls and other pigments. Part II reviews our present knowledge of the structure and components of photosynthetic tissues in relation to their function. Part III deals with the photo-chemistry of photosynthesis and with the patterns of chemical events, principally electron and proton transfer, that follow the photo-chemistry. Part IV treats the relationships of electron and proton transport to ATP formation, and the metabolic patterns of carbon assimilation. An epilogue exposes major areas of confusion and ignorance and indicates potentially fruitful directions of research, including the development of photosynthetic systems for solar energy conversion. Throughout the book, there are frequent digressions into those aspects of optics and molecular physics relevant to the subject matter. Suitable for upper undergraduate and graduate course use, this book is also sufficiently detailed to give professional scientists a perspective of the subject at the level of contemporary research.

The study of solute transport in plants dates back to the beginnings of experimental plant physiology, but has its origins in the much earlier interests of humankind in agriculture. Given this lineage, it is not surprising that there have been many books on the transport of solutes in plants; texts on the closely related subject of mineral nutrition also commonly address the topic of ion transport. Why another book? Well, physiologists continue to make new discoveries. Particularly pertinent is the characterisation of enzymes that are able to transport protons across membranes during the hydrolysis of energy-rich bonds. These enzymes, which include the H + -A TPases, are now known to be crucial for solute transport in plants and we have given them due emphasis. From an academic point of view, the transport systems in plants are now appreciated as worthy of study in their own right-not just as an extension of those systems already much more widely investigated in animals. From a wider perspective, understanding solute transport in plants is fundamental to understanding plants and the extent to which they can be manipulated for agricultural purposes. As physiologists interested in the mechanisms of transport, we first set out in this book to examine the solutes in plants and where are they located. Our next consideration was to provide the tools by which solute movement can be understood: a vital part of this was to describe membranes and those enzymes catalysing transport.