The double helix architecture of DNA was elucidated in 1953. Twenty years later, in 1973, the discovery of restriction enzymes helped to create recombi nant DNA molecules in vitro. The implications of these powerful and novel methods of molecular biology, and their potential in the genetic manipulation and improvement of microbes, plants and animals, became increasingly evi dent, and led to the birth of modern biotechnology. The first transgenic plants in which a bacterial gene had been stably integrated were produced in 1983, and by 1993 transgenic plants had been produced in all major crop species, including the cereals and the legumes. These remarkable achieve ments have resulted in the production of crops that are resistant to potent but environmentally safe herbicides, or to viral pathogens and insect pests. In other instances genes have been introduced that delay fruit ripening, or increase starch content, or cause male sterility. Most of these manipulations are based on the introduction of a single gene - generally of bacterial origi- that regulates an important monogenic trait, into the crop of choice. Many of the engineered crops are now under field trials and are expected to be commercially produced within the next few years. The early successes in plant biotechnology led to the realization that further molecular improvement of plants will require a thorough understanding of the molecular basis of plant development, and the identification and charac terization of genes that regulate agronomically important multi genic traits.

From the pre-historic era to modern times, cereal grains have been the most important source of human nutrition, and have helped sustain the increasing population and the development of human civilization. In order to meet the food needs of the 21st century, food production must be doubled by the year 2025, and nearly tripled by 2050. Such enormous increases in food productivity cannot be brought about by relying entirely on conventional breeding methods, especially on less land per capita, with poor quality and quantity of water, and under rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions. Complementing and supplementing the breeding of major food crops, such as the cereals, which together account for 66% of the world food supply, with molecular breeding and genetic manipulation may well provide a grace period of about 50 years in which to control population growth and achieve sustainable development. In this volume, leading world experts on cereal biotechnology describe the production and commercialization of the first generation of transgenic cereals designed to substantially reduce or prevent the enormous losses to cereal productivity caused by competition with weeds, and by various pests and pathogens, which is an important first step in that direction.

The double helix architecture of DNA was elucidated in 1953. Twenty years later, in 1973, the discovery of restriction enzymes helped to create recombinant DNA molecules in vitro. The implications of these powerful and novel methods of molecular biology, and their potential in the genetic manipulation and improvement of microbes, plants and animals, became increasingly evident, and led to the birth of modern biotechnology. The first transgenic plants in which a bacterial gene had been stably integrated were produced in 1983, and by 1993 transgenic plants had been produced in all major crop species, including the cereals and the legumes. These remarkable achievements have resulted in the production of crops that are resistant to potent but environmentally safe herbicides, or to viral pathogens and insect pests. In other instances genes have been introduced that delay fruit ripening, or increase starch content, or cause male sterility. Most of these manipulations are based on the introduction of a single gene - generally of bacterial origin - that regulates an important monogenic trait, into the crop of choice. Many of the engineered crops are now under field trials and are expected to be commercially produced within the next few years. The early successes in plant biotechnology led to the realization that further molecular improvement of plants will require a thorough understanding of the molecular basis of plant development, and the identification and character ization of genes that regulate agronomically important multi genic traits.

The 10th IAPTC&B Congress, Plant Biotechnology 2002 and Beyond, was held June 23-28, 2002, at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, in Orlando, Florida, USA. It was attended by 1,176 scientists from 54 countries. The best and brightest stars of international plant biotechnology headlined the scientific program. It included the opening address by the President of the IAPTC&B, 14 plenary lectures, and 111 keynote lectures and contributed papers presented in 17 symposia covering all aspects of plant biotechnology. More than 500 posters supplemented the formal program. The distinguished speakers described, discussed and debated not only the best of science that has been done or is being done, but also how the power of plant biotechnology can be harnessed to meet future challenges and needs. The program was focused on what is new and what is exciting, what is state of the art, and what is on the cutting edge of science and technology. In keeping with the international mandate of the IAPTC&B, 73 of the 125 speakers were from outside the United States, representing 27 countries from every region of the world. The 10th IAPTC&B Congress was a truly world-class event.

The IAPTC&B, founded in 1963 at the first international conference of plant tissue culture organized by Philip White in the United States, currently has over 1,500 members in 85 countries. It is the largest, oldest, and the most comprehensive international professional organization in the field of plant biotechnology. The IAPTC&B has served the plant biotechnology community well through its many active national chapters throughout the World, by maintaining and disseminating a membership list and a website, by the publication of an official journal (formerly the Newsletter), and by organizing quadrennial international congresses in France (1970), the United Kingdom (1974), Canada (1978), Japan (1982), the United States (1963, 1986, 2002), The Netherlands (1990), Italy (1994), and Israel (1998). In addition, the IAPTC&B has a long tradition of publishing the proceedings of its congresses. Individually, these volumes have provided authoritative quadrennial reports of the status of international plant biotechnology. Collectively, they document the history of plant biotechnology during the 20th century. They are indeed a valuable resource.

We are pleased to continue this tradition by publishing this proceedings volume of the 10th IAPTC&B Congress. Regrettably, we are not able to publish seven of the lectures in full (only their abstracts are included).

The American and Canadian chapters of the IAPTC&B, the Plant Section of the Society for In Vitro Biology, and the University of Florida hosted the 10th IAPTC&B Congress. The Congress was a true partnership between academia and industry, and was generously supported by both groups (see list of donors/sponsors on back cover). A number of prominent international biotechnology companies and publishers participated in the very successful Science and Technology Exhibit (see accompanying list of exhibitors) The IAPTC&B awarded 84 fellowships to young scientists from 31 countries (see accompanying list of fellowship recipients) to support their participation in the Congress.

The beginnings of human civili zation can be traced back to the time , ne- ly 12 ,000 years ago , when th e early humans gradually ch anged from a life of hunting and gathering food , to producing food. This beginning of pri- tive agriculture ensured a dependable supply of food , and fostered the living together of people in groups and the development of s o c i e ty. During th is time, plant s e e ds were recognized a s a valuable s o ur c e of food and nutrition , and began to be used for growing plants for food. Ever s i n c e , plant seeds have played an important role in the development of the human civilization . Even today, s e e ds of a few crop s p e c i e s , s uc h as the cereals and legume s, are the primary s o u r c e of most human food , and the predominant commodity in international agriculture. Owing to their great importance as food for human s and in international trade , seeds have been a favorite object of s t u d y by developmental biologists and physiologi sts , nutritionist s and chem i sts . A wealth of useful information i s available on th e biology of seed s .

Plant Cell and Tissue Culture gives an exhaustive account of plant cell culture and genetic transformation, including detailed chapters on all major field and plantation crops. Part A presents a comprehensive coverage of all necessary laboratory techniques for the initiation, nutrition, maintenance and storage of plant cell and tissue cultures, including discussions on these topics, as well as on morphogenesis and regeneration, meristem and shoot tip culture, plant protoplasts, mutant cell lines, variation in tissue cultures, isogenic lines, fertilization control, cryopreservation, transformation, and the production of secondary metabolites. Part B then proceeds into detail on the specific in vitro culture of specific crops, including cereals, legumes, vegetables, potatoes, other roots and tubers, oilseeds, temperate fruits, tropical fruits, plantation crops, forest trees and ornamentals. Plant Cell and Tissue Culture is, and is likely to remain, the laboratory manual of choice, as well as a source of inspiration and a guide to all workers in the field.

From the pre-historic era to modern times, cereal grains have been the most important source of human nutrition, and have helped sustain the increasing population and the development of human civilization. In order to meet the food needs of the 21st century, food production must be doubled by the year 2025, and nearly tripled by 2050. Such enormous increases in food productivity cannot be brought about by relying entirely on conventional breeding methods, especially on less land per capita, with poor quality and quantity of water, and under rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions. Complementing and supplementing the breeding of major food crops, such as the cereals, which together account for 66% of the world food supply, with molecular breeding and genetic manipulation may well provide a grace period of about 50 years in which to control population growth and achieve sustainable development. In this volume, leading world experts on cereal biotechnology describe the production and commercialization of the first generation of transgenic cereals designed to substantially reduce or prevent the enormous losses to cereal productivity caused by competition with weeds, and by various pests and pathogens, which is an important first step in that direction.

The beginnings of human civili zation can be traced back to the time , ne- ly 12 ,000 years ago , when th e early humans gradually ch anged from a life of hunting and gathering food , to producing food. This beginning of pri- tive agriculture ensured a dependable supply of food , and fostered the living together of people in groups and the development of s o c i e ty. During th is time, plant s e e ds were recognized a s a valuable s o ur c e of food and nutrition , and began to be used for growing plants for food. Ever s i n c e , plant seeds have played an important role in the development of the human civilization . Even today, s e e ds of a few crop s p e c i e s , s uc h as the cereals and legume s, are the primary s o u r c e of most human food , and the predominant commodity in international agriculture. Owing to their great importance as food for human s and in international trade , seeds have been a favorite object of s t u d y by developmental biologists and physiologi sts , nutritionist s and chem i sts . A wealth of useful information i s available on th e biology of seed s .

Advances in molecular biology and cell culture techniques have provided impetus to investigations of plant mitochondria. The organization of mitochondrial genomes has been intensely studied in maize, wheat, Oenothera, petunia, Brassica, and a few other species. These investigations have disclosed an unusually large and plastic genome, a unique organization based on a master chromosome and subgenomic chromosomes, and extra mitochondrial elements. The structural RNAs of plant mitochondria have furnished several new and exciting discoveries; they include the import of tRNAs into the mitochondria, editing of mRNAs, and the relaxed' nature of mitochondrial gene promoters. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is the most common mitochondrial gene mutation; it has, therefore, received extraordinary attention. Several mitochondrial gene mutations have been implicated in causing CMS, and attention is now focusing on the mechanism that causes pollen sterility, and how nuclear restorer genes interact with CMS genes to suppress sterility. Recently, a few other mitochondrial genes have been identified and characterized, which affect important mitochondrial fusions. Mitochondrial polypeptides, both nuclear and mitochondrial, are being studied to learn how they interact to form functional complexes, and how proteins are imported into the mitochondria. Protoplasm fusion experiments have provided a new and exciting means of recombining mtDNA that have generated interesting mutants, including CMS. Mitochondrial DNA replication is focusing on plasmid-like DNA and their origins of replication. Together, these studies have furnished insights into the origin of plant mitochondrial genomes and the relationshipsamong plant species. This volume describes these many new and exciting findings on plant mitochondria.

Plant Cell and Tissue Culture gives an exhaustive account of plant cell culture and genetic transformation, including detailed chapters on all major field and plantation crops. Part A presents a comprehensive coverage of all necessary laboratory techniques for the initiation, nutrition, maintenance and storage of plant cell and tissue cultures, including discussions on these topics, as well as on morphogenesis and regeneration, meristem and shoot tip culture, plant protoplasts, mutant cell lines, variation in tissue cultures, isogenic lines, fertilization control, cryopreservation, transformation, and the production of secondary metabolites. Part B then proceeds into detail on the specific in vitro culture of specific crops, including cereals, legumes, vegetables, potatoes, other roots and tubers, oilseeds, temperate fruits, tropical fruits, plantation crops, forest trees and ornamentals. Plant Cell and Tissue Culture is, and is likely to remain, the laboratory manual of choice, as well as a source of inspiration and a guide to all workers in the field.

With the new techniques described in this volume, a new gene can be placed on the linkage map within only a few days. Leading researchers have updated the earlier edition to include the latest versions of DNA-based marker maps for a variety of important crops.

With the new techniques described in this volume, a new gene can be placed on the linkage map within only a few days. Leading researchers have updated the earlier edition to include the latest versions of DNA-based marker maps for a variety of important crops.

Until very recently genetic maps of higher plants were based almost entirely on morphological and biochemical traits. These maps are rapidly being replaced and/or supplemented with DNA-based marker maps based on the use of powerful new molecular techniques. The new high precision maps can be developed with comparative ease and rapidity. They have a much higher density of markers, which allows revelation of more and more restricted segments of the genome. One of the many revolutionary aspects of this technology is that linkage between molecular markers and traits of interest often can be detected in a single cross. The ability to hybridize probe after probe to the DNA of the same individuals of a segregating population allows one to pursue the analysis until linkage becomes evident. With morphological and biochemical markers used previously, a separate cross was required to test linkage with each new marker. It was seldom that more than three markers could be tested for linkage with the trait of interest in a single cross because of viability problems. With the new techniques described in this volume, a new gene could be placed on the linkage map within a few days instead of the much longer time required with the previous techniques. In this book, a group of leading researchers provide background information and the latest versions of DNA-based marker maps for a variety of important crops. These maps illustrate the state of the art today. The progress made during the past five years has been truly phenomenal.