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This book collates a wide spectrum of topics relevant to contemporary research achievement in sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources and conservation of plant genetic diversity within the framework of different crop systems. It introduces the status of crop genetic diversity and provides prospects for conservation of crop genetic diversity for sustainable agriculture. Plant genetic diversity is crucial for food security and agro-ecosystem maintenance paving ways to achieve sustainable agriculture development. This necessitates, consciously and judiciously, the conservation of all existing plant genetic resources for sustainable use in a variety of applications for human welfare. The wild and traditional landraces have generated an increased interest as a repertoire of valuable traits for breeding and improvement of cultivated germplasm. Internationally, concerted actions and policies toward for the conservation and management of plant genetic diversity are mounting, fromthe organization levels to national policies as deemed appropriate for the sustainable development goals. This needs an understanding of genetic diversity of different crops, ecological drivers and the structural changes within genetic diversity due to climate change. It is also equally important to evolve knowledge on what, how and where to conserve the existing plant genetic resources for present and future use. Assessment of the genetic diversity presents in a wild and traditional agro-ecosystem is another step towards effective utilization. In the past few years, advanced breeding tools have been developed which have offered great promise for efficient modification of targeted traits. This book consolidates current knowledge in the above core areas of plant genetic diversity and conservation. It is an essential reference for professionals, researchers, policy makers and commercial entrepreneurs concerned with plant genetic diversity and breeding to achieve enhanced agricultural productivity and sustainability of food resources to ensure food security. The book is also invaluable for graduate students involved in agriculture research.

This contributed volume explores the latest breakthroughs in genetic and genomic resources for enhancing biotic stress responses in grain legumes – including minor ones. It covers the advances made to date, including gene identification, transcriptomics, proteomics, transgenics, genome editing, genomic selection, epigenetic breeding, and speed breeding related to different biotic stresses. Authored by crop-specific experts, the chapters in this book are essential resources for those directly involved in improving grain legume crops. Legumes play a vital role in ensuring food and nutritional security, enhancing soil quality, and promoting environmental sustainability. Rich in protein, they are essential in preventing hunger and malnutrition while adding to dietary diversity. However, as these crops are commonly grown in marginal lands with poor inputs, they are highly susceptible to biotic stresses such as diseases and pests, which can cause significant yield losses. This book consolidates all available knowledge about genetic and genomic aspects of biotic stress responses in various grain legumes. It is a must-have resource for all stakeholders involved in grain legume improvement. Whether you are a breeder, pathologist, biotechnologist, seed production specialist, market manager, graduate or post-graduate student, or any other industry professional, this book serves as an excellent guide to help you stay at the forefront of grain legume improvement.

This book covers all aspects of smart-breeding technologies in creating novel crop architecture to meet future rice demand. Several advanced crop breeding technologies like, marker-assisted backcross breeding, marker-assisted recurrent selection, genomic assisted breeding, haplotype breeding and genome editing technologies have been introduced and employed for rice productivity improvement. Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in crop phenotype prediction is paving the way for climate-smart breeding. Chapters in this volume cover all these relevant topics. The global rice demand is estimated to rise to 555 and 827.86 million tons in 2035 for milled rice and paddy, respectively. Enhancing high-nutrition rice production under the pressure of global climate change conditions is a hard task for breeders. Changing climatic scenarios and extreme weather conditions have increased the incidence of various biotic and abiotic stresses. Also, every degree rise in global mean temperature causes 3.2% reduction in rice yield globally. This creates an urgent need for developing high-yielding rice varieties to tackle the aggravated issue of food security. This book is meant for scientists, professionals, researchers, and students working on enhancing rice production through advanced plant-breeding technologies.

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.

Almond and peach species have global importance as food crops as well as use in landscaping including restoration and reforestation. Because currently available breeding germplasm has a very narrow genetic base, genetic improvement programs are turning to wild germplasm as sources of improved quality, productivity and resistance traits. This germplasm is also enabling the dramatic modification of traditional cropping systems as with the transfer of self-fruitfulness from related wild almond and peach species to normally self-sterile cultivated almond. While presence of an extensive wild almond and related germplasm has been documented in the literature over the past century, most information remains dispersed and often not generally accessible owing to its publication in treatises and journals of limited distribution. This monograph brings together a comprehensive characterization of almond and its related species including the cultivated and wild peaches. Because it represents the only comprehensive source of information on almond, peach and their wild relatives, it represents a basic reference text of interest to researchers in both the basic and applied plant and ecological sciences.

Rigor and Reproducibility in Genetics and Genomics: Peer-reviewed, Published, Cited provides a full methodological and statistical overview for researchers, clinicians, students, and post-doctoral fellows conducting genetic and genomic research. Here, active geneticists, clinicians, and bioinformaticists offer practical solutions for a variety of challenges associated with several modern approaches in genetics and genomics, including genotyping, gene expression analysis, epigenetic analysis, GWAS, EWAS, genomic sequencing, and gene editing. Emphasis is placed on rigor and reproducibility throughout, with each section containing laboratory case-studies and classroom activities covering step-by-step protocols, best practices, and common pitfalls. Specific genetic and genomic technologies discussed include microarray analysis, DNA-seq, RNA-seq, Chip-Seq, methyl-seq, CRISPR gene editing, and CRISPR-based genetic analysis. Training exercises, supporting data, and in-depth discussions of rigor, reproducibility, and ethics in research together deliver a solid foundation in research standards for the next generation of genetic and genomic scientists. - Provides practical approaches and step-by-step protocols to strengthen genetic and genomic research conducted in the laboratory or classroom - Presents illustrative case studies and training exercises, discussing common pitfalls and solutions for genotyping, gene expression analysis, epigenetic analysis, GWAS, genomic sequencing, and gene editing, among other genetic and genomic approaches - Examines best practices for microarray analysis, DNA-seq, RNA-seq, gene expression validation, Chip-Seq, methyl-seq, CRISPR gene editing, and CRISPR-based genetic analysis - Written to provide trainees and educators with highly applicable tools and strategies to learn or refine a method toward identifying meaningful results with high confidence in their reproducibility

This edited book provides an all-inclusive coverage of latest research in crop improvement and stress management in potato crop. It is composed of 17 chapters covering breeding, diseases & pest management with the view to enhancing the total production and quality under the scenario of climate change. The book also explores harvesting, storage, post-harvest management, and processing of potato. The book has special focus on the use of high throughput next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques, modern genomics tools, genome editing techniques such as CRISPR systems that could help the potato breeding programs and, also in development of biotic and abiotic stress resistant varieties. Potato is the world's third most important food crop after wheat and rice in terms of human consumption. It is the staple crop providing maximum nutrients per unit area, time and money and is the most versatile crop with the highest industrial production potential in India being the second largest potato producing country after China. As a major food crop, the potato has the most important role to play in the United Nations'Sustainable Development Goals'2030 Agenda for zero hunger, achieving food security, improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. This book is unique in its approach for providing in depth knowledge enabling readers to learn the subject fully on different strategies, new perspectives and fully understanding different topics of diversity, interaction and improvement for stress management in potato. It is a relevant reading material for researchers, students, practitioners and other stakeholders involved in improvement of potato crop.

Grassland covers 26% of the world's total land area. It produces feed for livestock; maintains soil fertility; protects and conserves soil and water resources; creates a habitat for wildlife; provides recreational space for sport and leisure and contributes to the general landscape. This book provides an up-to-date account of progress and potential in the genetic improvement of grassland to meet all needs. It encompasses work on a wide range of temperate and tropical grassland species (including grasses, clovers and other forage legumes) and will interest all those concerned with grassland use in livestock-based agriculture, recreation, environmental protection, bio-industry etc. Specifically, it demonstrates how recent advances in molecular techniques are being used to develop breeding objectives and strategies with key-note papers on: Objectives and benefits of molecular breeding, Linkage/physical mapping and map-based cloning, QTL analysis and trait dissection, Genomics, model species, gene discovery and functional analysis, Use of molecular markers and bioinformatics for breeding, Molecular genetics and breeding of endosymbiont and grass/legume associations, Transgenics, Genetic diversity, breeding systems and resources Future directions for research and breeding. State-of-the-art molecular techniques and resources are described that encompass a unique range of expertise in genetic mapping, trait dissection, comparative genomics, bioinformatics, gene discovery and risk assessment. Examples of work in progress or recently completed are provided from across the world. The book has broad educational value and will interest plant geneticists and breeders as well as grassland users and policy makers.

The crop plants cater not only to our basic F5 (food, feed, fiber, fuel, and furniture) needs but also provide a number of nutraceuticals with potential nutritional, safety and therapeutic properties. Many crop plants provide an array of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidant-rich bioactive phytochemicals. Increasing incidences of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and HIV, and malnutrition necessitate global attention to health and nutrition security with equal emphasis to food security. This compendium compiles results of researches on biochemical, physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying biosynthesis of the health and nutrition related nutraceuticals. It also explores the precise breeding strategies for augmentation of their content and amelioration of their quality in crop plants under all commodity categories including cereals and millets, oilseeds, pulses, fruits and nuts, and vegetables. The compendium comprise 5 sections dedicated to these 5 commodity groups and presents enumeration on the concepts, strategies, tools and techniques of nutraceutomics. These sections include 50 chapters devoted to even number of major crop plants. These chapters present deliberations on the biochemistry and medicinal properties of the nutracuticals contained; genetic variation in their contents; classical genetics and breeding for their quantitative and qualitative improvement; tissue culture and genetic engineering for augmentation of productivity and quality; and sources of genes underlying their biosynthesis. They also include comprehensive enumeration on genetic mapping of the genes and QTLs controlling the contents and profile of the nutraceuticals and molecular breeding for their further improvement through marker assisted selection and backcross breeding tools. Prospects of post-genomic precise breeding strategies including genome-wide association mapping, genomic selection, allele mining, and genome editing are also discussed. This compendium fills the gap in academia, and research and development wings of the private sector industries interested in an array of subjects including genetics, genomics, tissue culture, genetic engineering, molecular breeding, genomics-assisted breeding, bioinformatics, biochemistry, physiology, pathology, entomology, pharmacognosy, IPR, etc., and will also facilitate understanding of the policy making agencies and people in the socio-economic domain and research sponsoring agencies.

The Flax Genome is a comprehensive compilation of most recent studies focused on reference genome, genetic resources and molecular diversity, breeding, QTL mapping, gene editing tools, functional genomics and metabolomics, molecular breeding via genomic selection, and genomic resources. The flax genome reference sequences and the new genome assemblies are presented. A list of flax QTL and candidate genes associated with more than 35 traits, including yield and agronomic, seed quality and fatty acid composition, fibre quality and yield, abiotic stress, and disease resistance traits, are summarized. A QTL- based genomic selection strategy and genome–editing tools are systematically introduced. In addition, huge amounts of flax genomic resources generated in the last decade are summarized. The book contains 13 chapters with about 390 pages authored by globally reputed researchers in the relevant fields to this crop The book is intended to be useful to students, teachers, andresearchers interested in traditional and molecular breeding, pathology, molecular genetics and breeding, bioinformatics and computational biology, and functional genomics

Developing Sustainable and Health Promoting Cereals and Pseudocereals: Conventional and Molecular Breeding reviews the most recent developments in the fields of cereal and pseudocereal breeding, with particular emphasis on the latest biotechnological techniques likely to lead to breakthrough changes in plant breeding. The book provides comprehensive information on the use of genetic resources or pre-breeding activities to improve health-related properties of cereals and pseudocereals. The text also explores targeted field-management practices and the latest in biotechnological methodologies, and offers a cohesive overview necessary for understanding the potential impacts and benefits of improved production of cereals and pseudocereals with high-nutritional value. - Includes coverage of cereals and pseudocereals in a single comprehensive volume - Focuses on sustainable circular economy, including assurance of food safety, quality, and health benefits - Examines breeding to attain robust cereal and pseudocereals with higher nutritional value and adapted to specific regions, climate change, and global warming

The book deals with latest research achievements of Brassica scientists using omics approaches in understanding host-pathogen interaction, molecular detection, identification, and functional characterization of effectors/genes including pathogenomics and biometabolomics. Genomics of host-pathogen interaction is a source of information for the teachers, students, researchers, and policy makers to foster success in enhancing the Brassica production and productivity through the development of improved disease-resistant varieties with the use of omics technologies. It is a base and sound plate form for managing biological stresses of Brassica at global level. The book covers up-to-date information on genomics of host-pathogen interaction, pathogenomics of crucifers'pathogen, and biometabolomics of host pathosystem supplemented with ample photographs, illustrations, and figures which make it stimulating, effective, and easy to comprehend for readers, researchers, biology students, teachers, and policy makers.

This book emphasizes on cutting-edge next-generation smart plant breeding approaches for maximizing the use of genomic resources generated by high-throughput genomics in the post-genomic era. Through this book the readers would learn about the recent development in the genomic approaches such as genotype by sequencing (GBS) for genomic analysis (SNPs, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism), whole-genome re-sequencing (WGRS) and RNAseq for transcriptomic analysis (DEGs, Differentially Expressed Genes). To maximize the genetic gains in the cereal/food crops, the book covers topics on transgenic breeding, genome editing, high-throughput phenotyping, reliable/precision phenotyping and genomic information-based analysis. In the era of climate change and the ever-increasing population, food security and nutritional security are the primary concern of plant breeders, growers, and policymakers to address the UN's sustainable development goals. Chapters of this book cohere around these goals and covers techniques such as (QTL mapping, association studies, candidate gene identification), omics, RNAi [through micro RNA (miRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA) and artificial micro RNA (amiRNA)]. It also covers other genomic techniques like antisense technology, genome editing (CRISPR/cas9, base editing) and epigenomics that assist the crop improvement programmes to fulfil the UNs sustainable development goals. It explores the influence of rapidly available sequencing data assisting in the next generation breeding programmes. This volume is a productive resource for the students, researchers, scientists, teachers, public and private sector stakeholders involved in the genetic enhancement of cereal crops.

The book delves into post-genomics advances in potato improvement since the potato genome sequencing in 2011. It includes recent developments in the field of potato genetic resources, genes and SNP markers discovery, and the progress in next-generation breeding applying various omics technologies and modern sequencing tools. It covers cutting-edge technologies in potato - a global perspective, genome sequencing and resequencing of various cultivated and wild species, potato germplasm management and characterization, prebreeding genomics, genome mapping and gene cloning, markers discovery, marker-assisted selection, transgenics, microRNAs, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, phenomics, next-generation potato breeding technologies including genome editing and genomic selection and bioinformatics applications in the post-genomics era in potato. As genome editing and genomic selection have become emerging tools in crop improvement including potato, several research works have been demonstrated and applied world over. This book concentrates on genomics-aided characterization of germplasm and markers discovery to accelerate potato breeding. Further, various omics technologies strengthen our understanding ondiscovery of new genes/proteins/metabolites and key traits based on high-throughput phenotyping involved in various biotic and abiotic stresses in potato crop. The book is a useful source of information related to genomics-led research and development of this crop. It will serve as a valuable resource for potato researchers working in the area of molecular biology and would be beneficial for college students, PhD scholars, scientists, academicians, farmers and policy makers.

The book presents comprehensive information on fundamental, and applied knowledge for developing varieties resistant individually as well as to all the major pathogens of crucifers, such as Albugo, Alternaria, Erysiphe, Hyaloperonospora, Plasmodiophora, Leptosphaeria, Sclerotinia, Turnip mosaic virus, Verticillium, and Xanthomonas through the use of latest biotechnological approaches including identification of R genes and their incorporation into agronomically superior varieties. The chapters include the information's viz., principles of host resistance, identification of R-genes sources, inheritance of disease resistance, host resistance signaling network system to multiple stresses. The book also covers transfer of disease resistance, and management of disease resistance. Standardized, reproducible techniques are also included for the researchers of cruciferous crops for developing resistant cultivars. The book deals with the gaps in understanding, knowledge of genomics, and offers suggestions for future research priorities in order to initiate the advance research on disease resistance. This book is immensely useful to the researchers especially Brassica breeders, teachers, extension specialists, students, industrialists, farmers, and all others who are interested to grow healthy, and profitable cruciferous crops all over the world.

Genome sequencing has become a basic tool of plant and animal breeding. Reduced costs have allowed the sequencing of thousands of plant lines or cultivars, leading to previously unobtainable insights into genetic impacts during breeding and generating large numbers of novel candidate breeding genes. This book summarizes the impacts that the genome sequencing revolution has had on agriculture with reference to applications across species and locations. It explains new techniques and their use in understanding epigenetics, breeding and conservation. It is a useful resource for scientists wanting to learn how different fields of agriculture have adapted novel genome sequencing technologies to their requirements, and for those wanting to transfer technologies and lessons learned from one field of agriculture to another. This book is a useful resource for students and researchers in biotechnology, genetics, genomics and breeding.

This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for students and practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way to impacts in farmers'fields. The book's themes and authors were selected to provide a didactic work that considers the background to wheat improvement, current mainstream breeding approaches, and translational research and avant garde technologies that enable new breakthroughs in science to impact productivity. While the volume provides an overview for professionals interested in wheat, many of the ideas and methods presented are equally relevant to small grain cereals and crop improvement in general. The book is affordable, and because it is open access, can be readily shared and translated -- in whole or in part -- to university classes, members of breeding teams (from directors to technicians), conference participants, extension agents and farmers. Given the challenges currently faced by academia, industry and national wheat programs to produce higher crop yields --- often with less inputs and under increasingly harsher climates -- this volume is a timely addition to their toolkit.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 licenseThis open access book brings together the latest genome base prediction models currently being used by statisticians, breeders and data scientists. It provides an accessible way to understand the theory behind each statistical learning tool, the required pre-processing, the basics of model building, how to train statistical learning methods, the basic R scripts needed to implement each statistical learning tool, and the output of each tool. To do so, for each tool the book provides background theory, some elements of the R statistical software for its implementation, the conceptual underpinnings, and at least two illustrative examples with data from real-world genomic selection experiments. Lastly, worked-out examples help readers check their own comprehension.The book will greatly appeal to readers in plant (and animal) breeding, geneticists and statisticians, as it provides in a very accessible way the necessary theory, the appropriate R code, and illustrative examples for a complete understanding of each statistical learning tool. In addition, it weighs the advantages and disadvantages of each tool.

This book presents deliberations on molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants to the abiotic stresses caused by heat, cold, drought, flooding, submergence, salinity, acidity, etc., important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in technical crops is imperative for addressing FHNEE (food, health, nutrition, energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing in many of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has provided precise information regarding the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for'designing'crop genomes with resistance to abiotic stresses. The ten chapters each dedicated to a technical crop and one chapter devoted to a crop group in this volume elucidate different types of abiotic stresses and their effects on and interaction with the crops; enumerate the available genetic diversity with regard to abiotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing abiotic stress-resistant crop varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate different genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields, and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genesfor generating abiotic stress-resistant crops.

This book highlights the uses for underutilized crops, presenting the state-of-the-art in terms of genome sequencing for over 30 crops, previously understudied and under-researched. In a changing climate and with significant pressure on the land, it is the ideal time to be discussing novel crops, with significant biotic and abiotic tolerances and/or rich nutrient profiles for consumers. Previously, the only species with sequenced genomes were high-profile internationally recognized crops, but in the current era genomes are being sequenced for dozens of crops, including those previously classified as underutilized, now being investigated. This book covers food crops, from fruits to tubers, and from grasses to legumes, as well as crops with non-food applications. Some of these crops have draft genomes, and others have polished genomes with extensive resequencing panels. Each chapter tells the story of an individual crop or crop group, written by experts, focusing on thegenome data available, revealing more about crop domestication and genetic variation, and the current and future prospects given that this data is now becoming available. It also highlights how even small sequencing projects can provide draft genome sequences suitable for gene discovery, comparative genomics, and identification of molecular markers for understanding these crops further.

This book provides comprehensive insights into the field of duck production and management. It presents a complete overview of different aspects of duck production with particular emphasis on rearing systems. The book reviews current knowledge on the anatomy, physiology, genetics, breeding, nutrition, incubation, and hatching practices of ducks. It further discusses the common diseases of duck, their treatment regime, and prevention strategies. The book additionally examines all aspects of the global duck industry, the constraints, and the recommendations. It also explores nutrient requirements and feed evaluation for duck and evaluates nutrition's influence on the gut microbiome. Towards the end, the book presents the latest genomic applications, including high throughput sequencing and various bioinformatics tools in duck production. This book serves as an essential resource for duck industry practitioners, researchers, and students.

This book collates the basic and advanced concepts of plant biotechnology and genomics along with the future trends. It discusses the combination of conventional breeding techniques with genomic tools and approaches leading to a new genomics-based plant breeding technology supporting crop plants that respond better to biotic and abiotic stress, and pathogen attacks. Plant genomics play an important role in developing more efficient plant cultivars which are essential for the neo green revolution needed to feed the world's rapidly growing population. Plant genomic data is being utilized in genetic engineering to ensure that better and resilient varieties of crops are available ensuring food security. This book is of immense interest to teachers, researchers, crop scientists, capacity builders, and policy makers. Also, the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, biotechnology, genomics, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and International agricultural scientists and policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

This book is an advanced textbook and a reference book for the post-graduate plant-breeding students and the plant breeders. It consolidates fundamental concepts and also the latest advances in plant-breeding practices including development in crop genomics. It contains crop wise explanation on origin, reproduction, genetics of yield contributing traits, biotic and abiotic stresses, nutritional improvement and crop specific plant-breeding procedures and techniques. The chapters are planned to describe crop-focused breeding procedure for the major crop plants as per their economic importance. The recent developments in breeding of field crops have been reported. The recent progress made in mapping traits of economic importance has been critically reviewed for each crop. The progress made in markers assisted selected in few crops has been summarized. This book bridges the knowledge gap and bring to the researchers and students information on modern breeding tools for developing biotic and abiotic stress tolerant, climate resilient and micronutrient rich varieties of field crops. The chapters in book are contributed by experienced Plant Breeders.

This book presents deliberations on the molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants with the biotic stresses caused by insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, etc. important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in fruit crops is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition. energy and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing have facilitated precise information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for'designing'crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The nine chapters, each dedicated to a fruit crop in this volume, deliberate on different typesof biotic stress agents and their effects on and interaction with the crop plants; enumerate the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for biotic stress resistance; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress resistant varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying biotic stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate different emerging genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery and gene pyramiding for developing resistant crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yield; and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating disease and insect resistant crops.

Biotic stresses cause yield loss of 31-42% in crops in addition to 6-20% during post-harvest stage. Understanding interaction of crop plants to the biotic stresses caused by insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, etc. is important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in oilseed crops is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition. energy and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing have facilitated precise information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for'designing'crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The eight chapters each dedicated to an oilseed crop in this volume elucidate on different types of biotic stress agents and their effects on and interaction with the crop plants; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress resistant varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying biotic stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different emerging genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery and gene pyramiding for developing resistant crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields; and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating disease and insect resistant crops.