Desert truffles are found in every known desert, irrespective of the habitat - cool or hot, loamy or acidic, sandy or heavy soil - the only common condition seems to be a limited supply of water. In contrast to 'true' truffles, desert truffles have evolved over time in different families, mainly within the order Pezizales. While in some arid areas, desert truffles have been traditionally used as food, in most regions interest has only recently been increasing, and truffles are now treasured for their nutritional value, as an income source and for research. This volume gives a comprehensive overview of the phylogeny, biology, mycorrhizal association, and distribution of desert truffles, their use, biochemical and medicinal properties, as well as their domestication and cultivation.

This volume offers an up-to-date overview of biotechnologically oriented barley research. It is structured into two major sections: the first focusing on current agricultural challenges and approaches to barley improvement, and the second providing insights into recent advances in methodology. Leading scientists highlight topics such as: the global importance of barley; genetic diversity and genebanks; domestication; shoot and inflorescence architecture; reproductive development; mineral nutrition; photosynthesis and leaf senescence; grain development; drought tolerance; viral and fungal pathogens; phytophagous arthropods; molecular farming; sequence resources; induced genetic variation and TILLING; meiotic recombination; Hordeum bulbosum; genome-wide association scans; genomic selection; haploid technology; genetic engineering; and whole plant phenomics. Providing comprehensive information on topics ranging from fundamental aspects to specific applications, this book offers a useful resource for scientists, plant breeders, teachers and advanced students in the fields of molecular and plant cell biology, plant biotechnology, and agronomy.

This Soil Biology volume examines our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in the beneficial effects transferred to plants by endophytes such as rhizobial, actinorhizal, arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts and yeasts. Topics presented include how symbiosis starts on the molecular level; chemical signaling in mycorrhizal symbiosis; genomic and functional diversity of endophytes; nitrogen fixation; nutrient uptake and cycling; as well as plant protection against various stress conditions. Further, the use of beneficial microorganisms as biopesticides is discussed, particularly the application of Plant Growth Promoter Rhizobacteria (PGPR) in agriculture with the aim to increase yields.

This Soil Biology volume examines our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in the beneficial effects transferred to plants by endophytes such as rhizobial, actinorhizal, arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts and yeasts. Topics presented include how symbiosis starts on the molecular level; chemical signaling in mycorrhizal symbiosis; genomic and functional diversity of endophytes; nitrogen fixation; nutrient uptake and cycling; as well as plant protection against various stress conditions. Further, the use of beneficial microorganisms as biopesticides is discussed, particularly the application of Plant Growth Promoter Rhizobacteria (PGPR) in agriculture with the aim to increase yields.

Proceedings of a Seminar in the CEC Programme of the Coordination of Research on Plant Protein Improvement, held in Gembloux, Belgium, Sept. 3-5, 1985

Manyexcitingdiscoveriesinrecentdecadeshavecontributednewknowledgeto ourunderstandingofthemechanismsthatregulatevariousstagesofplantgrowth anddevelopment. Suchinformation,coupledwithadvancesincellandmolecular biology,isfundamentaltocropimprovementusingbiotechnologicalapproaches. Twovolumesconstitutethepresentwork. The?rst,comprising22chapters, commenceswithintroductionsrelatingtogeneregulatorymodelsforplantdev- opmentandcropimprovement,particularlytheuseofArabidopsisasamodelplant. Thesechaptersarefollowedbyspeci?ctopicsthatfocusondifferentdevelopmental aspectsassociatedwithvegetativeandreproductivephasesofthelifecycleofa plant. Six chapters discuss vegetative growth and development. Their contents considertopicssuchasshootbranching,buddormancyandgrowth,thedevel- ment of roots, nodules and tubers, and senescence. The reproductive phase of plantdevelopmentisin14chaptersthatpresenttopicssuchas?oralorganinit- tionandtheregulationof?owering,thedevelopmentofmaleandfemalegametes, pollengerminationandtubegrowth,fertilization,fruitdevelopmentandripening, seed development, dormancy, germination, and apomixis. Male sterility and self-incompatibilityarealsodiscussed. Volume2has20chapters,threeofwhichreviewrecentadvancesinsomatic embryogenesis,microsporeembryogenesisandsomaclonalvariation. Sevenofthe chapterstargetplantprocessesandtheirregulation,includingphotosynthatepartiti- ing,seedmaturationandseedstorageproteinbiosynthesis,theproductionandregu- tionoffattyacids,vitamins,alkaloidsand?owerpigments,and?owerscent. This secondbookalsocontainsfourchaptersonhormonalandenvironmentalsignaling (aminocompounds-containinglipids,auxin,cytokinin,andlight)intheregulationof plantdevelopment;othertopicsencompassthemoleculargeneticsofdevelopmental regulation,includingRNAsilencing,DNAmethylation,epigenetics,activationt- ging,homologousrecombination,andtheengineeringofsyntheticpromoters. Thesebookswillserveaskeyreferencesforadvancedstudentsandresearchers involved in a range of plant-orientated disciplines, including genetics, cell and molecularbiology,functionalgenomics,andbiotechnology. August2009 E-C. PuaandM. R. Davey v Contents PartI CellDifferentiationandDevelopmentInVitro 1 DevelopmentalBiologyofSomaticEmbryogenesis ...3 R. J. Rose,F. R. Mantiri,S. Kurdyukov,S-K. Chen,X-D. Wang, K. E. Nolan,andM. B. Sheahan 1. 1 Introduction ...3 1. 2 BasicRequirementsforInVitroSE ...4 1. 3 ExplantandStemCellBiology ...5 1. 3. 1 Genotype ...5 1. 3. 2 ExplantCells ...6 1. 4 EarliestEventinEmbryogenesis-AsymmetricCellDivision ...8 1. 4. 1 CellWallinEstablishmentofPolarity,DivisionAsymmetry andCellFate ...8 1. 4. 2 DivisionAsymmetryintheInitiationofSE ...10 1. 4. 3 AsymmetricDivisionandtheSuspensorinSE ...10 1. 5 StressComponentintheInitiationofSE ...11 1. 5. 1 ReactiveOxygenSpecies ...11 1. 5. 2 Stress-RelatedHormoneSignalling ...12 1. 6 HormonesandtheInitiationofSE ...13 1. 7 InductionofSEbyOver-ExpressionofLeafyCotyledon TranscriptionFactorsandTheirRelationshiptoSEInductionand Repression-theGAConnection ...14 1. 8 ABA,StressandGA ...16 1. 9 SolubleSignalsandCell-CellInteractionsthatPromoteSEin SuspensionCultures ...16 1. 9. 1 SecretedProteinsthatIn?uenceSE ...16 1. 9. 2 AGPSignallinginSE:MechanismsandInteractionsBetween SignallingPathways ...17 1. 9. 3 Cell-AsymmetricCellDivision ...8 1. 4. 1 CellWallinEstablishmentofPolarity,DivisionAsymmetry andCellFate ...8 1. 4. 2 DivisionAsymmetryintheInitiationofSE ...10 1. 4. 3 AsymmetricDivisionandtheSuspensorinSE ...10 1. 5 StressComponentintheInitiationofSE ...11 1. 5. 1 ReactiveOxygenSpecies ...11 1. 5. 2 Stress-RelatedHormoneSignalling ...12 1. 6 HormonesandtheInitiationofSE ...13 1. 7 InductionofSEbyOver-ExpressionofLeafyCotyledon TranscriptionFactorsandTheirRelationshiptoSEInductionand Repression-theGAConnection ...14 1. 8 ABA,StressandGA ...16 1. 9 SolubleSignalsandCell-CellInteractionsthatPromoteSEin SuspensionCultures ...16 1. 9. 1 SecretedProteinsthatIn?uenceSE ...16 1. 9. 2 AGPSignallinginSE:MechanismsandInteractionsBetween SignallingPathways ...17 1. 9. 3 Cell-Manyexcitingdiscoveriesinrecentdecadeshavecontributednewknowledgeto ourunderstandingofthemechanismsthatregulatevariousstagesofplantgrowth anddevelopment. Suchinformation,coupledwithadvancesincellandmolecular biology,isfundamentaltocropimprovementusingbiotechnologicalapproaches. Twovolumesconstitutethepresentwork. The?rst,comprising22chapters, commenceswithintroductionsrelatingtogeneregulatorymodelsforplantdev- opmentandcropimprovement,particularlytheuseofArabidopsisasamodelplant. Thesechaptersarefollowedbyspeci?ctopicsthatfocusondifferentdevelopmental aspectsassociatedwithvegetativeandreproductivephasesofthelifecycleofa plant. Six chapters discuss vegetative growth and development. Their contents considertopicssuchasshootbranching,buddormancyandgrowth,thedevel- ment of roots, nodules and tubers, and senescence. The reproductive phase of plantdevelopmentisin14chaptersthatpresenttopicssuchas?oralorganinit- tionandtheregulationof?owering,thedevelopmentofmaleandfemalegametes, pollengerminationandtubegrowth,fertilization,fruitdevelopmentandripening, seed development, dormancy, germination, and apomixis. Male sterility and self-incompatibilityarealsodiscussed. Volume2has20chapters,threeofwhichreviewrecentadvancesinsomatic embryogenesis,microsporeembryogenesisandsomaclonalvariation. Sevenofthe chapterstargetplantprocessesandtheirregulation,includingphotosynthatepartiti- ing,seedmaturationandseedstorageproteinbiosynthesis,theproductionandregu- tionoffattyacids,vitamins,alkaloidsand?owerpigments,and?owerscent. This secondbookalsocontainsfourchaptersonhormonalandenvironmentalsignaling (aminocompounds-containinglipids,auxin,cytokinin,andlight)intheregulationof plantdevelopment;othertopicsencompassthemoleculargeneticsofdevelopmental regulation,includingRNAsilencing,DNAmethylation,epigenetics,activationt- ging,homologousrecombination,andtheengineeringofsyntheticpromoters. Thesebookswillserveaskeyreferencesforadvancedstudentsandresearchers involved in a range of plant-orientated disciplines, including genetics, cell and molecularbiology,functionalgenomics,andbiotechnology. August2009 E-C. PuaandM. R. Davey v Contents PartI CellDifferentiationandDevelopmentInVitro 1 DevelopmentalBiologyofSomaticEmbryogenesis ...3 R. J. Rose,F. R. Mantiri,S. Kurdyukov,S-K. Chen,X-D. Wang, K. E. Nolan,andM. B. Sheahan 1. 1 Introduction ...3 1. 2 BasicRequirementsforInVitroSE ...4 1. 3 ExplantandStemCellBiology ...5 1. 3. 1 Genotype ...5 1. 3. 2 ExplantCells ...6 1. 4 EarliestEventinEmbryogenesis-AsymmetricCellDivision ...8 1. 4. 1 CellWallinEstablishmentofPolarity,DivisionAsymmetry andCellFate ...8 1. 4. 2 DivisionAsymmetryintheInitiationofSE ...10 1. 4. 3 AsymmetricDivisionandtheSuspensorinSE ...10 1. 5 StressComponentintheInitiationofSE ...11 1. 5. 1 ReactiveOxygenSpecies ...11 1. 5. 2 Stress-RelatedHormoneSignalling ...12 1. 6 HormonesandtheInitiationofSE ...13 1. 7 InductionofSEbyOver-ExpressionofLeafyCotyledon TranscriptionFactorsandTheirRelationshiptoSEInductionand Repression-theGAConnection ...14 1. 8 ABA,StressandGA ...16 1. 9 SolubleSignalsandCell-CellInteractionsthatPromoteSEin SuspensionCultures ...16 1. 9. 1 SecretedProteinsthatIn?uenceSE ...16 1. 9. 2 AGPSignallinginSE:MechanismsandInteractionsBetween SignallingPathways ...17 1. 9. 3 Cell-CellInteractionandRelevancetoSEinSuspension Cultures ...18 vii viii Contents 1. 10 DevelopmentProgramAfterSEInduction ...19 1. 11 ConcludingRemarksandaModelBasedonStudiesin Medicagotruncatula ...19 1. 12 SEandBiotechnology ...20 References ...21 2 MicrosporeEmbryogenesis ...27 A. Olmedilla 2. 1 Introduction ...27 2. 2 DiscoveryoftheProductionofHaploidsbyAntherCulture ...29 2. 3 StrategiesfortheInductionofMicrosporeEmbryogenesis ...29 2. 4 In?uenceofDifferentFactorsinMicrosporeEmbryogenesis ...30 2. 4. 1 Genotype ...30 2. 4. 2 DonorPlantPhysiology ...31 2. 4. 3 StageofPollenDevelopment ...

This book provides comprehensive information on the latest tools and techniques of molecular genetics and their applications in crop improvement. It thoroughly discusses advanced techniques used in molecular markers, QTL mapping, marker-assisted breeding, and molecular cytogenetics.

The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Ecosystems describes the beneficial role of plant growth promoting bacteria with special emphasis on oil yielding crops, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Chapters present studies on various aspects of bacteria-plant interactions, soil-borne and seed-borne diseases associated with food crops such as rice, sesame, peanuts, and horticultural crops. Further reviews describe technologies to produce inoculants, the biocontrol of post harvest pathogens as a suitable alternative to agrochemicals, and the restoration of degraded soils.

Development of transgenic crop plants, their utilization for improved agriculture, health, ecology and environment and their socio-political impacts are currently important fields in education, research and industries and also of interest to policy makers, social activists and regulatory and funding agencies. This work prepared with a class-room approach on this multidisciplinary subject will fill an existing gap and meet the requirements of such a broad section of readers. Volume 2 with 13 chapters contributed by 41 eminent scientists from nine countries deliberates on the utilization of transgenic crops for resistance to herbicides, biotic stress and abiotic stress, manipulation of developmental traits, production of biofuel, biopharmaceuticals and algal bioproducts, amelioration of ecology and environment and fostering functional genomics as well as on regulations and steps for commercialization, patent and IPR issues, and compliance to concerns and compulsions of utilizing transgenic plants.

The entire range of the developmental processes in plants is regulated by a shift in the hormonal concentration, tissue sensitivity and their interaction with the factors operating around them. Out of the recognized hormones, attention has largely been focused on five - Auxins, Gibberellins, Cytokinin, Abscisic acid and Ethylene. However, the information about the most recent group of phytohormone (Brassinosteroids) has been incorporated in this book. This volume includes a selection of newly written, integrated, illustrated reviews describing our knowledge of Brassinosteroids and aims to describe them at the present time. Various chapters incorporate both theoretical and practical aspects and may serve as baseline information for future researches through which significant developments are possible. This book will be useful to the students, teachers and researchers, both in universities and research institutes, especially in relation to biological and agricultural sciences.

The improvement of crop species has been a basic pursuit since cultivation began thousands of years ago. To feed an ever increasing world population will require a great increase in food production. Wheat, corn, rice, potato and few others are expected to lead as the most important crops in the world. Enormous efforts are made all over the world to document as well as use these resources. Everybody knows that the introgression of genes in wheat provided the foundation for the "Green Revolution". Later also demonstrated the great impact that genetic resources have on production. Several factors are contributing to high plant performance under different environmental conditions, therefore an effective and complementary use of all available technological tools and resources is needed to meet the challenge.

Deals with the historical perspectives and the current status of doubled haploid production along with its practical implications in basic and applied research. It highlights various haploid production methods with a comprehensive discussion on their pros and cons, bottlenecks, and embryogenic pathways. The review also describes in detail the results of molecular and genomic studies conducted to investigate the underlying principles of this spectacular technique that has changed the status of many species from recalcitrant to responsive over the last ninety years. "

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.

The rapid population growth and the increase in the per capita income, especially in the group of emerging countries referred to as BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has created huge pressure for the expansion of the agricultural growing area and the crop yields to meet the rising demand. As a result, many areas that have been considered marginal for growing crops, due to their low fertility, drought, salinity, and many other abiotic stresses, have now been incorporated in the production system. Additionally, climate change has brought new challenges to agriculture to produce food, feed, fiber and biofuels. To cope with these new challenges, many plant breeding programs have reoriented their breeding scope to stress tolerance in the last years. The authors of this book have collected the most recent advances and discoveries applied to breeding for abiotic stresses in this book, starting with new physiological concepts and breeding methods, and moving on to discuss modern molecular biological approaches geared to the development of improved cultivars tolerant to most sorts of abiotic stress. Written in an easy to understand style, this book is an excellent reference work for students, scientists and farmers interested in learning how to breed for abiotic stresses scenarios, presenting the state-of-the-art in plant stresses and allowing the reader to develop a greater understanding of the basic mechanisms of tolerance to abiotic stresses and how to breed for them.

To cope with the increasing problems created by agrochemicals such as plant fertilizers, pesticides and other plant protection agents, biological alternatives have been developed over the past years. These include biopesticides, such as bacteria for the control of plant diseases, and biofertilizer to improve crop productivity and quality. Especially plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are as effective as pure chemicals in terms of plant growth enhancement and disease control, in addition to their ability to manage abiotic and other stresses in plants. The various facets of these groups of bacteria are treated in this Microbiology Monograph, with emphasis on their emergence in agriculture. Further topics are Bacillus species that excrete peptides and lipopeptides with antifungal, antibacterial and surfactant activity, plant-bacteria-environment interactions, mineral-nutrient exchange, nitrogen assimilation, biofilm formation and cold-tolerant microorganisms.

The global population is projected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, and food and feed production will need to increase by 70%. Wheat, maize and sorghum are three key cereals which provide nutrition for the majority of the world's population. Their production is affected by various abiotic stresses which cause significant yield losses. The effects of climate change also increase the frequency and severity of such abiotic stresses. Molecular breeding technologies offer real hope for improving crop yields. Although significant progress has been made over the last few years, there is still a need to bridge the large gap between yields in the most favorable and most stressful conditions. This book: - Provides a valuable resource for wheat, maize and sorghum scientists working on breeding and molecular biology, physiology and biotechnology. - Presents the latest in-depth research in the area of abiotic stress tolerance and yield improvements. - Contains the necessary information to allow plant breeders to apply this research to effectively breed new varieties of these crops. It provides a consolidated reference for plant breeders and crop scientists working on the challenges of enhanced crop productivity and climate change adaptability.

SpringerBriefs in Biotech Patents presents timely reports on intellectual properties (IP) issues and patent aspects in the field of biotechnology. In this volume the limits of patentability are addressed, a question that is often raised when it comes to biotechnological inventions: The first section addresses current issues in the patentability of plants produced by essentially biological processes including the controversy between farmer's privilege and patent exhaustion with respect to seeds in the US. The second section examines the patentability of human embryonic stem cells in Europe and the US, also considering alternative technologies with respect to their practicability and patentability. The third section focuses on the patentability of genes and nucleic acids, especially the issue of patenting of encoding genes and nucleic acids.

Molecular farming in plants is a relatively young subject of sciences. As plants can offer an inexpensive and convenient platform for the large-scale production of recombinant proteins with various functions, the driven force from the giant market for recombinant protein pharmaceuticals and industrial enzymes makes this subject grow and advance very quickly. To summarize recent advances, current challenges and future directions in molecular farming, international authorities were invited to write this book for researchers, teachers and students who are interested in this subject. This book, with the focus on the most advanced cutting-edge breakthroughs, covers all the essential aspects of the field of molecular farming in plants: from expression technologies to downstream processing, from products to safety issues, and from current advances and holdups to future developments.

This book is a collection of chapters concerning the use of biomass for the sustainable production of energy and chemicals-an important goal that will help decrease the production of greenhouse gases to help mitigate global warming, provide energy security in the face of dwindling petroleum reserves, improve balance of payment problems and spur local economic development. Clearly there are ways to save energy that need to be encouraged more. These include more use of energy sources such as, among others, manure in anaerobic digesters, waste wood in forests as fuel or feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, and conservation reserve program (CRP) land crops that are presently unused in the US. The use of biofuels is not new; Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil as fuel in the ?rst engines he developed (Chap. 8), and ethanol was used in the early 1900s in the US as automobile fuel [Songstad et al. (2009) Historical perspective of biofuels: learning from the past to rediscover the future. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Plant 45:189-192). Brazil now produces enough sugar cane ethanol to make up about 50% of its transportation fuel needs (Chap. 4). The next big thing will be cellulosic ethanol. At present, there is also the use of Miscanthus x giganteous as fuel for power plants in the UK (Chap. 2), bagasse (sugar cane waste) to power sugar cane mills (Chap. 4), and waste wood and sawdust to power sawmills (Chap. 7).

Plant tissue culture is an essential component of Biotechnology which has gained unbeatable recognition in plant sciences for successful micropropagation and improvement of plant species, leading to the commercial application. A number of plant species have been investigated around the globe. This book presents current research on the application of in vitro technology in the improvement of Balanites aegyptiaca Del., a medicinal plant of semi-arid tropics. The worldwide importance of forestry, summed to the lengthy generation cycles of tree species, makes unavoidable development of new technologies that complement conventional tree breeding programmes in order to obtain improved genotypes. Recently, a new set of tools has become available in the past 20 years that combined with traditional plant breeding will allow scientists to generate products that are genetically improved varieties of the future. These set of tools come under the general title of Biotechnology . The three specific biotechnological tools have been successfully used in several programmes of plant conservation, namely, tissue culture techniques for in vitro propagation, the use of molecular markers to assess the degree of variability among population and techniques of long-term conservation such as encapsulation and cryopreservation. Plant tissue culture techniques are particularly relevant and become an alternative not only for large scale propagation of individuals that are threatened, reduce production costs and increase gains to the industry, but also to provide ecological advantages as in phytoremediation or in the establishment of artificial plantings in weed infested site. The book gives a complete documentation of the results and demonstration of Balanites aegyptiaca conducted by the authors over the past 5 years. The end-to-end approach developed through plant tissue culture techniques is reflected in the book and there has been a successful transfer of technology from lab to field. The authors hope that this information would provide valuable data and also be a reference material for future research activities in this area."

Plant breeding, the domestication and systematic improvement of crop species, is the basis of past and present agriculture. Our so called primitive progenitors selected practically all our present-day crop plants, and the improvement wrought through millenia of selection has so changed some of them that in many cases their links to the past have been obliterated. There is no doubt that this ranks among the greatest of human achievements. Although plant breeding has been a continuous empirical activity for as long as humans have forsaken the vagaries and thrill of hunting for the security and toil of agriculture, genetic crop improvement is now very much of a twentieth-century discipline. Its scientific underpinnings date to the beginning of this century with the discovery of Gregor Mendel's classic 1865 paper on the inheritance of seven characters in the garden pea. If any science can be traced to single event, the best example is surely found in the conception of modern genetics that appears in this single creative work. The relationship of plant breeding progress to advances in genetics has become closely entwined. Mendel himself was concerned with crop improvement and worked on schemes for apple and pear breeding. Plant breeding also has claims on other scientific and agricultural disci plines-botany, plant pathology, biochemistry, statistics, taxonomy, entomology, and cytology, to name a few-and has also impinged on our social, ethical, economic, and political consciousness."

Reproductive biology is the basis of species improvement and a thorough understanding of this is needed for plant improvement, whether by conventional or biotechnological methods. This book presents an up to date and comprehensive description of reproduction in lower plants, gymnosperms and higher plants. It covers general plant biology, pollination, pollen-pistil interaction, post-fertilization changes, and seed dormancy.

The food, feed, ?ber, and fuel needs of the changing world pose the challenge of doubling or tripling of world food, feed, and ?ber production by the year 2050 to meet the needs of a 11 billion global population. In addition, the dramatic changes in food prices in the recent years further warrant that production and productivity need to be enhanced to ensure adequate supplies. Biotechnology can make a signi?cant contribution to this effort as demonstrated by cotton and other crops; the new advances in biotechnology have made it possible to develop plants that contain genes that were not possible to be developed by sexual means. Cotton has been a leader in the use of biotechnology. With the introduction of Bt cotton, followed by stacked cotton products (insect and herbicide tolerance) and extensive use of molecular breeding tools, cotton cultivation has been much improved. The contributions in this book illustrate the scienti?c advances that are going on in cotton and the impact they continue to deliver for all cotton growers. Twelve percent of the global cotton area is now under biotech products at 15. 5 million ha. The primary bene?ts from using genetically engineered cotton include reduced insecticide use, lower production costs, improved yields, lower farming risks, and increased opportunities to grow cotton in areas of severe pest infestation.

Bioremediation is a rapidly advancing field and the technology has been applied successfully to remediate many contaminated sites. The goal of every soil remediation method is to enhance the degradation, transformation, or detoxification of pollutants and to protect, maintain and sustain environmental quality.

Advances in our understanding of the ecology of microbial communities capable of breaking down various pollutants and the molecular and biochemical mechanisms by which biodegradation occurs have helped us in developing practical soil bioremediation strategies. Chapters dealing with the application of biological methods to soil remediation are contributed from experts authorities in the area of environmental science including microbiology and molecular biology from academic institutions and industry."

view than its own proper males should fecundate each blossom." ANDREW KNIGHT Philosophical Transactions, 1799 Pollination mechanisms and reproduction have a decisive bearing upon rational procedures in plant breeding and crop production. This book intends to furnish' under one cover an integrated botanical, genetical and breeding-methodologi cal treatment of the reproductive biology of spermatophytes mainly angiosperms; it is based on an advanced topical course in plant breeding taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusa lem. We have tried to present a coverage which is concise, but as comprehensive as possible, of the pollination mechanism and modes of reproduction of higher plants, and to illustrate topics, whenever practicable, by examples from cultivated plants. Nevertheless, some relevant publications may have escaped our attention or may not be mentioned because of various limitations. The book is organized into three parts. The first part starts with an evaluation of the significance of the different pollination mechanisms for plant breeding and crop produc tion, describes modes of reproduction in higher plants and discusses ecology and dynamics of pollination. The second part is devoted to crops propagated by self pollination and describes specific breeding procedures for such crops. The third part details sexual reproduction in higher plants and handles three mechanisms involved in the prevention of self pollination and their utilization in plant breeding: sex expres sion, incompatibility, and male sterility."