Arsenic contamination in drinking water and associated adverse outcomes is one of the major health issues in more than 50 countries worldwide. The scenario is getting even more detrimental with increasing number of affected people and newer sites reported from all over the world. Apart from drinking water, the presence of arsenic has been found in various other dietary sources. Threatening the health of millions of people due to arsenic’s toxicity and carcinogenicity, the major routes of arsenic exposure for humans are either through drinking water or crops. This edited volume brings together a diverse group of environmental science, sustainability, and health researchers to address the challenges posed by global mass poisoning caused by arsenic water contamination. The book sheds light on this global environmental issue and proposes solutions to aquatic contamination through multi-disciplinary sustainable approaches and case studies from different parts of world. This book addresses the problem of arsenic by pursuing a holistic approach. It presents the status quo in different parts of the world and provides essential information on food-related arsenic exposure risks for humans and possible preventive and curative measures for tackling arsenic poisoning. The mechanisms of arsenic uptake, translocation, and distribution in plants and grains are also explained. In closing, the book reviews a variety of prospective sustainable solutions to the problem of arsenic accumulation in soil and water. The book comprises three sections. First section describes the routes of exposure to environmental arsenic and its transport in soil and aquatic ecosystems including its source and distribution in specific locations. Second section explains the health risks linked to arsenic exposure in food and the environment. Third section addresses sustainable arsenic contamination mitigation strategies using the potential applications of recent biotechnological techniques, bioremediation, phytoremediation, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and in silico approaches. The book is intended for a broad audience including researchers, scientists, and readers with diverse backgrounds including agriculture, environmental science, food science, environmental management, and human health. It can also be used as an important reference guide for undergraduate and graduate students, university faculties, and environmentalists. The book may serve as a reference to environment and sustainability researchers, students, and policy makers.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction and review of state-of-the-art biotechnological tools in enhancement of bioactive compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants. Plant bioactive compounds are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological applications. These bioactive compounds are important as medicines, pigments, flavorings and drugs because most of the pharmaceutical industries are highly dependent on medicinal plants and their extraction. The book introduces a systematic overview of state-of-the-art biotechnological techniques such as Omics, Crisper /Cas9 and RNAi to enhance the plant bioactive contents as well as enlists various in vitro techniques, hairy root culture and transgenic technology to enhance plant bioactive contents using plant tissue culture approaches. The book also provides an overview of the role of induced mutation, biotic and abiotic stress to increase the bioactive contents in plants and discusses the significant role of endophytes to enhance the contents of plant bioactive compound. The book also opens discussions related to standard operating procedures using hydroponics system of cultivation for significant enhancement of bioactive compound(s) and much more. This book serves as an excellent reference book for the researchers working in the field of plant secondary metabolites and pharmaceutical industries at global level.

This book delivers an outline to graduate, undergraduate students, and researchers, as well as academicians who are working on lead toxicity with respect to remediation. It covers sources of lead contamination and its impact on human health and on prospective remediation through multi-disciplinary approaches with application of recent advanced biological technology. Lead is among the elements that have been most extensively used by man over time. This has led to extensive pollution of surface soils on the local scale, mainly associated with mining and smelting of the metal and addition of organic lead compounds to petrol. Release of lead to the atmosphere from various high-temperature processes has led to surface contamination on the regional and even global scale. In addition, plants grown on lead-rich soils incorporate lead, and thus, the concentration of lead in crop plants may be increased. Lead enters in the food chain through consumption of plant material. A high concentration of lead has been found to be harmful to vegetation. As the lead concentration increases, it adversely affects several biological parameters and eventually renders the soil barren. This edited book brings together a diverse group of researchers to address the challenges posed by global mass poisoning caused by lead contamination of soil and plants. The book sheds light on this global environmental issue and proposes solutions to contamination through multi-disciplinary approaches. This book contains three sections. The first section describes the different sources and distribution of lead in soil and plant ecosystems. The second section explains the health risks linked to lead toxicity. The third section addresses sustainable lead toxicity mitigation strategies and the potential applications of recent biological technology in providing solutions. This book is a valuable resource to students, academics, researchers, and environmental professionals doing fieldwork on lead contamination throughout the world.

Plant bioactive compounds are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological applications. These bioactive compounds are important as medicines, pigments and flavorings since most of the pharmaceutical industries are highly dependent on medicinal plants and their extraction. The types and concentrations of bioactive compounds produced by plants are determined by the species, genotype, physiology, developmental stage and environmental factors during growth, determining the physiological adaptive responses employed by various plant taxonomic groups in coping with the stress and defensive stimuli. In the past two decades there has been a renewed interest in the study of conventional aspects such as elicitors and biotic and abiotic stress factors that influence secondary metabolism during in vitro and in vivo growth of plants. the application of molecular biology tools and techniques are facilitating increased understanding of the signaling processes and pathways involved in the bioactive compounds production in subcellular, cellular, organ and whole plant systems during in vivo and in vitro growth, with application in the metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways intermediates. Biosynthesis and Manipulation of Bioactive compounds in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants provides a comprehensive introduction and review of the state-of-the-art biotechnological tools used in enhancement of bioactive compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants. Readers will find a systematic overview of techniques such as Omics, Crisper /Cas9 and RNAi to enhance plant bioactive contents including various in vitro techniques, hairy root culture and transgenic technology to enhance plant bioactive contents using plant tissue culture approaches. The chapters provide an overview of the role of induced mutation, biotic and abiotic stress to increase the bioactive contents in plants, plus the role of endophytes to enhance the contents of plant bioactive compounds and standard operating procedures using hydroponics system of cultivation for significant enhancement of bioactive compounds. This book serves as a single source for researchers working in plant secondary metabolites and the pharmaceutical industry.

Shows the importance of plant tissue culture and transgenic technology on plant biology research and its application to agricultural production Provides insight into what may lie ahead in this rapidly expanding area of plant research and development Contains contributions from major leaders in the field of plant tissue culture and transgenic technology

For the majority of the world's population, medicinal and aromatic plants are the most important source of life-saving drugs. Biotechnological tools represent important resources for selecting, multiplying and conserving the critical genotypes of medicinal plants. In this regard, in-vitro regeneration holds tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicines, while cryopreservation - a long-term conservation method using liquid nitrogen - provides an opportunity to conserve endangered medicinal and aromatic plants. In-vitro production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported for various medicinal plants, and bioreactors represent a key step toward the commercial production of secondary metabolites by means of plant biotechnology. Addressing these key aspects, the book contains 29 chapters, divided into three sections. Section 1: In-vitro production of secondary metabolites Section 2: In-vitro propagation, genetic transformation and germplasm conservation Section 3: Conventional and molecular approaches

Detailed overview of the alternative energy field and the role of biofuels as new energy sources Gives a detailed account of the production of biodiesel from non conventional bio-feedstocks such as algae, microbes and vegetable oils Recent updates about biotechnological improvement of plant and microbial source for biofuel production

For the majority of the world's population, medicinal and aromatic plants are the most important source of life-saving drugs. Biotechnological tools represent important resources for selecting, multiplying and conserving the critical genotypes of medicinal plants. In this regard, in-vitro regeneration holds tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicines, while cryopreservation - a long-term conservation method using liquid nitrogen - provides an opportunity to conserve endangered medicinal and aromatic plants. In-vitro production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported for various medicinal plants, and bioreactors represent a key step toward the commercial production of secondary metabolites by means of plant biotechnology. Addressing these key aspects, the book contains 29 chapters, divided into three sections. Section 1: In-vitro production of secondary metabolites Section 2: In-vitro propagation, genetic transformation and germplasm conservation Section 3: Conventional and molecular approaches