This edited book covers all aspects of omics approaches used for the varietal improvement of millets in changing climatic conditions. Millets are the collection of small-grained cereal grasses, that are grown for human carbohydrate needs. They are among the oldest crops, mainly divided into two groups - Major and small millets based on seed size. Small millets are earlier considered orphan crops, but recently due to their nutritional values, they are getting importance in cultivation. This book explores the genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and other omics tools that are being widely used to get a clear understanding of mechanistic approaches taken by plant genes to tolerate stress. Various reports are published based on field breeding on these crops, and recently the genome of some of the small millets is released, and many omics studies are published related to its application in varietal improvements. This book reviewed all those recent studies and is of interest to research students, plant breeding scientists, teachers that are working in agriculture and plant biotech universities. Along with this, the book serves as reference material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, and biotechnology. National and international agricultural scientists, policymakers will also find this to be a useful read.

which individuals are heterozygous (H). A review by Selander (1976] comparing these param eters in various populations has been followed by many other studies. In the present volume, J. B. Mitton has used H to evaluate the importance of heterozygosity in natural populations. The degree of polymorphism expressed by P, has been used in several contributions to approach various problems of population genetics. particularly breeding structure and mating systems by Hamrick, Barrett and Shore, Brown, Burdon and Jarosz. as well as Soltis and Soltis, and Wyatt. Stoneburner. and Odrzykoski. New knowledge derived from these investigations has strengthened a point of view already stressed by Darwin: evolution takes place in a complex environment, that can be constantly changing over long periods of time. or can alternate between long periods of relative stability and cycles of rapid change. The most successful plant species become adjusted to these vagaries in several ways, including shifts in heterozygosity. polymorphism and mating systems. The strength of isozyme ana ysis for testing hypotheses is well illustrated by the contribution of the Soltises, who have shown clearly that a previously held hypothesis, predicting self fertilization fortified by polyploid genetic segregations in ferns, must be rejected."

The threat of climate displacement looms large over a growing number of countries. Based on the more than six years of work by Displacement Solutions in ten climate-affected countries, academic work on displacement and climate adaptation, and the country-level efforts of civil society groups in several frontline countries, this report explores the key contention that land will be at the core of any major strategy aimed at preventing and resolving climate displacement. This innovative and timely volume coordinated and edited by the Founder of Displacement Solutions, Scott Leckie, examines a range of legal, policy and practical issues relating to the role of land in actively addressing the displacement consequences of climate change. It reveals the inevitable truth that climate displacement is already underway and being tackled in countries such as Bangladesh, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United States, and proposes a series of possible land solution tools that can be employed to protect the rights of people and communities everywhere should they be forced to flee the places they call home.

With the continued effects of climate change threatening the security of the global food system, there is a greater emphasis on ensuring successful crop establishment as a means of optimising agricultural production. Advances in seed science and technology for more sustainable crop production considers how an improved understanding of seed quality, germination and seedling emergence can address this challenge. The book reviews the development of new techniques to ensure seed quality control, including seed phenotyping, as well as the role of genetic and environmental factors in determining seed longevity. In its comprehensive exploration of seed science and technology, the book highlights how an informed understanding of seed biology can contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change on seed quality and consequently crop production.

This book provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the recent developments in cotton production and processing, including a number of genetic approaches, such as GM cotton for pest resistance, which have been hotly debated in recent decades. In the era of climate change, cotton is facing diverse abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, toxic metals and environmental pollutants. As such, scientists are developing stress-tolerant cultivars using agronomic, genetic and molecular approaches. Gathering papers on these developments, this timely book is a valuable resource for a wide audience, including plant scientists, agronomists, soil scientists, botanists, environmental scientists and extention workers.

Plant improvement has shifted its focus from yield, quality and disease resistance to factors that will enhance commercial export, such as early maturity, shelf life and better processing quality. Conventional plant breeding methods aiming at the improvement of a self-pollinating crop usually take 10-12 years to develop and release of the new variety. During the past 10 years, significant advances have been made and accelerated methods have been developed for precision breeding and early release of crop varieties. This book focuses on the accelerated breeding technologies that have been adopted for major oil crops. It summarizes concepts dealing with germplasm enhancement and development of improved varieties based on innovative methodologies that include doubled haploidy, marker assisted selection, marker assisted background selection, genetic mapping, genomic selection, high-throughput genotyping, high-throughput phenotyping, mutation breeding, reverse breeding, transgenic breeding, shuttle breeding, speed breeding, low cost high-throughput field phenotyping, etc. This edited volume is therefore an excellent reference on accelerated development of improved crop varieties.

This book presents a study of meaning relations, linking the philosophical tradition of conceptual analysis with recent theories and methodologies in cognitive semantics. Its main concern is the extent to which analyzing meaning relations between cognate words reveal the infrastructure of the actual and mental lexicon, assuming that language mirrors thought. Sovran aims to elucidate their infrastructure and the metaphorical and perceptual models that constitute abstract concepts, dealing finally with the role of abstraction in poetic metaphors. Overall, this volume addresses major contemporary issues in the philosophy of language and theoretical semantics.

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

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. The field of plant physiology includes the study of all chemical and physical processes of plants, from the molecular-level interactions of photosynthesis and the diffusion of water, minerals, and nutrients within the plant, to the larger-scale processes of plant growth, dormancy and reproduction. This new book covers a broad array of topics within the field. Plant Physiology focuses on the study of the internal activities of plants, including research into the molecular interactions of photosynthesis and the internal diffusion of water, minerals, and nutrients. Also included are investigations into the processes of plant development, seasonality, dormancy, and reproductive control. The chapters focus on various aspects of plant physiology, including phytochemistry; interactions within a plant between cells, issues, and organs; ways in which plants regulate their internal functions; and how plants respond to conditions and variations within the environment. Given the environmental crises brought about by pollution and climate change, this is a particularly vital area of study, since stress from water loss, changes in air chemistry, or crowding by other plants can lead to changes in the way a plant function. Readers of this book will gain the information they need to stay current with the latest research being done in this essential field of study.

Key features: Presents the latest trends and developments of neuromediators in plants Provides in-depth coverage of plants enriched in neurotransmitters (especially serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine) and how they are used in medicine, pharmacy, and food nutrition Discusses the physiological role of the neurotransmitters (biomediators) in non-nervous systems including the analysis of effects on the growth and development and stress defense Covers the occurrence of the substances that act in human and animal nervous system in plants as a phenomenon of the universal irritability feature for biologists Reveals the occurrence and possible physiological functions of biogenic amines in plants, food, and human health New scientific data confirm the origin of neurotransmitters in the ancient ocean, whose inhabitants use the compounds in their relationships. One example is the algae Ulvaria, whose image is represented on the cover. During evolution, plant and microbial cells stored the neurotransmitters that play multifunctional roles today. Researchers have paid special attention to their functions in plants, the oxygen well of our planet. This book provides powerful tools for both analyzing and manipulating organisms, considering the functions of neurotransmitters in plant cells and the practical application of knowledge about acetylcholine, catecholamines, serotonin, melatonin, histamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamine for ecology, agriculture, medicine and food industries. Neurotransmitters in Plants: Perspectives and Applications presents information on: the location and biosynthesis where neurotransmitters occur the molecular biology of some enzymes participating in the process their role in vivo and in vitro processes their functions in plant environmental adaptation in plants their role in enriching the food and medicinal value of plants.

From the reviews of the 3rd edition: "The textbook of Walter Larcher (...) belongs certainly to the most successful manuals that ever existed." (Photosynthetica, Czech Republic)"(...) it continues to be one of the major texts in the field of ecophysiology."(Plant Growth Regulation, The Netherlands) "This book is really a must reading for those interested in sustainable forestry." (Journal of Sustainable Forestry, USA)"The book, (...), should be on the shelf of any scientist, teacher, or student seeking an introduction to the field of plant ecophysiology that is also an excellent reference." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, USA)

This third book in the three-volume Plant Secondary Metabolites examines the relationship between environmental stress and the physiology of plants, leading to stimulation of secondary metabolites. Various stressors are discussed, including plant and soil interfaces, changing climate elements, essential plant nutrients, pest insects, plant pathogens and microrganisms, and more. The chapters, written by experienced experts, also address the diverse utilization of plant-originated secondary metabolites and more.

In the modern world, to meet increasing energy demands we need to develop new technologies allowing us to use eco-friendly carbon-neutral energy sources. Solar energy as the most promising renewable source could be the way to solve that problem, but it is variable depending on day time and season. From this side, the understanding of photosynthesis process could be of significant help for us to develop effective strategies of solar energy capturing, conversion, and storage. Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis, annually producing around 100 billion tons of dry biomass. Presently, the detailed studies of photosynthetic system structure make functional investigations of the photosynthetic process available, allowing scientists to construct artificial systems for solar energy transduction. This book summarizes exciting achievements in understanding of photosynthetic structures and mechanisms of this process made by world leaders in photosynthesis field, and contains information about modern ideas in development of revolutionary new technologies of energy conversion. Organized according to the natural sequence of events occurring during photosynthesis, the book includes information of both photosynthetic structures and mechanisms and its applications in bioenergetics issues.

Mimicry is a classic example of adaptation through natural selection. The traditional focus of mimicry research has been on defence in animals, but there is now also a highly-developed and rapidly-growing body of research on floral mimicry in plants. This has coincided with a revolution in genomic tools, making it possible to explore which genetic and developmental processes underlie the sometimes astonishing changes that give rise to floral mimicry. Being literally rooted to one spot, plants have to cajole animals into acting as couriers for their pollen. Floral mimicry encompasses a set of evolutionary strategies whereby plants imitate the food sources, oviposition sites, or mating partners of animals in order to exploit them as pollinators. This first definitive book on floral mimicry discusses the functions of visual, olfactory, and tactile signals, integrating them into a broader theory of organismal mimicry that will help guide future research in the field. It addresses the fundamental question of whether the evolutionary and ecological principles that were developed for protective mimicry in animals can also be applied to floral mimicry in plants. The book also deals with the functions of floral rewardlessness, a condition which often serves as a precursor to the evolution of mimicry in plant lineages. The authors pay particular attention to the increasing body of research on chemical cues: their molecular basis, their role in cognitive misclassification of flowers by pollinators, and their implications for plant speciation. Comprehensive in scope and conceptual in focus, Floral Mimicry is primarily aimed at senior undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in plant science and evolutionary biology.

This book deals with the most widespread of root symbiosis, arbuscular mycorrhizas, an essential component of soil/plant systems occurring in the majority of plant species in natural agro-ecosystems. It is intended to aid the environmental researcher in finding relevant methods quickly, and as a general reference work it will well serve field ecologists, laboratory biologists and other workers in plant biology and soil microbiology. The volume contains the most recent advances in (I) the field of the development of biomolecular methods adapted to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; (II) the promotion of innovative ecological research which considers biodiversity, in order to better understand the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizas in sustainable agriculture and natural ecosystems; (III) elucidating the role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in plant development and root morphology; and (IV) defining the cellular and molecular basis of plant-fungus exchanges. An article concerning The European Bank of Glomales, an essential tool for efficient international and interdisciplinary collaboration, is also included.

This book delivers current state-of-the-science knowledge of tree ecophysiology, with particular emphasis on adaptation to a novel future physical and chemical environment. Unlike the focus of most books on the topic, this considers air chemistry changes (O3, NOx, and N deposition) in addition to elevated CO2 effects and its secondary effects of elevated temperature. The authors have addressed two systems essential for plant life: water handling capacity from the perspective of water transport; the coupling of xylem and phloem water potential and flow; water and nutrition uptake via likely changes in mycorrhizal relationships; control of water loss via stomata and its retention via cellular regulation; and within plant carbon dynamics from the perspective of environmental limitations to growth, allocation to defences, and changes in partitioning to respiration. The authors offer expert knowledge and insight to develop likely outcomes within the context of many unknowns. We offer this comprehensive analysis of tree responses and their capacity to respond to environmental changes to provide a better insight in understanding likelihood for survival, as well as planning for the future with long-lived, stationary organisms adapted to the past: trees.

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.

Plants depend on physiological mechanisms to combat adverse environmental conditions, such as pathogen attack, wounding, drought, cold, freezing, salt, UV, intense light, heavy metals and SO2. Many of these cause excess production of active oxygen species in plant cells. Plants have evolved complex defense systems against such oxidative stress. The study of these mechanisms has become a fast-moving, important field to many biologists. Written and edited by world-leading scientists, Oxidative Stress in Plants explores the current knowledge of the mechanisms by which various biotic and abiotic environmental stress conditions produce oxygen radicals. The text considers the biochemistry and molecular biology of both non-enzymatic (vitamin C, glutathione) and enzymatic systems which eliminate active oxygen species. In addition, the book discusses evidence that active oxygen species and antioxidants act as signals which trigger defense reactions.

Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 23
A much clearer picture is now emerging of the fine structure of the plant cuticle and its surface, the composition of cuticular waxes and the biosynthetic pathways leading to them. Studies assessing the impact of UV radiation on plant life have emphasized the role of the cuticle and underlying epidermis as optical filters for solar radiation. The field concerned with the diffusive transport of lipophilic organic non-electrolytes across the plant cuticle has reached a state of maturity. A new paradigm has recently been proposed for the diffusion of polar compounds and water across the cuticle. In the context of plant ecophysiology, cuticular transpiration can now be placed in the perspective of whole-leaf water relations. New and unexpected roles have been assigned to the cuticle in plant development and pollen-stigma interactions. Finally, much progress has been made in understanding the cuticle as a specific and extraordinary substrate for the interactions of the plant with microorganisms, fungi and insects.

This volume details the major developments of recent years in this important interdisciplinary area. It is directed at researchers and professionals in plant biochemistry, plant physiology, plant ecology, phytopathology and environmental microbiology, in both the academic and industrial sectors.

In-depth knowledge of the chemistry of medicinal plants is essential in understanding the manifold utilities of such plants; and to enhance our understanding of the quality of raw materials, extracts and formulations; and in marketing plant-derived drugs. The selection of plants studied in this treatise is based on its significance, and its representation of members of different taxonomic families as well as of different classes (and subclasses) of compounds. All the available data on the chemical compounds and the pharmacological studies on these plants/compounds have been incorporated. The plants are arranged by the type and nature of chemical compounds they contain. Secondary metabolites have been included in this volume due to their great therapeutic role.

The book will describe the xylem structure of different plant groups, and will put the findings in a physiological and ecological context. For instance, when differences in vessel diameter are featured, then there will be an explanation why this matters for water transport efficiency and safety from cavitation. The focus is on the hydraulic function of xylem, although mechanical support and storage will also be covered. Featured plant groups include ferns (which only have primary xylem), conifers (tracheid-based xylem), lianas (extremely wide and long vessels), drought-adapted shrubs as well as the model systems poplar and grapevine. The book chapters will draw on the expertise and cutting edge research of a diversified group of internationally known researchers working in different anatomical and physiological sub-disciplines. Over the last two decades, much progress has been made in understanding how xylem structure relates to plant function. Implications for other timely topics such as drought-induced forest dieback or the regulation of plant biomass production will be discussed.

This is the first volume to provide comprehensive coverage of the biology of water use efficiency at molecular, cellular, whole plant and community levels. While several works have included the phenomenon of water use efficiency, and others have concentrated on an agronomic framework, this book represents the first detailed treatment with a biological focus.

The volume sets out the definitions applicable to water use efficiency, the fundamental physiology and biochemistry governing the efficiency of carbon" vs "water loss, the environmental regulation of this process and the detailed physiological basis by which the plant exerts control over such efficiency. It is aimed at researchers and professionals in plant physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, developmental biology and agriculture. It will also inform those involved in formulating research and development policy in this topic around the world.

Introduction. The distribution of stomata. The structure and development of stomata. The mechanics of stomatal environments. The theory of gas diffusion through stomata. Stomatal responses to environmental factors. The influence of hormones and other naturally occurring compounds on stomatal behaviour. Ionic relations of stomatal movements and signal transduction by guard cells. Guard cell metabolism. Recent developments and future research.

The aim of this monograph is to highlight various mechanisms followed by plants to overcome the high light stress and photoinhibition, and also the plant responses to low light levels. Emphasis has been on the regulation of light harvesting process, the avoidance phenomena at leaf and chloroplast levels and the strategy followed by certa in solar tracking plants in maximizing the light interception without photoinhibitory damage, leading to improvement of diurnal photosynthetic rate. Plant adjustment to light variations over a long term, through the acclimation process brought about by changes in gene function and specific reconstruction of chloroplast has also been discussed. Although the emphasis has been on higher plant systems, green algae and cyanobacterial examples are used wherever appropriate. This book will be a useful reference to advanced postgraduate students, research scientists and teachers interested in the area of photosynthesis research.