This book presents edited and revised papers from the seventh International Workshop on Seeds, held in Salamanca, Spain, in May 2002. The key topics addressed include seed development, germination and dormancy, as well as desiccation, seed ecology and seed biotechnology.

The germination of seeds is a magical event, in which a pinch of dust-like material may give rise to all the power and the beauty of the growing plant. The mechanisms of seed dormancy, of the breaking of seed dormancy and of germination itself continue to remain shrouded in mystery, despite the best efforts of plant scientists. Perhaps we are getting there, but very slowly. This book considers germination and dormancy from the point of view of plant physiology. Plant physiologists attempt to understand the relation ship between plant form and function and to explain, in physical and chemical terms, plant growth and development. The place of germination and dormancy in plant ecophysiology is taken into account with attempts to understand the seed in its .environment, whether the environment be natural, semi-natural or wholly artificial. In due course plant scientists hope to develop a precise understanding of germination and dormancy in cellular and molecular terms, and therefore there is some biochemistry in this book. Biochemists who wish to learn something about seeds should find this book useful."

This book describes how competition between plant species, and succession in plant ecosystems, operate in grasslands and grazed pastures, both natural and sown. It discusses how competition both affects botanical structure, productivity and persistence of pastures and is itself regulated by biological, environmental and management factors, such as grazing animals. The book also examines the ways in which competition and succession are analyzed, evaluated and measured, and brings to the agricultural arena the considerable progress made in understanding the principles of competition from theoretical and experimental ecology.

This open access book presents simple, robust pre-field screening protocols that allow plant breeders to screen for enhanced tolerance to heat stress in rice. Two critical heat-sensitive stages in the lifecycle of the rice crop are targeted - the seedling and flowering stages - with screening based on simple phenotypic responses. The protocols are based on the use of a hydroponics system and/or pot experiments in a glasshouse in combination with a controlled growth chamber where the heat stress treatment is applied. The protocols are designed to be effective, simple, reproducible and user-friendly. The protocols will enable plant breeders to effectively reduce the number of plants from a few thousands to less than 100 candidate individual mutants or lines in a greenhouse/growth chamber, which can then be used for further testing and validation in the field conditions. The methods can also be used to classify rice genotypes according to their heat tolerance characteristics. Thus, different types of heat stress tolerance mechanisms can be identified, presenting opportunities for pyramiding different (mutant) sources of heat stress tolerance.

This book focuses on the previously neglected interface between the conservation of plant genetic resources and their utilization. Only through utilization can the potential value of conserved genetic resources be realized. However, as this book shows, much conserved germplasm has to be subjected to long-term pre-breeding and genetic enhancement before it can be used in plant breeding programs.The authors explore the rationale and approaches for such pre-breeding efforts as the basis for broadening the genetic bases of crop production. Examples from a range of major food crops are presented and issues analyzed by leading authorities from around the world.

The Sixth International Congress on Photosynthesis took place from 1 to 6 August 1983, on the Campus of the "Vrije Universiteit Brussel", in Brussels, Belgium. These Proceedings contain most of the scientific contributions offered during the Congress. The Brussels Congress was the largest thus far held in the series of International Congresses on Photosynthesis. It counted over 1100 active participants. The organizers tried to minimize the disadvantages of such a large size by making maximum use of the facili ties available on a university campus. Most contributions were offered in the form of posters which were displayed in a substantial number of classrooms. The discussion sessions, twice a day, four or five in parallel, took place in lecture rooms in the very vicinity of these classrooms. In this way it was attempted to generate the atmosphere of a small meeting. The unity of the subject Photosynthesis was preserved in the ten plenary lectures, organ~sed in such a way that a general overview of two diverse topics was given every day. In addition, there were the five times four parallel symposia dealing with some six teen general topics. Every editor of proceedings of a congress is faced with the problem of editing and arranging the contributions, a problem compounded by the wide diversity and the large number of the 753 manuscripts.

The use of inducible gene expression systems is a rapidly developing area of plant molecular biological research. There is considerable interest in the use of these systems as research tools, not only because they allow expression of genes which may be, for example, developmentally lethal, but also because they allow for controlled experiments to be performed in a true isogenic background. They also have the potential to provide a means by which desired characters are expressed in field-based systems in the future.

The population of the world continues to increase at an alarming rate. The trouble linked with overpopulation ranges from food and water scarcity to inadequacy of space for organisms. Overpopulation is also linked with several other demographic hazards, for instance, population blooming will not only result in exhaustion of natural repositories, but it will also induce intense pressure on the world economy. Today nanotechnology is often discussed as a key discipline of research but it has positive and negative aspects. Also, due to industrialization and ever-increasing population, nano-pollution has been an emerging topic among scientists for investigation and debate. Nanotechnology measures any substance on a macromolecular scale, molecular scale, and even atomic scale. More importantly, nanotechnology deals with the manipulation and control of any matter at the dimension of a single nanometer. Nanotechnology and nanoparticles (NPs) play important roles in sustainable development and environmental challenges as well. NPs possess both harmful and beneficial effects on the environment and its harboring components, such as microbes, plants, and humans. There are many beneficial impacts exerted by nanoparticles, however, including their role in the management of waste water and soil treatment, cosmetics, food packaging, agriculture, biomedicines, pharmaceuticals, renewable energies, and environmental remedies. Conversely, NPs also show some toxic effects on microbes, plants, as well as human beings. It has been reported that use of nanotechnological products leads to the more accumulation of NPs in soil and aquatic ecosystems, which may be detrimental for living organisms. Further, toxic effects of NPs on microbes, invertebrates, and aquatic organisms including algae, has been measured. Scientists have also reported on the negative impact of NPs on plants by discussing the delivery of NPs in plants. Additionally, scientists have also showed that NPs interact with plant cells, which results in alterations in growth, biological function, gene expression, and development. Thus, there has been much investigated and reported on NPs and plant interactions in the last decade. This book discusses the most recent work on NPs and plant interaction, which should be useful for scientists working in nanotechnology across a wide variety of disciplines.

The range of nanomaterial applications has expanded recently from catalysis, electronics, and filtration to therapeutics, diagnostics, agriculture, and food because of unique properties and potentials of different nanoparticles and nanomaterials. Research shows that these exquisite particles can interact with an organism at the cellular, physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels. However, our knowledge of how they affect these changes, selectively or generally, in diverse organism or ecosystems is very limited and far from satisfactory. Data indicate that the biological function largely depends on the shape, size, and surface characteristics of the nanoparticles used besides life cycle stages of an organism. Therefore, this compilation will focus on the body of work carried out by distinguished investigators using diverse nanomaterials and plant and animal species. This book includes specific case studies as well as general review articles highlighting aspects of multilayered interactions, and targets not only research and academic scholars but also the concerned industry and policy makers as well.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of carotenoid biosynthesis by different organisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, arthropods, and plants. Carotenoids are thought to provide health benefits in areas such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, NAFLD, NASH, obesity, age-related functional decline, and as a result, they have received an increasing amount of attention. With contributions from leading experts in biology, biotechnology, and chemistry of carotenoid research, this volume discusses the biological functions of carotenoids such as astaxanthin, -cryptoxanthin, and fucoxanthin, in addition to paprika carotenoids, capsanthin, and capsorubin. It also reveals the technologies behind the commercial production of some functional carotenoids. The book is targeted for academic and industrial readers in biology, biotechnology, nutrient physiology and related fields.

This book offers effective, low-cost and user-friendly protocols for the pre-field selection of salt-tolerant mutants in cereal crops. It presents simple methods for measuring soil salinity, including soil sampling and the analysis of water-soluble salts, and describes a detailed, but simple, screening test for salt tolerance in rice, wheat and barley seedlings, which uses hydroponics. The protocols are devised for use by plant breeders and can be easily accommodated into breeding practice.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. By 2050, human population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. The demand for increased food production needs to be met from ever reducing resources of land, water and other environmental constraints. Rice remains the staple food source for a majority of the global populations, but especially in Asia where ninety percent of rice is grown and consumed. Climate change continues to impose abiotic and biotic stresses that curtail rice quality and yields. Researchers have been challenged to provide innovative solutions to maintain, or even increase, rice production. Amongst them, the 'green super rice' breeding strategy has been successful for leading the development and release of multiple abiotic and biotic stress tolerant rice varieties. Recent advances in plant molecular biology and biotechnologies have led to the identification of stress responsive genes and signaling pathways, which open up new paradigms to augment rice productivity. Accordingly, transcription factors, protein kinases and enzymes for generating protective metabolites and proteins all contribute to an intricate network of events that guard and maintain cellular integrity. In addition, various quantitative trait loci associated with elevated stress tolerance have been cloned, resulting in the detection of novel genes for biotic and abiotic stress resistance. Mechanistic understanding of the genetic basis of traits, such as N and P use, is allowing rice researchers to engineer nutrient-efficient rice varieties, which would result in higher yields with lower inputs. Likewise, the research in micronutrients biosynthesis opens doors to genetic engineering of metabolic pathways to enhance micronutrients production. With third generation sequencing techniques on the horizon, exciting progress can be expected to vastly improve molecular markers for gene-trait associations forecast with increasing accuracy. This book emphasizes on the areas of rice science that attempt to overcome the foremost limitations in rice production. Our intention is to highlight research advances in the fields of physiology, molecular breeding and genetics, with a special focus on increasing productivity, improving biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional quality of rice.

Plants, being sessile and autotrophic in nature, must cope with challenging environmental aberrations and therefore have evolved various responsive or defensive mechanisms including stress sensing mechanisms, antioxidant system, signaling pathways, secondary metabolites biosynthesis, and other defensive pathways among which accumulation of osmolytes or osmo-protectants is an important phenomenon. Osmolytes with organic chemical nature termed as compatible solutes are highly soluble compounds with no net charge at physiological pH and nontoxic at higher concentrations to plant cells. Compatible solutes in plants involve compounds like proline, glycine betaine, polyamines, trehalose, raffinose family oligosaccharides, fructans, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and sugar alcohols playing structural, physiological, biochemical, and signaling roles during normal plant growth and development. The current and sustaining problems of climate change and increasing world population has challenged global food security. To feed more than 9 billion, the estimated population by 2050, the yield of major crops needs to be increased 1.1-1.3% per year, which is mainly restricted by the yield ceiling. A major factor limiting the crop yield is the changing global environmental conditions which includes drought, salinity and extreme temperatures and are responsible for a reduction of crop yield in almost all the crop plants. This condition may worsen with a decrease in agricultural land or the loss of potential crop yields by 70%. Therefore, it is a challenging task for agricultural scientists to develop tolerant/resistant varieties against abiotic stresses. The development of stress tolerant plant varieties through conventional breeding is very slow due to complex multigene traits. Engineering compatible solutes biosynthesis by deciphering the mechanism behind the abiotic tolerance or accumulation in plants cell is a potential emerging strategy to mitigate adverse effects of abiotic stresses and increase global crop production. However, detailed information on compatible solutes, including their sensing/signaling, biosynthesis, regulatory components, underlying biochemical mechanisms, crosstalk with other signaling pathways, and transgenic development have not been compiled into a single resource. Our book intends to fill this unmet need, with insight from recent advances in compatible solutes research on agriculturally important crop plants.

Due to the huge quantity and diverse nature of their metabolic pathways, fungi have great potential to be used for the production of different biofuels such as bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel. This book presents recent advances, as well as challenges and promises, of fungal applications in biofuel production, subsequently discussing plant pathogenic fungi for bioethanol and biodiesel production, including their mechanisms of action. Additionally, this book reviews biofuel production using plant endophytic fungi, wood-rotting fungi, fungal biocontrol agents, and gut fungi, and it investigates highly efficient fungi for biofuel production and process design in fungal-based biofuel production systems. Finally, life cycle assessment of fungal-based biofuel production systems are discussed in this volume.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. In horticulture, agriculture, and food science, plants' reproductive physiology is an important topic relating to fruits and vegetables, the main consumable parts of plants. All aspects of plant physiology, including plants' reproductive systems, are important to the production of food, fibers, medicine, cosmetics, and even fuels. This volume presents many new studies on plants' reproductive systems, including new research on sperm cells in plant reproduction; the effect of herbivory on plant reproduction; disturbances to functional diversity; plant genes, hormones, DNA; and much more.

Allelopathic studies may be defined in various aspects; weed against weed/crop and vice versa. This book focuses on the ways to utilize the allelopathic potential of weeds or crops for controlling weeds in the agroecosystems. Vigorous use of herbicides is poisoning our environment at an alarming rate; allelopathy can be employed as a useful alternative to control weeds naturally under field conditions. The book contains chapters on the history of allelopathy; allelopathic potential of several important crops (rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, mustard, sunflower) and weeds (members of Solanaceae, Convolvulaceae, Asteraceae, Verbenaceae). Moreover, it highlights how the allelopathic potential of these weeds and crops can be employed effectively to suppress weeds under field conditions. The book also discusses topics on the role of allelochemicals in agroecosystems; impact on local flora; biotic stress induced by allelochemicals; mechanism of action of allelochemicals and future prospective of allelopathy. Prepared with basic concepts and importance of allelopathy, this book is intended for the agricultural community, botanists, students and researchers.

Over the past decade the world has seen the rise of the fascinating and diverse field currently recognized as nanotechnology. This book covers a broad spectrum of topics within nanotechnology, including synthesis techniques, various innovative characterization techniques, growth mechanisms of nanomaterials, the physics and chemistry of nanomaterials, diverse functionalization methods, and the various applications of nanomaterials in biology, therapeutics, energy, food science, and environmental science. It also discusses applications of nanostructured materials, integrative applications such as nano- and micro-electronic sensor devices, as well as agricultural and environmental remediation applications. The book also includes a discussion of advances in functionalized nanomaterials (0D, 1D, 2D and 3D) and covers the early stages of the development of functionalized nanostructures, considering the future for 2D nanomaterials and 3D objects. Additionally, it includes a chapter on nanomaterial research development that highlights work on the life-cycle analysis of nanostructured materials and toxicity aspects. This book proves useful for researchers and professionals working in the field of nanomaterials and green technology, as well as in the field of nanotechnology. It should be useful to students and specialized researchers in a number of disciplines ranging from biology, chemistry, and materials science to engineering and manufacturing in both academia and industry.

To respond to the increasing need to feed the world's population as well as an ever greater demand for a balanced and healthy diet there is a continuing need to produce improved new cultivars or varieties of plants, particularly crop plants. The strategies used to produce these are increasingly based on our knowledge of relevant science, particularly genetics, but involves a multidisciplinary understanding that optimizes the approaches taken.

"Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2nd Edition" introduces both classical and molecular tools for plant breeding. Topics such as biotechnology in plant breeding, intellectual property, risks, emerging concepts (decentralized breeding, organic breeding), and more are addressed in the new, updated edition of this text. Industry highlight boxes are included throughout the text to contextualize the information given through the professional experiences of plant breeders. The final chapters provide a useful reference on breeding the largest and most common crops.Up-to-date edition of this bestselling book incorporating the most recent technologies in the fieldCombines both theory and practice in modern plant breedingUpdated industry highlights help to illustrate the concepts outlined in the textSelf assessment questions at the end of each chapter aid student learning Accompanying website with artwork from the book available to instructors

This book is the first comprehensive assemblage of contemporary knowledge relevant to genomics and other omics in date palm. Volume 2 consists of 11 chapters. Part I, Nutritional and Pharmaceuticals Properties, covers the utilization of date palm as an ingredient of various food products, a source of bioactive compounds and the production of nanomaterials. Part II, Omics Technologies, addresses omics resources, proteomics and metabolomics. Part III, Molecular Breeding and Genome Modification, focuses on genetic improvement technologies based on mutagenesis, quantitative traits loci and genome editing. Part IV, Genomics of Abiotic and Biotic Stress, covers metagenomics of beneficial microbes to enhance tolerance to abiotic stress and the various genomics advances as they apply to insect control. This volume represents the efforts of 34 international scientists from 12 countries and contains 65 figures and 19 tables to illustrate presented concepts. Volume 1 is published under the title: Phylogeny, Biodiversity and Mapping.

This up-to-date review of seed genomics, from basic seed biology to practical applications in crop science, provides a thorough background understanding of seed biology from a basic science perspective. A valuable resource for advanced graduate students, post-docs, researchers and professionals in the Plant and Crop Sciences, this book brings together top researchers in the field to cover three general themes: genomic approaches to studying seeds, genomic analysis of basic seed biology, and crop seed genomics.A valuable resource for advanced graduate students, post-docs, researchers and professionals in the Plant and Crop Sciences

Effective fruit production requires general knowledge of fruit husbandry such as nutrition, propagation, pruning and training, effects of climate and crop protection as well as specific cultivation techniques for each fruit. Fully revised and expanded to include organic fruit production, this new edition provides a thorough introduction to the cultivation of fruit found throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world.

This book introduces the reader to the exciting new field of plant philosophy and takes it in a new direction to ask: what does it mean to say that plants are sexed? Do 'male' and 'female' really mean the same when applied to humans, trees, fungi and algae? Are the zoological categories of sex really adequate for understanding the - uniquely 'dibiontic' - life cycle of plants? Vegetal Sex addresses these questions through a detailed analysis of major moments in the history of plant sex, from Aristotle to the modern day. Tracing the transformations in the analogy between animals and plants that characterize this history, it shows how the analogy still functions in contemporary botany and asks: what would a non-zoocentric, plant-centred philosophy of vegetal sex be like? By showing how philosophy and botany have been and still are inextricably entwined, Vegetal Sex allows us to think vegetal being and, perhaps, to recognize the vegetal in us all.

The main practical breakthrough of this century is nanobiotechnology, an amalgamation of biology and nanotechnology based on the standards and methods of metabolism. The field mainly involves the analysis, synthesis and the links between molecular biology, nutritional science and nanotechnology. In addition, the field involves the links between other life sciences branches, since the improvement of nanotechnology strategies might be directed by considering the structure and the capability of nanoparticles present in the living cells. This book is a comprehensive evaluation of the latest nanobiotechnological developments, with an emphasis on applications, especially in aquaculture. It outlines, in-depth, modern techniques, and includes a variety of important sources that make this the perfect resource for researchers in this captivating world of nanobiotechnology.

To be published in 30 volumes,Flora of North America represents the first and only comprehensive taxonomic guide to the extraordinary diversity of plant life blanketing our continent north of Mexico. The collaborative effort of more than 30 major U.S. and Canadian botanical institutions, this ground-breaking scholarly series revises and synthesizes literally thousands of floristic monographs and regional floras published over the last three centuries. family, Rosaceae. Flora of North America Volume 9 includes four families - Picramniaceae (bitter-bush family), Staphyleaceae (bladdernut family), Crossosomataceae (crossosoma family), and Rosaceae (rose family). This volume contains treatments of nearly 700 species with over 98% of them being species of Rosaceae. Every genus has representative taxa illustrated to aid in plant identification and to demonstrate the morphological variation that exists for these families in North America.by Many economically important plants with edible fruits are members of the Rosaceae, with both native and introducede species known and consumed by people: apples, pears,clature, peaches, almonds, apricots, plums, cherries, strawberries,e blackberries, and raspberries are probably the most commonly utilized. Other members of the Rosaceae, many of greatare horticultural interest worldwide, are also noteworthy in the North American flora, including roses, hawthorns,h keys to cinquefoils, firethorns, quinces, chokecherries, shadbushes, mountain ashes, and loquats. Concise, easy to use, and beautifully bound and illustrated, Flora of North America is an indispensable working resource for botanists, conservationists, ecologists, agronomists,now foresters, range and land managers, horticulturists - anyone with a series interest in the distribution, habitat, morphology, and survival of the wide-ranging plant life around us.