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This open access book is a compilation of advances in sweetpotato genomics, which have been used to improve our understanding of the evolution of sweetpotato, increase our knowledge of crop growth and development, and provided critical information required for genomic-assisted breeding in sweetpotato. Sweetpotato is a critical food staple for millions of people in the developing world that has long been considered an under-resourced, orphan crop. However, this perception is changing, and significantly, more resources have been devoted to the improvement of sweetpotato in both the private and public sectors around the world during the last decade. Its twelve chapters review the changing food security and commercial food product landscape of sweetpotato in the developed and developing world, global wild and cultivated genome sequencing efforts in sweetpotato, the evolution of molecular markers and the development of novel polyploid linkage mapping, quantitative trait loci and genomic selection strategies required for gene discovery in this complex crop, and the use of these new tool in sweetpotato crop improvement programs around the globe. This book is useful to students, teachers, and scientists in universities, research institutes, and private companies.

This book has combined information on the most recent agricultural practices and breeding methods for ornamental crops. The applications and benefits of hydroponics systems over traditional soil culture growing systems are also discussed. The role of current breeding tactics, such as gene editing tools like CRISPR Cas9, in the development of ornamental crop traits has been debated. The specifics of omics approaches to combat biotic and abiotic stresses in ornamental plants using modern breeding have been thoroughly studied. The critical significance of epigenetic control in ornamental plant development is also highlighted. This book discusses the importance of microbes in sustainable floriculture. Domestication and culture of wild ornamentals have also been considered. This book compiles an in-depth understanding of globally leading cultivated ornamentals and the most important cultivated ornamentals in India. Also, the important domains, i.e., pests and diseases and management in ornamentals and the economic services of ornamental cultivation are discussed. The most recent advances in urban floriculture and the future of smart horticulture have been examined. Nanotechnology uses in ornamental horticulture have been exclusively discussed. This book is a ready reckoner of the advances made in the field of ornamental horticulture for the scientists, graduate students, research scholars, breeders, farmers, and market managers of public and private sectors. This book will establish potential links between inter-disciplinary topics of research, such as aspects of floriculture, plant biotechnology, microbiology, and nanotechnology. This book series will take research in floriculture to a new frontier. This book serves as an excellent guide to formulating public-private collaborative research for future innovation in the floriculture frontiers.

As a reader of this book you will become familiar with current, up-to-date comprehensive knowledge about all classes of eukaryotic algae, the cyanobacteria, and symbiotic interactions of algae and cyanobacteria with other organisms. For example, the lichens are symbiotic consortia and a prominent example of a particularly successful ‘evolution by cooperation'. We expand even to the beginnings of terrestrial plant life and the bryophytes, which are gradually transmitting to the vascular plants. We collectively call this enormous phylogenetic wealth of photoautotrophic organisms the ‘new cryptogams', abandoning the traditional definition of cryptogams. The new cryptogams are all those autotrophic organisms that share being hydro-passive, meaning that they are unable of controlling water uptake or release, in contrast to vascular plants. While being basal of and phylogenetically much more diverse than the vascular plants, the new cryptogams are ecologically highly relevant in all ecosystems of our Planet. They are responsible for more than half of the Earth's annual oxygen production.

This edited volume presents recent advancements in genetic transformation and genome editing, offering a comprehensive understanding of their applications for creating more sustainable crops. These innovations are revolutionizing crop development, enhancing yields, and mitigating environmental challenges.The demand for sustainable crop production, driven by a growing global population and mounting environmental challenges, has never been more pressing. Genetic transformation and genome editing techniques offer precise and targeted ways to enhance crop traits, increase yields, and reduce the need for chemical inputs. The book traces the evolution of these technologies, from the early days of genetic modification to the current era of CRISPR-based genome editing. It covers cutting-edge technologies, from CRISPR-Cas9 to advanced gene editing techniques, while discussing the current scenario and future prospects of GM crops developed either by transgenic or genome editing approaches. The book explores the ethical and regulatory aspects surrounding genetic transformation, providing a complete perspective on this evolving domain.It is an essential read for researchers, students, and professionals in the fields of agriculture, plant sciences, biotechnology, agronomy, as well as policymakers.

This book discusses the importance of plants in terms of their natural bioactive products and medicinal, nutraceutical and health benefits. Plants are natural sources of many pharmaceutical compounds used in traditional and modern medicine, and their mass production and efficient use is imperative in view of the new emerging diseases. This book covers breakthroughs in the research of plant natural products by focusing on how different state-of-the-art biotechnologies facilitate their discovery, the molecular basis of their biosynthesis, as well as synthetic biology. Research on plant's natural products in the pre-genomic era was focused on discovering bioactive molecules with pharmaceutical activities, and identifying individual genes responsible for biosynthesis. In the post-genomics era, however, integration of inter-disciplinary approaches and detailed analysis of all accessible data from multi-informatics is necessary. This would accelerate the full characterization of biosynthetic and regulatory circuit for producing plant natural products.This book is an important reference book for the researchers working in the field of plant natural products and pharmaceutical industries at global level.

This edited volume provides insights into the current state of food and nutritional security, highlights the significance of micronutrients for human health, offers a historical perspective on biofortification, and covers current strategies and challenges. This book explores the role of multidisciplinary approaches to cope up with the challenges of major nutrient deficiency. Hidden hunger (aka micronutrient deficiencies), a prevalent global issue, refers to the chronic deficiency of essential micronutrients despite sufficient caloric intake. With over 2 billion affected individuals, particularly women and children in low-income countries, it impairs physical and cognitive development, increases disease susceptibility, and diminishes productivity. Despite economic progress, undernourishment remains prevalent in the developing countries including India. Among all nutrients, the deficiencies of iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin A are highly prevalent. Crop biofortification seems a sustainable solution to reduce the global burden of hidden hunger. Previous reports examined the genetic diversity related to micronutrients in germplasm of staple crops and their wild relatives. A number of biofortified crops have been developed by utilizing genetic diversity and biotechnological approaches. This book explores crop-specific biofortification initiatives and diverse approaches, encompassing both traditional and genomics-driven enhancements. It also enlightens the efficacy of biofortification, bioavailability, and future thrust. This book serves as a valuable resource for researchers, academics, extension workers, policymakers, students, and all those involved in agriculture, nutrition, and health. It focuses on promoting diets that are rich in nutrition, benefiting everyone along the value chain.

This book reviews all important aspects of plant genome editing to shed new light on these genome editing technologies together in crop improvement and sustainable agriculture. The book is divided into three areas: the first of which reinterprets plant genome studies from an overview perspective, examining the safety and risk assessment of plants as well as breeding-related outcomes. The second area discusses recent advances in the understanding of crop improvement. A wide range of plant stress tolerance in relation to plant genome editing is then addressed, before turning attention to specific species approaches including rice, maize, wheat, and soybean. The entire book is devoted to an updated knowledge of plant genome editing technologies from all aspects of plant biology and agronomy as we move toward advancements in sustainable life research. The book will be highly recommended for agriculture biologists, agronomists, plant pathologists, and all related research areas.

This open access book is an update of genome editing techniques applied to a range of plants. We discuss the latest techniques and applications to cereals, roots and tubers, oilseed crops, fruit and forest trees, vegetables, legumes and algae including resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, improved quality, drug production, yield and adaptation to climate change. The regulations in different countries worldwide, the patentibility and the perception by society of the applications of new genomic techniques are examined. This book is written by a multidisciplinary and multisectoral collective of high-profile scientists and other experts belonging to the COST Action network PlantEd, which is mainly European but with contributions from American, Australian, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Iranian, Pakistani and Peruvian scientists. The book is aimed at a wide audience consisting of students, academics, private and public breeders, other actors in the food and bioeconomy valuechains and policy and law makers.This is an open access book.

Biofortification of Grain and Vegetable Crops: Molecular and Breeding Approaches is a comprehensive overview of important food crops whose vitamin and mineral enhancement can contribute significantly to improved food and nutrition security. Providing the latest information on crops including cereals, oilseeds, legumes and vegetables, this book provides details of agronomic and molecular resources for enhanced mineral production. Each chapter focuses on a specific food crop and the unique opportunities offered by each through breeding practices. This will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics and those in industry who are exploring biotechnological approaches as a powerful tool to combat malnutrition. - Presents the potential of a variety of food crops for increased bioavailability of micronutrients - Enhances our understanding of agronomic and molecular mechanisms of biofortification - Provides insights to mitigate hidden hunger

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are predominantly unregulated anthropogenic chemicals that occur in air, soil, water, food, and plant/animal tissues in trace concentrations. ECs are persistent in the environment, capable of perturbing the physiology of target receptors and, therefore, are increasingly regarded as a subject of concern. This volume aims to enhance understanding of emerging contaminants'effects on plants and the environment and to highlight and address the need of sustainable and eco-friendly approaches in mitigating and remediating the effects of ECs. The book comprises chapters from diverse areas dealing with biotechnology, microbial technology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, remediation, and more. This volume will be useful to remediation practitioners, researchers, regulators and graduate students.

Kiwifruit is one of the few fruit crops that has been successfully introduced to the marketplace and for which commercial production in several countries has expanded rapidly over the last 50 years. Kiwifruit science and production has advanced significantly during this time, with multiple new green-, yellow- and red-fleshed cultivars being commercialized while moving into the era of genomics, sustainability, digital technology and automation. This book reviews the scientific and technical information published on kiwifruit, their biology and management. It provides a comprehensive reference on kiwifruit, including their history, genetic material, culture, physiology, pest and disease control, and fruit consumption. Particular attention is given to recent threats and opportunities, including environmental issues, the disease Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae, new genetics, new growing areas and technology advances. Contributions from a wide range of international specialists ensure coverage of key aspects of kiwifruit and their culture in different environments. Of particular interest to academic researchers in horticulture, the book is also suitable for a wider audience including extension personnel, growers, consultants, and professional and technical staff associated with the kiwifruit industry.

This contributed volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth and subject-based reviews on the current status of active ingredients, sustainable use, biodiversity and conservation of certain endangered medicinal plants. The book also explores conventional and non-conventional biotechnological interventions for their biodiversity conservation. Medicinal plants have been used in worldwide as a major source of raw material for the traditional herbal healthcare practices as well as for drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industry. The cumulative consequences of various human activities and environmental factors cause decline in the biodiversity of medicinal plants at an unprecedented rate worldwide. Thus, the overall understanding of ecology, species and genetic diversity along with assessment of the status of different threats and their impact on medicinal plants is crucial to sustain existing biodiversity, its utilization and conservation. All the latest advancements in the biotechnological approaches for the conservation research of endangered medicinal plants and the future perspectives have been described. This book provides comprehensive reviews spreading over about 25 chapters divided in three sections. The chapters of this book are written by recognized scientists in their respective fields which are useful to students, academicians, researchers, botanists, biotechnologists, policy makers, conservationists and industries interested in biodiversity conservation and medicinal plant research for the production of secondary metabolites.

The edited book highlights various emerging Omics tools and techniques that are currently being used in the analysis of responses to different abiotic stress in agronomically important cereals and their applications in enhancing tolerance mechanism. Plants are severely challenged by diverse abiotic stress factors such as low water availability (drought), excess water (flooding/ waterlogging), extremes of temperatures (cold, chilling, frost, and heat), salinity, mineral deficiency, and heavy metal toxicity. Agronomically important cereal crops like Rice, Wheat, Maize, Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Barley, Oats, Rye, Foxtail Millets etc. that are the major sources of food material and nutritional components for human health are mostly exposed to abiotic stresses during the critical phases of flowering and grain yield. Different Omics platforms like genomics, transcriptomics proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics, in conjunction with breeding and transgenic technology, and high throughput technologies like next generation sequencing, epigenomics, genome editing and CRISPR-Cas technology have emerged altogether in understanding abiotic stress response and strengthening defense and tolerance mechanism of different cereals. This book is beneficial to different universities and research institutes working with different cereal crops in the areas of stress physiology, stress-associated genes and proteins, genomics, proteomics, genetic engineering, and other fields of molecular plant physiology. The book can also be used as advanced textbook for the course work of research and master's level students. It will be of use to people involved in ecological studies and sustainable agriculture. The proposed book bring together the global leaders working on environmental stress in different cereal crops and motivate scientists to explore new horizons in the relevant areas of research.

This edited book brings together comprehensive information on various aspects of the biofortification of staple crops. It addresses the present status of food and nutritional security and highlights the importance of micronutrients in human health, a historical account of biofortification, current approaches and challenges, crop-specific biofortification efforts and various breeding approaches, including conventional, and genomics enabled improvement. It also explains the efficacy of biofortification, bioavailability, and future thrust. It is an inclusive source of information on different aspects of micronutrients in crops of global importance. Malnutrition is a serious global issue, with millions of people being undernourished, several suffering from micronutrient deficiencies, and the adult population struggling with obesity. Despite significant economic progress, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are still home to an undernourished population. Nutrition-related health problems are related to hidden hunger and are widespread in the developing world. Women and preschool children are more vulnerable. Even though global food production has increased manifolds, estimates indicate that over 60% of the world's population is deficient in essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium, often causing health problems and developmental delays. Linking agricultural production with human nutrition and health is crucial for ensuring nutrition security. Much research has been carried out to assess genetic diversity related to micro-nutrients in staple crops, their bioavailability, and the efficacy of biofortified germplasm. Biofortified varieties developed in different crops through conventional breeding are being up-scaled for reducing the micronutrient deficiencies in other countries. This book is a ready reference for researchers, academicians, extension personnel, policymakers, students, and value chain stakeholdersengaged in agriculture, nutrition, and health sectors promoting nutrition-sensitive diets.

This book presents up-to-date information on various vector-less/direct (physical, chemical) and vector-mediated/indirect (Agrobacterium-mediated) plant transformation techniques. It summarizes various strategies that facilitate a gene from lower organism to be expressed in higher plants and also in silico designing of synthetic gene for higher expression. It also highlights the importance of strong promoters to drive the expression of transgene(s). This book encompasses the advantages and drawbacks of cisgenesis and transgenesis, their implications towards sustainable crop improvement, and their future prospects. The importance, limitations, challenges, recent developments, and future prospects of molecular pharming is also discussed. The book concludes with a chapter that summarizes the major contribution of GM-crops towards global food security and economy, advances in genome editing for crop improvement, challenges and risk associated with therelease of GM-crops, and the future of GM technology. This book is meant for students and researchers in the field of life sciences, food science, and agriculture.

Medicinal plants supply the ever-growing needs of humankind for natural chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, and chemical additives. These plants contain bioactive secondary metabolites, which possess antimalarial, anthelminthic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, antiarthritic, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, anticancer, antifungal, antispasmodic, cardioprotective, antithyroid, and antihistaminic properties. Secondary metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the changing environment and stress condition as they are affected by both biotic and abiotic stress. Humans rely on medicinal plants for various needs since ancient time, and their population still seems enough for fulfilling our demands. However, in the foreseeable future, we will be forced to think about the accessibility of resources for future generations. For these reasons, we must look for alternative sustainable options of resources which can protect these immensely important medicinal plants from various stresses induced by challenging environment. Evolving eco-friendly methodologies and mechanisms to improve these plants'responses to unfavorable environmental circumstances is important in creating significant tools for better understanding of plant adaptations to various abiotic stresses and sustaining the supply of pharmaceuticals as global climate change intensifies. One of the great challenges in the near future will be the sustainable production of medicinal plants under increasing adverse effects of climate change. A combination of adverse demographic factors and climatological perturbations is expected to impact food and pharmaceutical production globally. Despite the induction of several tolerance mechanisms, medicinal plants often fail to survive under environmental extremes. To ensure their sustainable production under adverse conditions, multidisciplinary approaches are needed, and useful leads are likely toemerge. However, improving plants'performance under restrictive growth conditions requires a deep understanding of the molecular processes that underlie their extraordinary physiological plasticity. This edited volume emphasizes the recent updates about the current research on medicinal plants covering different aspects related to challenges and opportunities in the concerned field. This book is an attempt to bring together global researchers who have been engaged in the area of stress signaling, crosstalk, and mechanisms of medicinal plants. The book will provide a direction towards implementation of programs and practices that will enable sustainable production of medicinal plants resilient to challenging environmental conditions. Moreover, this book will instigate and commence readers to state-of-the-art developments and trends in this field.

Plants are confronted with various environmental stresses, the most prominent of which is biotic stress, which results in yield losses. Biotic stresses include damage caused by microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, insects, weeds, and native plants. It occurs to variable degrees in almost all agricultural ecosystems globally. Fungi, bacteria, or viruses may not be present in a given year, although they usually reduce output in the majority of years. Due to changing environmental conditions, plants struggle to attain their full genetic potential for growth and reproduction. This book focuses on understanding the physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes in stressed plants and the mechanisms underlying biotic stress tolerance in plants. Key Features: Explains the different molecular mechanisms and genetic engineering strategies which have been developed and adopted to cope with consistent environmental changes and global climate change.It explores the latest developments concerning abiotic and biotic stress response at the molecular level for the improvement of crop quality and sustainable agriculture.It presents an exploration of the challenges and conceivable solutions to improve yields of the staple of food crops using data on agricultural sciences and omics technology.It discovers how the better understanding of molecular mechanisms of plant response to different stress would be used to improve the quantitative and qualitative features of crop plants and allied areas.There will be an inclusion of end-of-chapter problems and case studies.

Plant Stress Mitigators: Types, Techniques and Functions presents a detailed contextual discussion of various stressors on plant health and yield, with accompanying insights into options for limiting impacts using chemical elicitors, bio-stimulants, breeding techniques and agronomical techniques such as seed priming, cold plasma treatment, and nanotechnology, amongst others. The book explores the various action mechanisms for enhancing plant growth and stress tolerance capacity, including nutrient solubilizing and mobilizing, biocontrol activity against plant pathogens, phytohormone production, soil conditioners, and many more unrevealed mechanisms. This book combines research, methods, opinion, perspectives and reviews, dissecting the stress alleviation action of different plant stress mitigators on crops grown under optimal and sub-optimal growing conditions (abiotic and biotic stresses). - Explores the various action mechanisms of mitigators - Highlights the relationship between mitigator and nutrient efficiency, product quality and microbial population - Includes both biotic and abiotic stressors and their mitigation options

The cadmium (Cd) contamination has raised increasingly global concern on food safety. The book was composed to bring comprehensive and valuable thoughts about the food safety management against heavy metal contamination. In this book, current status of cadmium contamination in agricultural soils and crops is systematically summarized. In order to reduce the risk of Cd pollution in crops, Cd pollution-safe cultivar (Cd-PSC) strategy, i.e. identifying, breeding and applying the cultivars with particularly low Cd accumulation capacity in edible parts even when grown in Cd contaminated soil, is proposed as a most effective, low-cost and environmental-friendly method for minimizing Cd pollution in crops. To describe the framework of the Cd-PSC strategy, a series research results on water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk) are summarized as a typical case. The latest findings about the Cd-PSCs of water spinach, including cultivar variation in shoot Cd accumulation, identification and verification of low- and high-Cd accumulating cultivars, stability of Cd accumulation capacity at the cultivar level, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of the cultivar-dependent Cd uptake, transfer and accumulation, breeding methods for improving Cd-PSCs, and so on, have been covered. This book will provide valuable theoretical and practical understandings for controlling Cd pollution in crops grown on agricultural soils with known or unknown risk of Cd contamination.

This book presents strategies and techniques highlighting the sustainability and application of microbial and agricultural biotechnologies to ensure food production and security. This book includes different aspects of applications of Artificial Intelligence in agricultural systems, genetic engineering, human health and climate change, recombinant DNA technology, metabolic engineering and so forth. Post-harvest extension of food commodities, environmental detoxification, proteomics, metabolomics, genomics, bioinformatics and metagenomic analysis are discussed as well.Features: Reviews technological advances in microbial biotechnology for sustainable agriculture using Artificial Intelligence and molecular biology approach Provides information on the fusion between microbial biotechnology and agriculture Specifies the influence of climate changes on livestock, agriculture and environment Discusses sustainable agriculture for food security and poverty alleviation Explores current biotechnology advances in food and agriculture sectors for sustainable crop production This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in agriculture, food engineering, metabolic engineering and bioengineering.

This book provides information on genome complexity and evolution, transcriptome analysis, miRNome, simple sequence repeats, genome relationships, molecular cytogenetics, polyploidy induction and application, flower and embryo development. Orchids account for a great part of the worldwide floriculture trade both as cut flowers and as potted plants and are assessed to comprise around 10% of global fresh cut flower trade. A better understanding of the basic botanical characteristics, flower regulation, molecular cytogenetics, karyotypes and DNA content of important orchids will aid in the efficient development of new cultivars. The book also describes the composition, expression and function of various microRNAs and simple sequence repeats. Information on their involvement in all aspects of plant growth and development will aid functional genomics studies.

This book presents evidence-based approaches and techniques used to diagnose and manage organic solutes, oxidative stress, and antioxidant enzymes in crop plants under abiotic stressors. It discusses strategies in abiotic stress tolerance including osmoregulation, osmoprotectants, and the regulation of compatible solutes and antioxidant enzymes in plants. With contributions from 49 scholars worldwide, this authoritative guide is educational for scientists working with plants and abiotic stressors. Provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of abiotic stress, from abiotic stresses'effects on plant growth, development, and defense mechanisms, to functionality of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant enzymes in crop plants. Outlines the dangers of reactive oxygen species. Discusses using antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant molecules in plant protection mechanisms. Edited by Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef, Professor of Plant Physiology at South Valley University, Egypt, this book is written for graduate students and scholars researching abiotic plant stressors. “The book represents an excellent strategy to understand the mechanisms and techniques of antioxidant enzymes in the plant cell under stress conditions.” – Professor Mostafa El-sheekh“Provides a thorough and detailed picture of the updated knowledge on the techniques used to manage organic solutes, oxidative stress and stress-related enzymes under abiotic stressors.” – Bhoopander Giri, Ph.D.“Will serve as an imperative source of scientific literature in the plant stress biology field.” – Narendra Singh Yadav, Ph.D.“The book has eighteen chapters written by scholars of international expertise in plant stress management.” – Dr. Sikander PAL, Senior Assistant Professor

Phytomedicine: A Treasure of Pharmacologically Active Products from Plants aims to present updated knowledge of plant-based medicines in terms of their research and development, production, and utilization, from the viewpoint of sustainability and by using the latest technologies. The book explores different phytometabolites on a mass scale, coupled with the efficacy, performance and applicability on target organisms to treat curable and fatal diseases. Readers will find a coherent package of phytotherapeutic information regarding inclusive assortment of research based, scientific amplitude of metabolites from the plant world encompassing various action plans. Information is presented sequentially regarding phytochemistry, biological activity and the serviceable aspects of bioactive compounds. The book also addresses various advancements and achievements of novel drugs from plants using molecular and enzymatic activities, and various technological tools in an ecofriendly fashion. - Discusses phytotherapeutic properties for a wide range of medical conditions, including anti-pyretic, anti-infective, anti-malarial, Anti-AIDS, anti-diabetic, anti-cancerous, immune-modulatory applications - Includes a discussion of synergistic effects of formulations and antagonistic drug interactions - Addresses advancements and achievements of novel plant-based drugs using molecular, enzymatic activities and various technological tools in an eco-friendly fashion

Natural compounds obtained from plants represent a tremendous global market due to their use as food additives, cosmetics, in agriculture and in pharmaceuticals. This book provides up-to-date information on various strategies and methods for producing compounds of interest. Leading researchers discuss the latest advances in environmentally friendly natural compound production from plants, making the book a valuable resource for biotechnologists, pharmacists, food technologists and researchers working in the medical and healthcare industries.

Since recent years, the population across the globe is increasing expeditiously; hence increasing the agricultural productivity to meet the food demands of the thriving population becomes a challenging task. Abiotic stresses pose as a major threat to agricultural productivity. Having an adequate knowledge and apprehension of the physiology and molecular biology of stress tolerance in plants is a prerequisite for counteracting the adverse effect of such stresses to a wider range. This book deals with the responses and tolerance mechanisms of plants towards various abiotic stresses. The advent of molecular biology and biotechnology has shifted the interest of researchers towards unraveling the genes involved in stress tolerance. More effort is being made to understand and pave ways for developing stress tolerance mechanisms in crop plants. Several technologies including Microarray technology, functional genomics, on gel and off gel proteomic approaches have proved to be of utmost importance by helping the physiologists, molecular biologists and biotechnologists in identifying and exploiting various stress tolerance genes and factors for enhancing stress tolerance in plants. This book would serve as an exemplary source of scientific information pertaining to abiotic stress responses and tolerance mechanisms towards various abiotic stresses.Note: T&F does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This edited volume is a comprehensive account of plant diseases and insect pests, plant protection and management for various crops using microbial and biotechnological approaches. The book elucidates the role of biotechnology for the enhancement of crop productivity and management of bacterial and fungal diseases via eco-friendly methods. It discusses crop–pest⁄ pathogen interaction and utilizing this interaction in a beneficial and sustainable way. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, plant scientists and plant pathologists. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, forestry, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences.

Global climate change is bound to create a number of abiotic and biotic stresses in the environment, which would affect the overall growth and productivity of plants. Like other living beings, plants have the ability to protect themselves by evolving various mechanisms against stresses, despite being sessile in nature. They manage to withstand extremes of temperature, drought, flooding, salinity, heavy metals, atmospheric pollution, toxic chemicals and a variety of living organisms, especially viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects and arachnids and weeds. Incidence of abiotic stresses may alter the plant-pest interactions by enhancing susceptibility of plants to pathogenic organisms. These interactions often change plant response to abiotic stresses. Plant growth regulators modulate plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, and regulate their growth and developmental cascades. A number of physiological and molecular processes that act together in a complexregulatory network, further manage these responses. Crosstalk between autophagy and hormones also occurs to develop tolerance in plants towards multiple abiotic stresses. Similarly, biostimulants, in combination with correct agronomic practices, have shown beneficial effects on plant metabolism due to the hormonal activity that stimulates different metabolic pathways. At the same time, they reduce the use of agrochemicals and impart tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. Further, the use of bio- and nano-fertilizers seem to hold promise to improve the nutrient use efficiency and hence the plant yield under stressful environments. It has also been shown that the seed priming agents impart stress tolerance. Additionally, tolerance or resistance to stress may also be induced by using specific chemical compounds such as polyamines, proline, glycine betaine, hydrogen sulfide, silicon, β-aminobutyric acid, γ-aminobutyric acid and so on. This book discusses the advances in plant performance under stressful conditions. It should be very useful to graduate students, researchers, and scientists in the fields of botanical science, crop science, agriculture, horticulture, ecological and environmental science.

This comprehensive volume covers recent studies into agricultural problems caused by soil and water contamination. Considering the importance of agricultural crops to human health, the editors have focused on chapters detailing the negative impact of heavy metals, excessive chemical fertilizer use, nutrients, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, agricultural wastes and toxic pollutants, among others, on agricultural soil and crops. In addition, the chapters offer solutions to these negative impacts through various scientific approaches, including using biotechnology, nanotechnology, nutrient management strategies, biofertilizers, as well as potent PGRs and elicitors. This book serves as a key source of information on scientific and engineered approaches and challenges for the bioremediation of agricultural contamination worldwide. This book should be helpful for research students, teachers, agriculturalists, agronomists, botanists, and plant growers, as well asin the fields of agriculture, agronomy, plant science, plant biology, and biotechnology, among others. It serves as an excellent reference on the current research and future directions of contaminants in agriculture from laboratory research to field application.

This textbook is clearly structured with fourteen richly illustrated chapters and practical examples for easy understanding and direct implementation. The methods and findings developed in the authors'group are presented in detailed, revised chapters. Readers will find valuable updates on the molecular basis of biotechnological processes, secondary metabolite production and genetic engineering. In addition, the basic principles of important biotechnologies, as well as examples of specially designed crops that deliver improved productivity under stress conditions, are presented. This second edition sets the direction for future research on the basic aspects of plant tissue culture and its applications in the fields of secondary metabolite production and genetic engineering. It provides both general and specific information for students, teachers, academic researchers and industrial teams who are interested in new developments in plant tissue culture and its applications.

With one volume each year, this series keeps scientists and advanced students informed of the latest developments and results in all areas of the plant sciences. The present volume includes reviews on plant physiology, biochemistry, genetics and genomics, forests, and ecosystems.

This book focuses on the conventional breeding approach, and on the latest high-throughput genomics tools and genetic engineering / biotechnological interventions used to improve rice quality. It is the first book to exclusively focus on rice as a major food crop and the application of genomics and genetic engineering approaches to achieve enhanced rice quality in terms of tolerance to various abiotic stresses, resistance to biotic stresses, herbicide resistance, nutritional value, photosynthetic performance, nitrogen use efficiency, and grain yield. The range of topics is quite broad and exhaustive, making the book an essential reference guide for researchers and scientists around the globe who are working in the field of rice genomics and biotechnology. In addition, it provides a road map for rice quality improvement that plant breeders and agriculturists can actively consult to achieve better crop production.

This book presents the state-of-the-art in plant ecophysiology. With a particular focus on adaptation to a changing environment, it discusses ecophysiology and adaptive mechanisms of plants under climate change. Over the centuries, the incidence of various abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, extreme temperatures, atmospheric pollution, metal toxicity due to climate change have regularly affected plants and, and some estimates suggest that environmental stresses may reduce the crop yield by up to 70%. This in turn adversely affects the food security. As sessile organisms, plants are frequently exposed to various environmental adversities. As such, both plant physiology and plant ecophysiology begin with the study of responses to the environment. Provides essential insights, this book can be used for courses such as Plant Physiology, Environmental Science, Crop Production and Agricultural Botany.Volume 2 provides up-to-date information on the impactof climate change on plants, the general consequences and plant responses to various environmental stresses.

Wine is one of the oldest forms of alcoholic beverages known to man. Estimates date its origins back to 6000 B.C. Ever since, it has occupied a significant role in our lives, be it for consumption, social virtues, therapeutic value, its flavoring in foods, etc. A study of wine production and the technology of winemaking is thus imperative.The preparation of wine involves steps from harvesting the grapes, fermenting the must, maturing the wine, stabilizing it finally, to getting the bottled wine to consumers. The variety of cultivars, methods of production, and style of wine, along with presentation and consumption pattern add to the complexity of winemaking. In the past couple of decades, there have been major technological advances in wine production in the areas of cultivation of grapes, biochemistry and methods of production of different types of wines, usage of analytical techniques has enabled us to produce higher quality wine. The technological inputs of a table wine, dessert wine or sparkling wine, are different and has significance to the consumer. The role played by the killer yeast, recombinant DNA technology, application of enzyme technology and new analytical methods of wine evaluation, all call for a comprehensive review of the advances made.This comprehensive volume provides a holistic view of the basics and applied aspects of wine production and technology. The book comprises production steps, dotted with the latest trends or the innovations in the fields. It draws upon the expertise of leading researchers in the wine making worldwide.

In nature, plants are constantly challenged by various abiotic and biotic stresses that can restrict their growth, development and yields. In the course of their evolution, plants have evolved a variety of sophisticated and efficient mechanisms to sense, respond to, and adapt to changes in the surrounding environment. A common defensive mechanism activated by plants in response to abiotic stress is the production and accumulation of compatible solutes (also called osmolytes). This include amino acids (mainly proline), amines (such as glycinebetaine and polyamines), and sugars (such as trehalose and sugar alcohols), all of which are readily soluble in water and non-toxic at high concentrations. The metabolic pathways involved in the biosynthesis and catabolism of compatible solutes, and the mechanisms that regulate their cellular concentrations and compartmentalization are well characterized in many important plant species. Numerous studies have provided evidence that enhancedaccumulation of compatible solutes in plants correlates with increased resistance to abiotic stresses. New insights into the mechanisms associated with osmolyte accumulation in transgenic plants and the responses of plants to exogenous application of osmolyte, will further enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which compatible solutes help to protect plants from damage due to abiotic stress and the potential roles compatible solutes could play in improving plants growth and development under optimal conditions for growth. Although there has been significant progress made in understanding the multiple roles of compatible solute in abiotic stress tolerance, many aspects associated with compatible solute-mediated abiotic stress responses and stress tolerance still require more research. As well as providing basic up-to-date information on the biosynthesis, compartmentalization and transport of compatible solute in plants, this book will also give insights into the direct or indirect involvement of these key compatible solutes in many important metabolic processes and physiological functions, including their antioxidant and signaling functions, and roles in modulating plant growth, development and abiotic stress tolerance. In this book, Osmoprotectant-mediated abiotic stress tolerance in plants: recent advances and future perspectives, we present a collection of 16 chapters written by leading experts engaged with compatible solute-induced abiotic stress tolerance in plants. The main objective of this volume is to promote the important roles of these compatible solutes in plant biology, by providing an integrated and comprehensive mix of basic and advanced information for students, scholars and scientists interested in, or already engaged in, research involving osmoprotectant. Finally, this book will be a valuable resource for future environmental stress-related research, and can be considered as a textbook for graduate students and as a reference book for front-line researchers working on the relationships between osmoprotectant and abiotic stress responses and tolerance in plants.

This book provides comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge relating to the morphological, structural, and functional characteristics of tuber starches, particularly in relation to their applications in food and industry. In recent years there has been significant progress and extensive research conducted on tropical root starches and especially on some of the lesser known tuber crop starches. There has also been a shift towards using biomaterials in place of synthetic materials in various applications. As researchers investigate the availability of natural products with similar properties, starch has been identified as a reliable alternative to these synthetic materials. Reflecting the growing body of research, Tropical Tuber Starches: - Explores the structure, properties and applications of tropical root and tuber starches (cassava, sweet potato, aroids, yams and other minor tuber crops) - Includes a chapter on the methodology for starch characterisation - Covers patents on starch-based products and the commercial potential of tropical root starches A valuable resource for researchers and students, plant breeders, and commercial producers working with, or considering working with, tropical tuber starches.

The green revolution led to the development of improved varieties of crops, especially cereals, and since then, classical or molecular breeding has resulted in the creation of economically valuable species. Thanks to recent developments in genetic engineering, it has become possible to introduce genes from different sources, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, mice and humans, to plants. This technology has made the scientific community aware of the critical role of transgenics, not only as a means of producing stress tolerant crops but also as a platform for the production of therapeutics through molecular farming. This book discusses the commercial applications of plant transgenic technologies, including the use of transgenic cell culture approachesto improve the production of metabolites and high-value therapeutics as well as transgenic plants in pest management. It also explores generation of novel vectors, protein production using chloroplast engineering and the latest developments in this area, such as genome editing in plants. Featuring general discussions and research papers by leading international experts, it is a valuable resource for scientists, teachers, students and industrialists working in the field.

Advances in Rice Research for Abiotic Stress Tolerance provides an important guide to recognizing, assessing and addressing the broad range of environmental factors that can inhibit rice yield. As a staple food for nearly half of the world's population, and in light of projected population growth, improving and increasing rice yield is imperative. This book presents current research on abiotic stresses including extreme temperature variance, drought, hypoxia, salinity, heavy metal, nutrient deficiency and toxicity stresses. Going further, it identifies a variety of approaches to alleviate the damaging effects and improving the stress tolerance of rice. Advances in Rice Research for Abiotic Stress Tolerance provides an important reference for those ensuring optimal yields from this globally important food crop. - Covers aspects of abiotic stress, from research, history, practical field problems faced by rice, and the possible remedies to the adverse effects of abiotic stresses - Provides practical insights into a wide range of management and crop improvement practices - Presents a valuable, single-volume sourcebook for rice scientists dealing with agronomy, physiology, molecular biology and biotechnology

The earliest land-plants evolved around 450 million years ago from aquatic plants devoid of vascular systems. The diversification of flowering plants (angiosperms) during the Cretaceous period is associated with speciation in insects. Early insect herbivores were mandibulate, but the evolution of vascular plants led to the co-evolution of other forms of herbivory, such as leaf feeding, sap-sucking, leaf mining, tissue borer, gall forming and nectar-feeding. Plant defense against biotic stress is an adaptive evolution by plants to increase their fitness. Plants use a variety of strategies to defend against damage caused by herbivores. Plant defense mechanisms are either inbuilt or induced. Inbuilt mechanisms are always present within the plant, while induced defenses are produced or mobilized to the site where a plant is injured. Induced defense mechanisms include morphological, physiological changes and production of secondary metabolites.Host plant resistance (HPR) is one of the eco-friendly methods of pest management. It protects the crop by making it less suitable or tolerant to the pest. While books on theoretical aspects of HPR are available, an exclusive book on the practical aspects is lacking. There is a wide gap between the theory and the experimental procedures required for conducting studies on plant resistance for the post graduate students and young researchers. A dire need for a book on practical aspects was strongly felt. Initially a practical manual was prepared which eventually evolved into the present book. We hope this book provides information on major aspects of screening crop germplasm, sampling techniques, genetic and biochemical basis of HPR, behavioural studies on pheromone and plant volatiles, and some of the recent approaches in HPR. Further, the references provide the scientific articles and books as additional information to readers and workers alike.

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

This book presents the latest advances in rice genomics, genetics and breeding, with a special focus on their importance for rice biology and how they are breathing new life into traditional genetics. Rice is the main staple food for more than half of the world's population. Accordingly, sustainable rice production is a crucial issue, particularly in Asia and Africa, where the population continues to grow at an alarming rate. The book's respective chapters offer new and timely perspectives on the synergistic effects of genomics and genetics in novel rice breeding approaches, which can help address the urgent issue of providing enough food for a global population that is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.

This book describes the latest advances in Allium genome research. Allium includes plant species known for their huge nuclear genome size, which makes them ideal for somatic chromosome observations in high school experiments. In order to advance the genome analysis of A. cepa and its functional study, scientists in international research collaborations have developed several types of artificially manipulated genetic stocks and analyzed them using modern technologies. The Allium vegetable crop includes garlic, shallot, wakegi onion, Japanese bunching onion, and rakkyo. Bulb onion is one of the world's most important Allium commercial crops, with an estimated annual production of 85.8 million tons in 2013, and ranking third after tomato and watermelon in terms of global vegetable crops.

During the past 15 years, cellular and molecular approaches have emerged as valuable adjuncts to supplement and complement conventional breeding methods for a wide variety of crop plants. Biotechnology increasingly plays a role in the creation, conservation, characterization and utilization of genetic variability for germplasm enhancement. For instance, anther/microspore culture, somaclonal variation, embryo culture and somatic hybridization are being exploited for obtaining incremental improvement in the existing cultivars. In addition, genes that confer insect- and disease-resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, herbicide tolerance and quality traits have been isolated and re-introduced into otherwise sensitive or susceptible species by a variety of transgenic techniques. Together these transformative methodologies grant access to a greater repertoire of genetic diversity as the gene(s) may come from viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, human beings, unrelated plants or even be artificially derived. Remarkable achievements have been made in the production, characterization, field evaluation and commercialization of transgenic crop varieties worldwide. Likewise, significant advances have been made towards increasing crop yields, improving nutritional quality, enabling crops to be raised under adverse conditions and developing resistance to pests and diseases for sustaining global food and nutritional security. The overarching purpose of this 3-volume work is to summarize the history of crop improvement from a technological perspective but to do so with a forward outlook on further advancement and adaptability to a changing world. Our carefully chosen “case studies of important plant crops” intend to serve a diverse spectrum of audience looking for the right tools to tackle complicated local and global issues.

During the past 15 years, cellular and molecular approaches have emerged as valuable adjuncts to supplement and complement conventional breeding methods for a wide variety of crop plants. Biotechnology increasingly plays a role in the creation, conservation, characterization and utilization of genetic variability for germplasm enhancement. For instance, anther/microspore culture, somaclonal variation, embryo culture and somatic hybridization are being exploited for obtaining incremental improvement in the existing cultivars. In addition, genes that confer insect- and disease-resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, herbicide tolerance and quality traits have been isolated and re-introduced into otherwise sensitive or susceptible species by a variety of transgenic techniques. Together these transformative methodologies grant access to a greater repertoire of genetic diversity as the gene(s) may come from viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, human beings, unrelated plants oreven be artificially derived. Remarkable achievements have been made in the production, characterization, field evaluation and commercialization of transgenic crop varieties worldwide. Likewise, significant advances have been made towards increasing crop yields, improving nutritional quality, enabling crops to be raised under adverse conditions and developing resistance to pests and diseases for sustaining global food and nutritional security. The overarching purpose of this 3-volume work is to summarize the history of crop improvement from a technological perspective but to do so with a forward outlook on further advancement and adaptability to a changing world. Our carefully chosen “case studies of important plant crops” intend to serve a diverse spectrum of audience looking for the right tools to tackle complicated local and global issues.

Due to the advent of state-of-the-art technologies in the field of biotechnology, much progress has been achieved since the last decade. OMICS technologies are being extensively used to address various issues pertaining to agriculture. Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics techniques have revolutionized the understanding of genetic response of plants to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Strategic application of this revolutionary technology will eventually lead towards attaining sustainability in agriculture. This new book, Plant OMICS and Crop Breeding, addresses this important issue.

Angiosperms, or flowering plants, are one of the most diverse plant groups on the planet, and they offer tremendous resources for a broad range of industries. Flowering Plants examines the anatomy and morphology of angiosperms with a focus on relating their metabolic activities to products for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, and textile industries. This up-to-date reference provides a thorough understanding of plant structure and chemical and molecular processes found in angiosperms. It covers many important topics on applied botany, and therefore, can also be used as a textbook for students of related fields. It details the latest research in the field, along with areas in need of further study, for students, researchers, and professionals working in industry. The book takes advantage of technological innovations to showcase a range of advanced techniques for studying plant structure and metabolites, such as cryo-electron microscopy, ultramicroscopy, x-ray crystallography, spectroscopy, and chromatography. Filled with helpful illustrations, diagrams, and flowcharts to aid comprehension, Flowering Plants offers readers the morphological, anatomic, and molecular knowledge about angiosperms they need for a range of industrial applications.

This book provides a fresh, updated perspective of the current status and perspectives in genetic improvement of a diverse array of tropical crops. The first part covers aspects which are relevant across crops, namely how to maximize the use of genetic information through modern bioinformatic approaches and how to use statistics as a tool to sustain increased genetic gains and breeding efficiency. The second part of the book provides an updated view of some seed-propagated crops, such as rice, maize and oil palm, as well as crops propagated through vegetative means such as sweet potato, cassava, banana and sugarcane. Each chapter addresses the main breeding objectives, markets served, current breeding approaches, biotechnology, genetic progress observed, and in addition a glimpse into the future for each of these selected and important tropical crops.

This book, Biotic Stress Management in Rice: Molecular Approaches, addresses biotic stress of rice and its management through molecular approaches. It focuses on the biotechnological aspects of rice with the aim of reducing the fungicide and insecticides and ultimately ensuring safety of rice as a food as well as the environment. Rice is an important crop in much of the Asia-Pacific region, and there are a number of threats to rice production, including fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases and insect pests, both in temperate and tropical countries, which can cause the significant economic loss. Remarkable efforts are being made by scientists and breeders to raise rice productivity and safety by modifying and manipulating rice plants to survive under different types of stresses. The book provides an understanding of the genetic basis of resistance and susceptibility and goes on to present studies directed to understand the host-plant interaction in rice that have given rise to specialized breeding programs for resistance to diseases and insect-pests. In addition to these advancements in molecular breeding, marker-assisted selection and transgenic approaches open new ways to increase resistance in rice for better production under several biotic stresses. This book covers the most recent advancements and research strategies of molecular breeding, transgenic approaches, and other tools for effective biotic stress management in rice.This book should find a prominent place on the shelves of new plant breeders, biotechnologists, plant pathologists and entomologists working in academic and commercial rice research programs, and in the libraries of research establishments.

The book covers the latest development in the biosciences field covering key topics in crop improvement including ‘omic approaches to improving sustainable crop production, advancement in marker technology, strategies in genetic manipulation, crop quality and sustainability and plant microbe interaction detailing on proven technologies to address critical issue for agricultural sustainability which are beneficial for researchers and students. The book also includes aspects of preserving crops after harvest as this is a key factor in promoting sustainable crop quality in terms of addressing waste, choosing the appropriate packaging and moving crops through the food and industrial supply chain. An important strategy to overcome the challenges in providing food for the world population in a sustainable manner is through concerted efforts by crop scientists to embrace new technologies in increasing yield, quality and improving food safety while minimizing adverse environmental impact of the agricultural activities. Most of the proven molecular and genetic technologies in crop science have been tested and verified in model plants such as Arabidopsis and tomato. The technologies, when deployed on various plant species of importance for human nutrition and industrial applications, including cereals, vegetables, fruits, herbs, fibre and oil crops, face many challenges, not only due to their longer life cycle but many other physiological and environmental factors affecting yield and quality of plant products. Furthermore, major impacts on crop production due to catastrophic diseases and global climate change needs urgent and innovative solutions. Therefore a systematic approach, employing various leading-edge technologies that enable the functional elucidation of key pathway genes via ‘omics tools, genome wide association with desired phenotypes and development of cost effective and practicable molecular tools for selection, is vital. The International Conference on Crop Improvement was held to address these and other pressing issues. This volume summarizes the keynote presentations from the meeting and highlights addition discussions that are critical to crop improvement in a challenging time.

Recent advances in science have clarified the role of plant specialized metabolites (classically known as plant secondary metabolites), which cannot be considered only bioactive molecules used for human health but also pivotal factors for the global ecosystem. They play major roles in plant life, evolution, and mutualism. To provide the reader a general view of plant specialized metabolites, it is important to consider both the biochemistry and the functional/ecological role of these important compounds.Around 200,000 specialized metabolites are formed by a wide array of plant metabolic pathways from numerous plant taxa and through learning how other species (including human beings) rely on them. Plant Specialized Metabolism: Genomics, Biochemistry, and Biological Functions will provide the reader with special insights into the sophisticated nature of these metabolites and their various and valuable uses based on the most recent findings in science.The field of plant specialized metabolism has witnessed tremendous growth in the past decade. This growth has had a profound impact on multiple disciplines in life science, including biochemistry, metabolism, enzymology, natural product chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical ecology, and evolution. It also has yielded valuable knowledge and technology readily applicable in various industries, such as agriculture, horticulture, energy, renewable chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The book focuses on the molecular background of secondary metabolite biosynthesis, their functional role, and potential applications.

Plants are subjected to a variety of abiotic stresses such as drought, temperature, salinity, air pollution, heavy metals, UV radiations, etc. To survive under these harsh conditions plants are equipped with different resistance mechanisms which vary from species to species. Due to the environmental fluctuations agricultural and horticultural crops are often exposed to different environmental stresses leading to decreased yield and problems in the growth and development of the crops. Drought stress has been found to decrease the yield to an alarming rate of some important crops throughout the globe. During last few decades, lots of physiological and molecular works have been conducted under water stress in crop plants. Water Stress and Crop Plants: A Sustainable Approach presents an up-to-date in-depth coverage of drought and flooding stress in plants, including the types, causes and consequences on plant growth and development. It discusses the physiobiochemical, molecular and omic approaches, and responses of crop plants towards water stress. Topics include nutritional stress, oxidative stress, hormonal regulation, transgenic approaches, mitigation of water stress, approaches to sustainability, and modern tools and techniques to alleviate the water stress on crop yields. This practical book offers pragmatic guidance for scientists and researchers in plant biology, and agribusinesses and biotechnology companies dealing with agronomy and environment, to mitigate the negative effects of stress and improve yield under stress. The broad coverage also makes this a valuable guide enabling students to understand the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms of environmental stress in plants.