The plant hormone ethylene plays a prominent role among several intrinsic and extrinsic factors that control growth and physiology of plants. Its biological activity was discovered over a century ago. However, extensive studies on its mode of action came later. This book brings into focus the recent developments on the biochemical, physiological, and molecular basis for ethylene action in plants.

Combining an ecosystems approach with new insights at the molecular and biochemical level, this book presents the latest findings on how plants respond, physiologically, to sulfur in their environment. It explores key areas such as biotic and abiotic interactions, adaptations to fluctuating supply, and sulfur s role in plant metabolic networks to assess the functions and implications of this essential plant nutrient in a range of natural, semi-natural and anthropogenic environments.

Leaders in the field, Hawkesford and de Kok, draw together an international group of experts in plant sulfur nutrition, to collate and integrate new information from molecular biology, ecology and physiology. The result is an important new reference on the relationships between plants and sulfur at all levels including contributions arising from recent omic approaches. With implications for issues such as agriculture, forestry, water management and ecosystem restoration, this book is relevant to a wide audience, from graduate level students and researchers, to policy makers and practitioners."

This widely expanded second edition offers a compilation of robust, reproducible techniques for the conservation of a wide range of biological materials. It includes novel approaches and protocols that were not preservable when the first edition was published.

The book begins with a discussion of long term ex situ conservation of biological resources, the role of biological resource centers, and fundamental principles of freeze-drying and cryopreservation. Each chapter focuses on the preservation of specific biological materials, including proteins, mircroorganisms, cell lines, and multicellular structures.

Biologists worldwide now speak the scientific language of molecular biology and use the same molecular tools. Interest is growing in the molecular biology of abiotic stress tolerance and modes of installing better tolerant mechanisms in crop plants. Current studies make plants capable of sustaining their yields even under stressful conditions. Further, this information may form the basis for its application in biotechnology and bioinformatics.

Plants utilize light not only for photosynthesis but also as environmental signals. They are capable of perceiving wavelength, intensity, direction, duration, and other attributes of light to perform appropriate physiological and developmental changes. This volume presents overviews of and the latest findings in many of the interconnected aspects of plant photomorphogenesis, including photoreceptors (phytochromes, cryptochromes, and phototropins), signal transduction, photoperiodism, and circadian rhythms, in 42 chapters. Also included, is a prologue by Prof. Masaki Furuya that gives an overview of the historical background. With contributions from preeminent researchers in specific subjects from around the world, this book will be a valuable source for a range of scientists from undergraduate to professional levels.

Genetic variability is an important parameter for plant breeders in any con ventional crop improvement programme. Very often the desired variation is un available in the right combination, or simply does not exist at all. However, plant breeders have successfully recombined the desired genes from cultivated crop gerrnplasm and related wild species by sexual hybridization, and have been able to develop new cultivars with desirable agronomie traits, such as high yield, disease, pest, and drought resistance. So far, conventional breeding methods have managed to feed the world's ever-growing population. Continued population growth, no further scope of expanding arable land, soil degradation, environ mental pollution and global warrning are causes of concern to plant biologists and planners. Plant breeders are under continuous pressure to improve and develop new cultivars for sustainable food production. However, it takes several years to develop a new cultivar. Therefore, they have to look for new technologies, which could be combined with conventional methods to create more genetic variability, and reduce the time in developing new cultivars, with early-maturity, and improved yield. The first report on induced mutation of a gene by HJ. Muller in 1927 was a major mi1estone in enhancing variation, and also indicated the potential applica tions of mutagenesis in plant improvement. Radiation sources, such as X-rays, gamma rays and fast neutrons, and chemical mutagens (e. g., ethyl methane sulphonate) have been widely used to induce mutations."

In the last two decades technological advances in isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been very rapid, opening up new possibilities for analysis of biological and environmental materials. The new instrumentation has facilitated faster analysis of samples via automated sample preparation and multi-isotope analysis of single samples, resulting in considerable cost savings, and enabling access to isotope analysis for many more researchers. These changes are reflected in the rapidly growing international literature on stable isotopes. While there have been some excellent books and review papers aimed at interpreting isotope signals in biology and environmental science, there have been fewer attempts to provide practical tools for researchers making forays into this exciting new arena. This book aims to address this inadequacy by providing a set of practical guidelines for the application of a range of novel and well proven stable isotope techniques to the fields of plant physiological ecology, agriculture, marine ecology and palaeoecology. The book is the outcome of a weeklong workshop held under the auspices of the Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA 1992 - 2000) at The University of Western Australia and the CSIRO Floreat Laboratories, Perth, Western Australia, in February 1999. The workshop was designed to provide practical tools and experiences for researchers and students concerned with how one goes about using stable isotopes in field investigations.

Glutathione is a thiol-containing tripeptide, which appears to be present in nearly all living organisms and which is involved in many important metabolic and physiological processes. The present volume focuses on the biological significance of glutathione in plants. The biochemistry and the metabolism of glutathione are reviewed, and its role in sulphur and selenium metabolism in plants is discussed. The significance of glutathione and of glutathione-related enzymes in the adaptation to natural stress, heavy metals, xenobiotics, air pollution, and in plant-pathogen and plant-animal interactions are evaluated. The main aim of this second volume in the series Plant Ecophysiology is to raise the interest of advanced students and junior researchers in the role of glutathione in plants and to supply basic and comprehensive information for scientists already working on related topics.

Plant growth is of great economical and intellectual interest. Plants are the basis of our living environment, the production of our food and a myriad of plant-based natural products. Plant bio-mass is also becoming an important renewable energy resource. Agricultural plant cultivation and breeding programs have altered plant productivity and yield parameters extensively, yet the principles and underlying mechanisms are not well understood. At the cellular level, growth is the result of only two processes, cell division and cell expansion, but these two processes are controlled by intertwined signaling cascades and regulatory mechanisms forming complex regulatory networks. Ultimately this network is what plant scientists are trying to unravel. The sequencing of model and agronomically important plant genomes allows complete insight into the molecular components involved in each process. Methods to quantify the molecular changes, image growth processes and reconstruct growth regulatory networks are rapidly developing. This knowledge should help to elucidate key regulators and to design methods to engineer plant architecture and growth parameters for future human needs. This volume gives a comprehensive overview of what is known about plant growth regulation and growth restraints due to environmental conditions and should allow readers at all levels an entry into this exiting field of research.

Adaptation and evolution of terrestrial plants depend, to a large extent, on their ability to acquire nutrients. This is a modern and integrative treatment of the mechanisms controlling plant nutrient uptake and how plants respond to changes in the environment. The following key topics are covered: soil nutrient bioavailability; root responses to variations in nutrient supply; nitrogen fixation; regulation of nutrient uptake by internal plant demand; root characteristics; kinetics of nutrient uptake; root architecture; life span; mycorrhizae; responses to climate change. This integrated view helps us to understand the mechanisms that govern present-day plant communities and is indispensable in models designed to predict the response of plants to a changing climate.

The fermentation of sugar by cell-free yeast extracts was demonstrated more than a century ago by E. Buchner (Nobel Prize 1907). Buchner's observations put an end to previous animistic theories regarding cellular life. It became clear that metabolism and all cellular functions should be accessible to explication in chemical terms. Equally important for an understanding of living systems was the concept, explained in physical terms, that all living things could be cons- ered as energy converters [E. Schroedinger (Nobel Prize 1933)] which generate complexity at the expense of an increase in entropy in their environment. Bioenergetics was established as an essential branch of the biochemical sciences by the investigations into the chemistry of photosynthesis in i- lated plant organelles [O. Warburg (Nobel Prize 1931)] and by the discovery that mitochondria were the morphological equivalent that catalyzed cellular respiration. The ?eld of bioenergetics also encompasses a large variety of ad- tional processes such as the molecular mechanisms of muscle contraction, the structure and driving mechanisms of microbial ?agellar motors, the energetics of solute transport, the extrusion of macromolecules across membranes, the transformation of quanta of light into visual information and the maintenance of complex synaptic communications. There are many other examples which, in most cases, may perform secondary energy transformations, utilizing - ergy stored either in the cellular ATP pool or in electrochemical membrane potentials.

This book reviews all aspects of boron research in recent years and is based on the Third International Symposium on all Aspects of Plant and Animal Boron Nutrition. This includes B sorption mechanisms in soils, deficiency and toxicity of B, B fertilizer application and basic research on the physiology and molecular biology of plant B nutrition, and nutritional function of B in animals and humans.

Legumes are very important plants playing a central role in biological research. They are a key component of sustainable agricultural systems because of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and other beneficial symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi. Studies on most of the major leguminous crops are hampered by large genome sizes and other disadvantages which have hindered the isolation and characterisation of genes with important roles in legume biology and agriculture. For this reason Lotus japonicus was chosen as a model species for legume research some ten years ago. Since then, many groups around the world have adopted Lotus as a model and have developed numerous resources and protocols to facilitate basic and applied research on this species. This handbook represents the first effort to compile basic descriptions and methods for research in Lotus, including symbiotic processes, cell and molecular biology protocols, functional genomics, mutants, gene tagging and genetic analysis, transformation and reverse genetic analysis, primary and secondary metabolism, and an exhaustive update of the scientific literature available on this plant.

The 15th International Symposium on Plant Lipids was held in Okazaki, Japan, in May 12th to 17th, 2002, at the Okazaki Conference Center. The Symposium was organized by the Japanese Organizing Committee with the cooperation of the Japanese Association of Plant Lipid Researchers. The International Symposium was successful with 225 participants from 29 countries. We acknowledge a large number of participants from Asian countries, in particular, from China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines, presumably because this was the fIrst time that the International Symposium on Plant Lipids was held in Asia. We also acknowledge a number of scientists from Canada, France, Germany, UK and USA, where plant lipid research is traditionally very active. The Symposium provided an opportunity for presentation and discussion of 68 lectures and 93 posters in 11 scientific sessions, which together covered all aspects of plant lipid researches, such as the structure, analysis, biosynthesis, regulation, physiological function, environmental aspects, and the biotechnology of plant lipids. In memory of the founder of this series of symposia, the Terry Galliard Lecture was delivered by Professor Ernst Heinz from Universitat: Hamburg, Germany. In addition, special lectures were given by two outstanding scientists from animal lipid fields, Professor James Ntambi from University of Wisconsin, USA, and Dr. Masahiro Nishijima from the National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Japan. To our great honor and pleasure, the session of Lipid Biosynthesis was chaired by Dr.

Eucalyptus, a genus of over 800 species, is a multiproduct crop par excellence. Not only is it grown for timber, pulp and fuelwood, but, as the Aborigines discovered thousands of years ago, it has numerous medicinal and aromatic properties. Since the first commercial distillation of eucalyptus oil 150 years ago, a vast array of eucalyptus-based products has entered the marketplace, mainly for pharmaceutical, fragrance and flavor use. Eucalyptus provides an invaluable reference for all those with an interest in Eucalyptus - in academia and industry alike, for researchers as well as producers, processors, importers and end users - but there are also issues discussed and lessons learned that extend to medicinal and aromatic plants.

Trees are a major component of the biosphere and have played an important part in the world's history and culture. With the modern challenges of global warming and dwindling fossil fuel reserves, trees, and in particular their wood, can provide solutions. Unfortunately, too little is known about the biology of these plants, due largely to a lack of appropriate techniques. In recognition of this, Wood Formation in Trees presents a variety of detailed techniques and protocols for the study of the cell and molecular biology of wood formation in trees. Internationally recognized experts, most of whom are the researchers who developed the techniques, speak with authority in this volume, and also provide first-hand tips and trade secrets to help the uninitiated master the techniques. The techniques reflect a hierarchical approach to the study of the developmental biology of wood formation: anatomical, biochemical and molecular-genetic. Trees are a tremendous but vastly under-appreciated natural resource. In an age where the natural product is so often modified to suit modern tastes and industrial processes, it is essential to understand how the natural product is made. The techniques in this book provide that essential information about the process of wood formation in trees.

The association between plants and wind that first comes to mind might be plant damage from a strong wind such as a typhoon or monsoon. The winds this book will 1 discuss, however, are not this strong at all, but rather are only 2 m.s. or weaker, like a breeze that gently blows over a farming area. Such a breeze, in fact, instills vitality into plants and increases their growth rates. This book is an attempt to explain these beneficial effects on plants from a field perspective. One fundamental process necessary for plant growth is photosynthesis. Since it is a photochemical reaction, this synthesis has been studied with emphasis on light. Yet to shed light on dry-matter or carbohydrate production by plants, it is indispensable to pursue research not only into the mechanism of photosynthesis but also into photosynthetic production itself. I have observed various phenomena occurring in the production field, and have thereby realized it necessary to recognize photosynthesis as a phenomenon that carbon dioxide (C0 ) in the air diffuses into chloroplasts in the leaves, and to study 2 which environmental factors promote C0 diffusion into the leaves. 2 In this book, I am going to describe the effects of the natural environment on photosynthetic production, placing focus on the leaf boundary layer as an environmental factor for plant production."

Since the first volume on Biophysical Techniques in Photosynthesis Research, published in 1996, new experimental techniques and methods have been devised at a rapid pace. The present book is a sequel which complements the first volume by providing a comprehensive overview of the most important new techniques developed over the past ten years, especially those that are relevant for research on the mechanism and fundamental aspects of photosynthesis.

The contributions are written by leading scientists in their field. The book is divided into 5 sections on Imaging, Structure, Optical and laser spectroscopy, Magnetic resonance and on Theory, respectively. Each chapter describes the basic concepts of the technique, practical applications and some of the scientific results. Possibilities and limitations from a technical as well as a scientific point of view are addressed, allowing the reader not only to recognize the potential of a particular method for his/her own quest, but to assess the resources that are required for implementation.

The book comprises the proceedings of the 7th International Wheat Conference, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, at the end of 2005. Leading scientists from all over the world, specialized in different areas that contribute to the better understanding of wheat production and use, reviewed the present achievements and discussed the future challenges for the wheat crop. The latter are related to producing safe wheat grain in increasingly stressed environments, maintaining at the same time the sustainability of natural resources, in order to meet the needs of food for a growing population.

Topics such as breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, breeding for improved industrial and nutritional quality, crop and natural resources management, physiology of wheat production, biotechnology and cytogenetics, and conservation and management of genetic resources were covered during the Conference. Results of the extended use of molecular tools in different areas and their contribution to the faster achievement of breeding goals were presented.

This book provides the scientific wheat community with the possibility of getting key contributions to that overall sight and an updated view of the main points of interest in those fields of research.

Plant hormones play a crucial role in controlling the way in which plants grow and develop. While metabolism provides the power and building blocks for plant life, it is the hormones that regulate the speed of growth of the individual parts and integrate them to produce the form that we recognize as a plant.

This book is a description of these natural chemicals: how they are synthesized and metabolized, how they act at both the organismal and molecular levels, how we measure them, a description of some of the roles they play in regulating plant growth and development, and the prospects for the genetic engineering of hormone levels or responses in crop plants. This is an updated revision of the third edition of the highly acclaimed text. Thirty-three chapters, including two totally new chapters plus four chapter updates, written by a group of fifty-five international experts, provide the latest information on Plant Hormones, particularly with reference to such new topics as signal transduction, brassinosteroids, responses to disease, and expansins. The book is not a conference proceedings but a selected collection of carefully integrated and illustrated reviews describing our knowledge of plant hormones and the experimental work that is the foundation of this information.

The Revised 3rd Edition adds important information that has emerged since the original publication of the 3rd edition. This includes information on the receptors for auxin, gibberellin, abscisic acid and jasmonates, in addition to new chapters on strigolactones, the branching hormones, and florigen, the flowering hormone.

This is the first book describing in vitro cultivation of root organs. The text describes various biological aspects such as the physiology, biochemistry, biodiversity, and life cycles of fungi, as well as the effects of symbiosis on plant growth and development, including large-scale fungus production for biotechnological use. Detailed protocols allow the immediate application of the method to culture mycorrhizal fungi in vitro.

Plant neurobiology is a newly emerging field of plant sciences. It covers signalling and communication at all levels of biological organization - from molecules up to ecological communities. In this book, plants are presented as intelligent and social organisms with complex forms of communication and information processing.

Authors from diverse backgrounds such as molecular and cellular biology, electrophysiology, as well as ecology treat the most important aspects of plant communication, including the plant immune system, abilities of plants to recognize self, signal transduction, receptors, plant neurotransmitters and plant neurophysiology. Further, plants are able to recognize the identity of herbivores and organize the defence responses accordingly. The similarities in animal and plant neuronal/immune systems are discussed too. All these hidden aspects of plant life and behaviour will stimulate further intense investigations in order to understand the communicative plants in their whole complexity.

Woody plants have distinct growth and development habits. Being sessile and perennial species, woody plants are challenged by multiple stresses year-round or facing repeated stress attacks during their lives. A stress challenge in one season may impact the plant performance in other seasons or years; therefore, woody plants must develop specific mechanisms to minimize the damage caused by various stresses. Although all plant species share the basic physiological process, the unique characteristics of woody species in anatomy structure, body size, growth habit, and life expectancy contribute to significant differences in their responses to different environmental stresses compared to herbaceous plants. Written by a group of experts, Stress Physiology of Woody Plants, is comprised of 11 chapters profoundly describing the uniqueness of plant structure, growth and development, photosynthesis and respiration, and growth regulation in woody species. It summarizes findings in the responses of woody plants to major environmental stresses including drought, nutrient deficiency, salinity, low temperature, oxidative stress, heavy metal, and multiple stresses. Features: Provides a comprehensive review of physiological and molecular aspects of woody plants responding to some major environmental stresses. Bridges the gap between woody and herbaceous species in the field of general physiology and stress physiology. Describes the uniqueness of woody plants in plant structure, growth and development, photosynthesis and respiration, and growth regulation. Summarizes physiological and molecular responses to the environmental stresses in woody plants. This book serves as a textbook and major reference by students and researchers of plant physiology, horticulture, forestry, and plant molecular biology and teaches a better understanding of the mechanisms of plant response to individual or combined stresses in woody species.

Henslow's importance as Darwin's mentor is well established. He recommended Darwin for the post of naturalist on the Beagle and also encouraged him to read Lyell's pivotal geology text (also reissued in this series). While professor of botany at Cambridge, Henslow nurtured independent inquiry and acute observation in his students. These attributes are evident in this liberally illustrated 1835 book, which also reveals the influence of Candolle's Th orie El mentaire de la Botanique (1813) and Physiologie V g tale (1832). Henslow's book, like his meticulous research papers and his innovative lectures, included focussed investigations on the nature and stability of 'species'. Charles Darwin paid such close attention that he became known as 'the man who walks with Henslow', and Henslow's teachings were to echo through Darwin's writings, from his jottings in notebooks on the Beagle onward. This reissue gives modern readers easy access to the work of this inspirational scientist.

Box 9E. 1 Continued FIGURE 2. The C-S-R triangle model (Grime 1979). The strategies at the three corners are C, competiti- winning species; S, stress-tolerating s- cies; R,ruderalspecies. Particular species can engage in any mixture of these three primary strategies, and the m- ture is described by their position within the triangle. comment briefly on some other dimensions that Grime's (1977) triangle (Fig. 2) (see also Sects. 6. 1 are not yet so well understood. and 6. 3 of Chapter 7 on growth and allocation) is a two-dimensional scheme. A C-S axis (Com- tition-winning species to Stress-tolerating spe- Leaf Economics Spectrum cies) reflects adaptation to favorable vs. unfavorable sites for plant growth, and an R- Five traits that are coordinated across species are axis (Ruderal species) reflects adaptation to leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf life-span, leaf N disturbance. concentration, and potential photosynthesis and dark respiration on a mass basis. In the five-trait Trait-Dimensions space,79%ofallvariation worldwideliesalonga single main axis (Fig. 33 of Chapter 2A on photo- A recent trend in plant strategy thinking has synthesis; Wright et al. 2004). Species with low been trait-dimensions, that is, spectra of varia- LMA tend to have short leaf life-spans, high leaf tion with respect to measurable traits. Compared nutrient concentrations, and high potential rates of mass-based photosynthesis. These species with category schemes, such as Raunkiaer's, trait occur at the ''quick-return'' end of the leaf e- dimensions have the merit of capturing cont- nomics spectrum.