This volume contains the contributions from the speakers at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Structure of the Photosynthetic Bacterial Reaction Center X-ray Crystallography and Optical Spectroscopy with Polarized Light" which was held at the "Maison d'Hotes" of the Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Cadarache in the South of France, 20-25 September, 1987. This meeting continued in the spirit of a previous workshop which took place in Feldafing (FRG), March 1985. Photosynthetic reaction centers are intrinsic membrane proteins which, by performing a photoinduced transmembrane charge separation, are responsible for the conversion and storage of solar energy. Since the pioneering work of Reed and Clayton (1968) on the isolation of the reaction center from photosynthetic bacteria, optical spectroscopy with polarized light has been one of the main tools used to investigate the geometrical arrangement of the various chromophores in these systems. The recent elucidation by X-ray crystallography of the structure of several bacterial reaction centers, a breakthrough initiated by Michel and Deisenhofer, has provided us with the atomic coordinates of the pigments and some details about their interactions with neighboring aminoacid residues. This essential step has given a large impetus both to experimentalists and to theoreticians who are now attempting to relate the X-ray structural model to the optical properties of the reaction center and ultimately to its primary biological function.

Crop growth and production is dependent on various climatic factors. Both abiotic and biotic stresses have become an integral part of plant growth and development. There are several factors involved in plant stress mechanism. The information in the area of plant growth and molecular mechanism against abiotic and biotic stresses is scattered. The up-to-date information with cited references is provided in this book in an organized way. More emphasis has been given to elaborate the injury and tolerance mechanisms and growth behavior in plants against abiotic and biotic stresses. This book also deals with abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in plants, molecular mechanism of stress resistance of photosynthetic machinery, stress tolerance in plants: special reference to salt stress - a biochemical and physiological adaptation of some Indian halophytes, PSII fluorescence techniques for measurement of drought and high temperature stress signal in crop plants: protocols and applications, salicylic acid: role in plant physiology & stress tolerance, salinity induced genes and molecular basis of salt tolerance mechanism in mangroves, reproductive stage abiotic stress tolerance in cereals, calorimetry and Raman spectrometry to study response of plant to biotic and abiotic stresses, molecular physiology of osmotic stress in plants and mechanisms, functions and toxicity of heavy metals stress in plants, submergence stress tolerance in plants and adoptive mechanism, Brassinosteroid modulated stress responses under temperature stress, stress tolerant in plants: a proteomics approach, Marker-assisted breeding for stress resistance in crop plants, DNA methylation associated epigenetic changes in stress tolerance of plants and role of calcium-mediated CBL-CIPK network in plant mineral nutrition & abiotic stress. Each chapter has been laid out with introduction, up-to-date literature, possible stress mechanism, and applications. Under abiotic stress, plant produces a large quantity of free radicals, which have been elaborated. We hope that this book will be of greater use for the post-graduate students, researchers, physiologist and biotechnologist to sustain the plant growth and development.

Attaining sustainable agricultural production while preserving environmental quality, agro-ecosystem functions and biodiversity represents a major challenge for current agricultural practices; further, the traditional use of chemical inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, nutrients etc.) poses serious threats to crop productivity, soil fertility and the nutritional value of farm produce. Given these risks, managing pests and diseases, maintaining agro-ecosystem health, and avoiding health issues for humans and animals have now become key priorities. The use of PGPR as biofertilizers, plant growth promoters, biopesticides, and soil and plant health managers has attracted considerable attention among researchers, agriculturists, farmers, policymakers and consumers alike. Using PGPR as bioinoculants can help meet the expected demand for global agricultural productivity to feed the world's booming population, which is predicted to reach roughly 9 billion by 2050. However, to provide effective bioinoculants, PGPR strains must be safe for the environment, offer considerable plant growth promotion and biocontrol potential, be compatible with useful soil rhizobacteria, and be able to withstand various biotic and abiotic stresses. Accordingly, the book also highlights the need for better strains of PGPR to complement increasing agro-productivity.

Sustainable increase in agricultural production while keeping the environmental quality, agro-ecosystem function and biodiversity is a real challenge in current agricultural practices. Application of PGPR can help in meeting the expected demand for increasing agricultural productivity to feed the world's booming population. Global concern over the demerits of chemicals in agriculture has diverted the attention of researchers towards sustainable agriculture by utilizing the potential of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR). Use of PGPR as biofertilizers, biopesticides, soil, and plant health managers has gained considerable agricultural and commercial significance. The book Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR): Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture has contributions in the form of book chapter from 25 eminent global researchers, that discusses about the PGPRs and their role in growth promotion of various crop plants, suppression of wide range of phytopathogens, their formulation, effect of various factors on growth and performance of PGPR, assessment of diversity of PGPR through microsatellites and role of PGPR in mitigating biotic and abiotic stress.This book will be helpful for students, teachers, researchers, and entrepreneurs involved in PGPR and allied fields. The book will be highly useful to researchers, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

This book provides case studies on cultivating alternative crops and presents new cropping systems in many regions of the world. It focusses on new emerging research topics aiming to study all aspects of adaptation under several stresses including agricultural, environmental, biological and socioeconomic issues. The book also provides operational and practical solutions for scientists, producers, technology developers and managers to succeed the cultivation of new alternative crops and, consequently, to achieve food security. Many regions in the world are suffering from water scarcity, soil and water salinization and climate change. These conditions make it difficult to achieve food security by cultivating conventional crops. A renaissance of interest for producing alternative crops under water scarcity and water salinization has been, therefore, implemented primarily among small-scale producers, researchers and academics. The use of alternative crops (quinoa, amaranth, legume crops, halophytes, ...etc.) may provide some environmental benefits such as valorization of salt-affected soils, reduced pesticide application, enhanced soil and water quality and promotion of wildlife diversity. This also may provide some economic benefits such as providing the opportunity for producers to take advantage of new markets and premium prices, spreading the economic risk and strengthening local economies and communities. Furthermore, alternative crops are often rich in proteins and minerals, and even some of them are Gluten free (quinoa). This reflects their importance to achieve food security in quantity and quality scale. The year 2013 was exceptional for alternative crops as it was the international year of quinoa celebrated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This reflects the importance of research conducted on quinoa and other alternative crops in many regions of the world.

Agronomic crops have provided food, beverages, fodder, fuel, medicine and industrial raw materials since the beginning of human civilization. More recently, agronomic crops have been cultivated using scientific rather than traditional methods. However, in the current era of climate change, agronomic crops are suffering from different environmental stresses that result in substantial yield loss. To meet the food demands of the ever-increasing global population, new technologies and management practices are being adopted to boost yields and maintain productivity under both normal and adverse conditions. Further, in the context of sustainable agronomic crop production, scientists are adopting new approaches, such as varietal development, soil management, nutrient and water management, and pest management. Researchers have also made remarkable advances in developing stress tolerance in crops. However, the search for appropriate solutions for optimal production to meet the increasing food demand is still ongoing. Although there are several publications on the recent advances in these areas, there are few comprehensive resources available covering all of the recent topics. This timely book examines all aspects of production technologies, management practices and stress tolerance of agronomic crops.

This is an exciting period in plant biology as many disciplines, such as genetics and biochemistry, are merging to provide a more detailed understanding of plant growth and development. The purpose of this meeting was to provide a sampling of some of this exciting work in the area of cellular communication and signal transduction. R. M. Amasino vii CONTENTS Auxin-Binding Proteins and their Possible Role in Cell Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alan M. Jones Signal Perception in Plants: Hepta-B-Glucoside Elicitor Binding Proteins in Soybean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Michael G. Hahn, Jong-Joo Cheong, Robert M. Alba, and Franfois Cote The Role of Salicylic Acid as a Plant Signal Molecule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Paul Silverman, Rebecca A. Linzer, and Ilya Raskin Blue-Light Regulated Gene Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lon S. Kaufman, Kathleen A. Marrs, Katherine M. F. Warpeha, Jie Gao, Keshab Bhattacharya, Judi TIlghman, and John F. Marsh III Role of the Maize Viviparous-l Gene in Regulation of Seed Maturation . . . . . . . . . 27 Donald R. McCarty Lovastatin Induces Cytokinin Dependence in Tobacco Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Dring N. Crowell and Michael S. Salaz Molecular Genetic Approaches to Elucidating the Role of Hormones in Plant Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Harry Klee and Charles Romano Reversible Inhibition of Tomato Fruit Ripening by Antisense ACC Synthase RNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Athanasios Theologis, Paul W. Oeller and Lu Min-Wong Genetic Dissection of Signal Transduction Pathways that Regulate cab Gene Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Joanne Chory, Lothar Altschmied, Hector Cabrera, Hsou-min Li, and Ronald Susek The Role of KNI in Plant Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ferns, collectively, represent an ancient species of vascular plant which has a direct connection to the beginning of life on Earth. Today they are valued for their ornamental appeal, environmental benefit or as sources of health benefiting metabolites. Current pteridology, the study of fern, encompasses a wide range of research activities including, but not limited to, plant physiology, stress tolerance, genetics and genomics. The goal of this book is to compile the most relevant research done with ferns during the last decade. It is organized into four parts: I, Biology and Biotechnology; II, Evolution and Conservation; III, Metabolism and Genetic Resources, and IV, Environment. Each section reveals the utilization of ferns as a tool to explore challenges unique to plant development and adaptation. This project represents our collective effort to raise the awareness of ferns as a model system to study higher plant functions. Among the distinctive features of our proposed book are: (i) a wide range of topics with contributing researchers from all around the world, and (ii) recent advances of theoretic and applied knowledge with implications to crop species of economic value.

This detailed volume presents a wide range of techniques for plant mitochondrial analysis, ranging from tried-and-tested work horse techniques to the latest innovations. Within its pages, it explores subjects such as affinity-based isolation of mitochondria with magnetic beads, mitochondrial quality assessment protocols, measurement of uptake and release of specific metabolites, mitochondrial protein identification and visualization, as well as gene splicing and editing, and much more. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Plant Mitochondria: Methods and Protocols provides a highly useful set of methodologies for the plant mitochondrial community to help discover more interesting aspects of plant mitochondria in the years to come.

Plant-driven volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions play a major role in atmospheric chemistry, including ozone and photochemical smog formation in the troposphere, and they extend the atmospheric lifetime of the key greenhouse gas, methane. Furthermore, condensation of photo-oxidation products of BVOCs leads to formation of secondary organic aerosols with profound implications for the earth's solar radiation budget and climate. Trees represent the plant life form that most contributes to BVOC emissions, which gives global forests a unique role in regulating atmospheric chemistry.
Written by leading experts in the field, the focus is on recent advancements in understanding the controls on plant-driven BVOC emissions, including efforts to quantitatively predict emissions using computer models, particularly on elicitation of emissions under biotic and abiotic stresses, molecular mechanisms of volatile synthesis and emission and the role of emissions in plant stress tolerance.

This book assembles recent research on memory and learning in plants. Organisms that share a capability to store information about experiences in the past have an actively generated background resource on which they can compare and evaluate coming experiences in order to react faster or even better. This is an essential tool for all adaptation purposes. Such memory/learning skills can be found from bacteria up to fungi, animals and plants, although until recently it had been mentioned only as capabilities of higher animals. With the rise of epigenetics the context dependent marking of experiences on the genetic level is an essential perspective to understand memory and learning in organisms. Plants are highly sensitive organisms that actively compete for environmental resources. They assess their surroundings, estimate how much energy they need for particular goals, and then realize the optimum variant. They take measures to control certain environmental resources. They perceive themselves and can distinguish between 'self' and 'non-self'. They process and evaluate information and then modify their behavior accordingly. The book will guide scientists in further investigations on these skills of plant behavior and on how plants mediate signaling processes between themselves and the environment in memory and learning processes.

This book summarizes the latest findings on the functions of microRNAs in the regulation of plant development and responses to the surrounding environment. MicroRNAs are an important class of molecules that can be found in diverse groups of organisms, including plants and animals, and the investigation of their roles is a highly dynamic and "hot" research topic. The respective chapters address four main aspects, namely: microRNA investigation and annotation, the regulatory roles of microRNAs in various developmental processes, in response to abiotic factors, and in the context of biotic stress response regulation. Systematically reviewing the most important findings in this field, the book offers an essential guide for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and plant science researchers. Due to the potential applications of microRNAs in crop breeding and plant protection, it also represents a valuable resource for scientists in academia and the private sector alike.

Research into the basic mechanisms of photosynthesis has a long and distinguished history and has consistently been at the forefront of science. The success of this research, particularly in recent years, suggests that photosynthesis may turn out to be the first complex biological system to have its structure, function, and regulation described in rigorous chemical terms at the atomic level. It is likely that such knowledge will help us to tackle perhaps the most vital problem facing mankind, namely our need for a continuous and nonpolluting source of energy. The benefit may come by providing a "blueprint"for new technologies able to carry out efficient conversion of solar energy based on the principles of biological systems, and/or creating highly efficient "energy crops" sufficiently hardy to grow in a wide range of environments. The former is likely to involve new developments in material sciences while the latter will call on the rapidly advancing techniques of genetic engineering.
The contents of this volume review some of the most important developments which are a part of the drive towards the overall goal of obtaining the complete description of the photosynthetic processes at the molecular level. The topics covered have been carefully selected and represent the wide spectrum of the subject.

This book offers an overview of salt stress, which has a devastating effect on the yields of various agricultural crops around the globe. Excessive salts in soil reduce the availability of water, inhibit metabolic processes, and affect nutrient composition, osmotic balance, and hydraulic conductivity. Plants have developed a number of tolerance mechanisms, such as various compatible solutes, polyamines, reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense mechanisms, ion transport and compartmentalization of injurious ions. The exploitation of genetic variation, use of plant hormones, mineral nutrients, soil microbe interactions, and other mechanical practices are of prime importance in agriculture, and as such have been the subject of multidisciplinary research. Covering both theoretical and practical aspects, the book provides essential physiological, ecological, biochemical, environmental and molecular information as well as perspectives for future research. It is a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers and anyone interested in agronomy, ecology, stress physiology, environmental science, crop science and molecular biology.

In any ecosystem, plant and microbe interaction is inevitable. They not only co-exist but also support each other's survival and provide sustenance in stressful environments. Agro-ecosystems in many regions around the globe are affected by high temperatures, soil salinity/alkalinity, low pH and metal toxicity. High salinity and severe draught are other major constraints affecting agricultural practices and also plants in the wild. A major limiting factor affecting global agricultural productivity is environmental stresses. Apart from decreasing yield, they also have a devastating impact on plant growth. Plants battle with various kind of stresses with the help of symbiotic associations with the rhizospheric microbes. Naturally occuring plant-microbe interactions facilitate the survival of plants under these stressful conditions. The rhizosphere consists of several groups of microbes, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is one such group of microbes that assists plants in coping with multiple stresses and also promote plant growth. These efficient microbes support the stress physiology of the plants and can be extremely useful in solving agricultural as well food- security problems. This book provides a detailed, holistic description of plant and microbe interaction. It elucidates various mechanisms of nutrient management, stress tolerance and enhanced crop productivity in the rhizosphere, discussing The rhizospheric flora and its importance in enhancement of plant growth, nutrient content, yield of various crops and vegetables as well as soil fertility and health. Divided into two volumes, the book addresses fundamentals, applications as well as research trends and new prospects for agricultural sustainability. Volume 1: Stress Management and Agricultural Sustainability, includes chapters offering a broad overview of plant stress management with the help of microbes. It also highlights the contribution of enzymatic and molecular events occurring in the rhizosphere due to plant microbe interactions, which in turn help in the biological control of plant disease and pest attacks. Various examples of plant microbe interaction in rhizospheric soil are elaborated to facilitate the development of efficient indigenous microbial consortia to enhance food and nutritional security. Providing a comprehensive information source on microbes and their role in agricultural and soil sustainability, this timely research book is of particular interest to students, academics and researchers working in the fields of microbiology, soil microbiology, biotechnology, agronomy, and the plant protection sciences, as well as for policy makers in the area of food security and sustainable agriculture.

This collection features five peer-reviewed reviews on optimising rootstock health. The first chapter explores optimising rootstock health to improve root function, resource-use efficiency, sustainability and agricultural productivity. The chapter also presents a case study on tomato rootstocks as a viable strategy to overcome abiotic stresses in Ghana. The second chapter reviews the important aspects of tree growth and development in apple production which are integral to ensure product quality. The chapter discusses the importance of rootstocks and emphasises the mechanisms and morphological effects of dwarfing on rootstocks. The third chapter considers recent advances in the development and utilisation of fruit tree rootstocks, focussing primarily on apples. The chapter also reviews rootstock tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stresses. The fourth chapter discusses advances in avocado tissue culture for clonal propagation and highlights the potential of this technology for improving the sustainable supply of high-quality avocado plants to support future avocado industry growth. The final chapter addresses the challenges and opportunities in pear breeding, focussing on pear cultivars, pear rootstocks and germplasm resources. The chapter also considers the use of dwarfing as a means of improving particular traits.

In a convenient, single-source reference, this book examines plant growth substances and their relationship to a wide range of physiological processes, ranging from seed germination through the death of the plant. If offers a clear illustration of the pragmatic uses of plant substances in agriculture and demonstrates how basic laboratory research has translated into increased production and profit for the grower. This work begins by building a solid foundation in the subject, which contains historical aspects and fundamental concepts, and provides a methodology for extraction, purification, and quantification of plant growth substances. This forms the basis for understanding the ensuing chapters that explore the many processes involving plant growth substances, including: * seed germination * seedling growth * rooting * dormancy * juvenility * maturity * senescence * flowering * abscission * fruit set * fruit growth * fruit development * premature drop * ripening * promotion of fruit drop * tuberization * photsynthesis * weed control. Providing a detailed examination of plant growth substances and their relationships to specific physiological plant processes, Plant Growth Substances gives students, researchers, and professionals a much needed reference.

Desiccation tolerance was essential when plants first began to conquer land, roughly 400 million years ago. While most desiccation-tolerant plants belong to basal phylogenetic taxa, this capacity has also evolved among some vascular plant species.

In this volume renowned experts treat plant desiccation tolerance at the organismic as well as at the cellular level. The diversity of ecophysiological adaptations and acclimations of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, mosses, and lichens is addressed in several chapters. The particular problems of vascular plants during dehydration/rehydration cycles resulting not only from their hydraulic architectures, but also from severe secondary stresses associated with the desiccated state are discussed. Based on the treatment of desiccation tolerance at the organismic level, a second section of the book is devoted to the cell biological level. It delineates the general concepts of functional genomics, epigenetics, genetics, molecular biology and the sensing and signalling networks of systems biology involved in dehydration/rehydration cycles.

This book provides an invaluable compilation of current knowledge, which is a prerequisite for a better understanding of plant desiccation tolerance in natural as well as agro- and forest ecosystems where water is one of the most essential resources.

This book offers an up-to-date review of the regulatory role of nitric oxide (NO) changes in the morphological, physio-biochemical as well as molecular characteristics of plants under abiotic stress. The first of two parts comprises four chapters and focuses on the properties, chemical reactions involving NO and reactive nitrogen species in plants. The second part, consisting of eleven chapters, describes the current understanding of the role of NO in the regulation of gene expression, NO signaling pathways and its role in the up-regulation of the endogenous defense system and programmed cell death. Furthermore, its interactions with other signaling molecules and plant hemoglobins under environmental and soil related abiotic stresses, including post-harvest stress in fruits, vegetables and ornamentals and wounding are discussed in detail. Together with the companion book Nitric Oxide in Plants: Metabolism and Role in Stress Physiology, this volume provides a concise overview of the field and offers a valuable reference work for teachers and researchers in the fields of plant physiology, biochemistry and agronomy.

This book is a collection of comprehensive reviewed chapters covering major physiological aspects, both production as well as biochemical aspects, of a plant under low temperature stress. Low temperature stress has been dealt in two parts, first between 10 to 00 C and secondly between 0 to -400 C. This book highlights the physiological aspects of plants under low temperature stress and explains the various adaptive measures plants undergo to tolerate low temperature stress. Essential information is provided on germination, growth and development, dry matter accumulation, partitioning and final yield of a crop plant. As physiology deals with morphological and biochemical aspect of all the basic processes, therefore an in depth understanding the major physiological issues in plants under high temperature will help plant breeders to tailor different crop plants with desirable physiological traits to do better under higher temperature. The present book is intended to cover the effects of low temperature stress on the various physiological aspects in plants. Not only in production physiology, this book also deals with major biochemical processes, like photosynthesis, nitrogen and lipid metabolism, mineral nutrition and plant growth hormones. Efforts have been made deal with different measures to mitigate the effects of low temperature stress on plants. This book will be an asset for post graduate students, faculty members, researchers engaged in not only in physiological studies but also agronomy, plant breeding and like subjects. In depth analysis of the major physiological processes in plants under low temperature stress that are presented in this book will help plant breeders for tailoring crops for desirable physiological traits needed to survive and to give better economic return under the threats of low temperature stress. This book is also helpful for policy planners and industries engaged in agribusiness in short term as well as long term gain.

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.

In the last half century, because of the raising world population and because of the many environmental issues posed by the industrialization, the amount of arable land per person has declined from 0.32 ha in 1961-1963 to 0.21 ha in 1997-1999 and is expected to drop further to 0.16 ha by 2030 and therefore is a severe menace to food security (FAO 2006). At the same time, about 12 million ha of irrigated land in the developing world has lost its productivity due to waterlogging and salinity. Waterlogging is a major problem for plant cultivation in many regions of the world. The reasons are in part due to climatic change that leads to the increased number of precipitations of great intensity, in part to land degradation. Considering India alone, the total area suffering from waterlogging is estimated to be about 3.3 million ha (Bhattacharya 1992), the major causes of waterlogging include super- ous irrigation supplies, seepage losses from canal, impeded sub-surface drainage, and lack of proper land development. In addition, many irrigated areas are s- jected to yield decline because of waterlogging due to inadequate drainage systems. Worldwide, it has been estimated that at least one-tenth of the irrigated cropland suffers from waterlogging.

Halophytes are those plant species that can tolerate high salt concentrations. There are diversified species of halophytes suited for growth in various saline regions around the world, e.g. coastal saline soil, soils of mangrove forests, wetlands, marshlands, lands of arid and semiarid regions, and agricultural fields. These plants can be grown in soil and water containing high salt concentrations and unsuitable for conventional crops, and can be good sources of food, fuel, fodder, fiber, essential oils, and medicine. Moreover, halophytes can be exploited as significant and major plant species for the desalination and restoration of saline soils, as well as phytoremediation. This book highlights recent advances in exploring the unique features of halophytes and their potential uses in our changing environment.

Recent changes in the pattern of agricultural practices from use of hazardous pesticides to natural (organic) cultivation has brought into focus the use of agriculturally important microorganisms for carrying out analogous functions. The reputation of plant growth promoting rhizomicroorganisms (PGPRs) is due to their antagonistic mechanisms against most of the fungal and bacterial phytopathogens. The biocontrol potential of agriculturally important microorganisms is mostly attributed to their bioactive secondary metabolites. However, low shelf life of many potential agriculturally important microorganisms impairs their use in agriculture and adoption by farmers. The focal theme of this book is to highlight the potential of employing biosynthesized secondary metabolites (SMs) from agriculturally important microorganisms for management of notorious phytopathogens, as a substitute of the currently available whole organism formulations and also as alternatives to hazardous synthetic pesticides. Accordingly, we have incorporated a comprehensive rundown of sections which particularly examine the SMs synthesized, secreted and induced by various agriculturally important microorganisms and their applications in agriculture. Section 1 includes discussion on biosynthesized antimicrobial secondary metabolites from fungal biocontrol agents. This section will cover the various issues such as development of formulation of secondary metabolites, genomic basis of metabolic diversity, metabolomic profiling of fungal biocontrol agents, novel classes of antimicrobial peptides. The section 1 will also cover the role of these secondary metabolites in antagonist-host interaction and application of biosynthesized antimicrobial secondary metabolites for management of plant diseases. Section 2 will discuss the biosynthesized secondary metabolites from bacterial PGPRs, strain dependent effects on plant metabolome profile, bio-prospecting various isolates of bacterial PGPRs for potential secondary metabolites and non-target effects of PGPR on microbial community structure and functions. Section 3 encompasses synthesis of antimicrobial secondary metabolites from beneficial endophytes, bio-prospecting medicinal and aromatic hosts and effect of endophytic SMs on plants under biotic and biotic stress conditions.

Grapevine is one of the most widely cultivated plant species worldwide. With the publication of the grapevine genome sequence in 2007, a new horizon in grapevine research has unfolded. Thus, we felt that a new edition of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology of the Grapevine could expand on all the latest scientific developments. In this edition and with the aid of 73 scientists from 15 countries, ten chapters describe new aspects of Grapevine Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology and eleven chapters have been revised and updated.

This book is intended to be a reference book for researchers, scientists and biotechnological companies, who want to be updated in viticultural research, but also it can be used as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students, who are interested in the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of Plants with an emphasis on the Grapevine.