Plants have to manage a series of environmental stresses throughout their entire lifespan. Among these, abiotic stress is the most detrimental; one that is responsible for nearly 50% of crop yield reduction and appears to be a potential threat to global food security in coming decades. Plant growth and development reduces drastically due to adverse effects of abiotic stresses. It has been estimated that crop can exhibit only 30% of their genetic potentiality under abiotic stress condition. So, this is a fundamental need to understand the stress responses to facilitate breeders to develop stress resistant and stress tolerant cultivars along with good management practices to withstand abiotic stresses. Also, a holistic approach to understanding the molecular and biochemical interactions of plants is important to implement the knowledge of resistance mechanisms under abiotic stresses. Agronomic practices like selecting cultivars that is tolerant to wide range of climatic condition, planting date, irrigation scheduling, fertilizer management could be some of the effective short-term adaptive tools to fight against abiotic stresses. In addition, "system biology" and "omics approaches" in recent studies offer a long-term opportunity at the molecular level in dealing with abiotic stresses. The genetic approach, for example, selection and identification of major conditioning genes by linkage mapping and quantitative trait loci (QTL), production of mutant genes and transgenic introduction of novel genes, has imparted some tolerant characteristics in crop varieties from their wild ancestors. Recently research has revealed the interactions between micro-RNAs (miRNAs) and plant stress responses exposed to salinity, freezing stress and dehydration. Accordingly transgenic approaches to generate stress-tolerant plant are one of the most interesting researches to date. This book presents the recent development of agronomic and molecular approaches in conferring plant abiotic stress tolerance in an organized way. The present volume will be of great interest among research students and teaching community, and can also be used as reference material by professional researchers.

Diverse Applications of Nanotechnology in the Biological Sciences: An Essential Tool in Agri-Business and Health Care Systems explores the diverse roles that nanobiotechnology plays in the medical sciences, pharmacy, healthcare, and in plants and agriculture. Looking at the diverse applications of nanotechnology in the healthcare field, the chapter authors discuss its importance in drug delivery, biomedical imaging and medical diagnostics, and healthcare management. The volume emphasizes how nanomedicine can treat different types of cancers and can improve medical imaging for the diagnosis of different kinds of diseases, resulting in quicker and more accurate diagnosis and better treatment options. The volume delves into nanobiotechnology in plants and its application in nanofertilizers and nano-pesticides in agriculture. It also documents how agri-nanobiotechnology can be a tool for innovative green technology that can be applied for global food security, biodiversity, and climate change solutions. The themes of nanobiotechnology in medicine and in plants are merged in the chapter on the types and therapeutic effects of plant product-based nanomedicine for malignancies. The potential toxicity of nanoparticles in plants is also elucidated. This volume provides an insightful overview of nanobiotechnology in medicine and in plants and agriculture that will be valuable for researchers and scientists and faculty and students in the areas of nanobiotechnology, agriculture, plant molecular biology, and medicine and healthcare.