Search

This is the first comprehensive monograph dedicated to using Nicotiana species for tobacco genetic improvement. Unlike typical chapters constrained by size and scope, this book offers a detailed species-by-species analysis, with 27 tables providing relevant information. It marks a shift from focusing on specific topics to giving due attention to individual species. The review reflects on a century of exploiting Nicotiana species for usable germplasm and serves as an exhaustive guide to global literature on the subject, citing nearly 1000 literature items.The review delves into the involvement of Nicotiana species in interspecific hybrids with cultivated tobacco, covering sexual and asexual methods, including grafting. It addresses challenges in hybridization, such as cross incompatibility, maternal phenotypes, interspecific incongruity, lethality, and sterility, providing methods to overcome these barriers. Records on disease resistance for each Nicotianae species are compiled, and mechanisms of introgression, barriers, and limitations are discussed. The book lists Nicotiana species as successful donors of cytoplasmic genetic factors leading to cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and discusses negative effects of alien cytoplasm, providing a list of agronomically acceptable CMS sources. Controversial issues, including the identity of genetic accessions, are explored. The book concludes with an updated list of all reported interspecific combinations for Nicotiana.Primarily aimed at scholars and students interested in the genus for genetic diversity, this book serves as a historical reference guide to the realized and potential uses of Nicotiana species in tobacco improvement.

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.

Epigenetics encompasses all changes in gene expression that occur without alterations to the DNA sequence. These modifications involve DNA methylation, histone modifications, and ncRNA pathways. Plants have evolved remarkable resilience to environmental challenges mediated by epigenetic modifications rather than genetic variation. Epigenetic variation provides a means for designing crop varieties with enhanced resilience to abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures. By understanding how epigenetic information systems interact among them and with other canonical genetic pathways, we can develop crops better equipped to withstand the challenges of climate change, ultimately contributing to global food security. Epigenetics in Crop Improvement: Safeguarding Food Security in an Ever-Changing Climate is primarily a comprehensive guide that explores the role of epigenetics in plant growth, development, and adaptation. This book also offers a valuable resource for anyone looking to investigate and develop innovative strategies for enhancing crop resilience and productivity in the face of climate change.

Population genomics has revolutionized several disciplines of biology, genetic resource conservation and management, and breeding of crop plants by providing key and novel insights into population, evolutionary, ecological and conservation genetics, ecology, evolution and adaptation, and facilitating molecular breeding with an unprecedented power and accuracy. Crop plants have been domesticated from their wild progenitors over several centuries and have undergone severe genetic bottlenecks and selection sweeps. Population genomics research has unraveled novel insights into crop plants origin, evolution, demographic history, center of diversity, domestication history, genetic/genomic diversity and genetic structure of wild and domesticated populations and species, epigenomic diversity, genetic/genomic basis of domestication syndrome, genomic footprints of domestication, selection and breeding, de-domestication, speciation and admixture, taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and ecological and climate adaptation. Population genomics has also facilitated the development of pangenomes, conservation and management of genetic diversity including in the pre-breeding and breeding programs, and genomics-assisted breeding via identifying genotype-phenotype associations and genomic selection in crop plants. This pioneering book presents the advances made and potential of population genomics in addressing the above crop plants aspects of basic and applied significance and brings together leading experts in crop plants population genomics to discuss these topics in major crop plants. Genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic and plant resources available for population genomics research and challenges, opportunities and future perspectives of crop plants population genomics are also discussed. Chapters'Population Genomics of Yams: Evolution and Domestication of Dioscorea Species'and'Population Genomics Along With Quantitative Genetics Provides a More Efficient Valorization of Crop Plant Genetic Diversity in Breeding and Pre-breeding Programs'are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

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 shows the importance of rice for human consumption. It focuses on the rice panicle, its morphology and characteristics. High genetic diversity of rice has been economically profitable for mankind; the crop provides food calories to half of the human race on earth and because of its adaptability to diversified and unstable ecological conditions, the plant has an asynchronous flowering system in the panicle. The International Rice Research Institute has a collection of panicles with numerous branching phenotypes and lengths varying from 10 to 43 cm. Due to the heterogeneous architecture, grain filling depends on the position of the spikelet within a panicle. Spikelets on apical branches fertilize early and fill faster compared to their basal counterparts and therefore, individual grain weights of panicle vary widely. The discrepancy in grain filling between spikelets changes with panicle architecture but the relationship of variation in individual grain weight with panicle architecture has not been studied. Spikelet number has increased highly in the newly developed rice cultivars, but it has no benefit accrued on grain filling and yield. This book is recommended for students, researchers and teachers working in this field of expertise.

Plants are an important source of fats and oils, which are essential for the human diet. In recent years, genomics of oil biosynthesis in plants have attracted great interest, especially in high oil-bearing plants, such as sesame, olive, sunflower, and palm. Considering that, genome sequencing projects of these plants have been undertaken with the help of advanced genomics tools such as next generation sequencing. Several genome sequencing projects of oil crops are in progress and many others are en route. In addition to genome information, advanced genomics approaches are discussed such as transcriptomics, genomics-assisted breeding, genome-wide association study (GWAS), genotyping by sequencing (GBS), and CRISPR. These have all improved our understanding of the oil biosynthesis mechanism and breeding strategies for oil production.There is, however, no book that covers the genomes and genomics of oil crops. For this reason, in this volume we collected the most recent knowledge of oil crop genomics for researchers who study oil crop genomes, genomics, biotechnology, pharmacology, and medicine. This book covers all genome-sequenced oil crops as well as the plants producing important oil metabolites. Throughout this book, the latest genomics developments and discoveries are highlighted as well as open problems and future challenges in oil crop genomics. In doing so, we have covered the state-of-the-art of developments and trends of oil crop genomics.

The regulation of the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation process, resulting in “cellular switches” that monitor normal plant physiology, growth and development, has immense potential in crop systems. With much of the information in the nascent stages, coming largely from Arabidopsis and rice particularly, the use of cell biology, genetic screens, biochemical approaches aided by an omics approach should help unravel the detail functional information available about signaling pathways in plants. The regulation could be exploited to develop crop varieties better equipped to handle changing environments and enhance agricultural productivity. In the post-genomic era, one of the major challenges is investigation and understanding of multiple genes and gene families regulating a particular physiological and developmental aspect of plant life cycle. One of the important physiological processes is regulation of stress response, which leads to adaptationor adjustment in response to adverse stimuli. With the holistic understanding of the signaling pathways involving phosphatases, one gene family or multiple genes or gene families, plant biologist can lay a foundation for designing and generating future crops, which can withstand the higher degree of environmental stresses. Especially abiotic stresses, which are the major cause of crop loss throughout the world without losing crop yield and productivity.This book incorporates the contributions from leading plant biologists in the field of stress-mediated dephosphorylation by phosphatases as an important task to elucidate the aspects of stress signaling by functional genomic approaches.

Tea is an important non-alcoholic beverage plant of the world. Cultivation of tea is also commercially very important as it earns huge revenue for the tea growing nations especially the developing countries such as India. Although conventional breeding is well-established and contributes significantly for varietal improvement of this plant and other Camellia species with ornamental value, yet, applications of biotechnology vis a vis genomics are essential to improve the productivity and quality of the tea. This book brings out various aspects of breeding, biotechnology and genomics of tea plants. It covers i) Origin and descriptions of health benefits as well as morphological classification as first chapter, ii) Breeding and cytogenetics that comprise with various conventional approaches of varietal improvement of tea along with their genetic resources, iii) Micro-propagation which deals with in-depth study of clonal propagation, iv) Somatic embryogenesis along with alternative techniques such as suspension culture, cry-preservation etc, v) Molecular breeding that deals with application of various DNA based markers such as discovery of QTL, linkage map etc, vi) Genetic transformation and associated factors, vii) Stress physiology complied various works done in tea along with its wild relatives on abiotic as well as biotic stress and viii) Functional genomics that describes the various works of molecular cloning and characterizations, differential gene expression, high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatics transcriptomics study that described the application of next generation sequencing to discover various genes that are related to various trait of tea, Non-coding RNA which describes the discovery of various non-coding RNA in tea and related genera. The book also discusses recent developments in biotechnology such as metabolomics, proteomics, genome sequence and popular clone varieties of tea crops that are developed across the world.In conclusion, the book collates the work on tea plantations so far, identified the problems, analyzes the gaps on breeding and biotechnological works of tea as well as its wild species and discusses the future scopes as conclusion. The book aims to cover all latest information till june, 2020. It will be useful resource for post-graduate, doctoral as well post-doctoral students working on tea as well as other woody plants. This will also be useful for the scientists working in the areas of life sciences, genomics, biotechnology and molecular biology.

Chaetomium genus was established by Gustav Kunze in 1817. According to Index Fungorum Partnership, there are 273 Chaetomium species accepted till now. Members of the genus Chaetomium are capable of colonizing various substrates and are well-known for their ability to degrade cellulose and to produce a variety of bioactive metabolites. More than 200 compounds have been reported from this genus. A huge number of new and bioactive secondary metabolites associated with unique and diverse structural types, such as chaetoglobosins, epipolythiodioxopiperazines, azaphilones, depsidones, xanthones, anthraquinones, chromones, and steroids, have been isolated and identified. Many of the compounds have been reported to possess significant biological activities, such as antitumor, antimalarial, cytotoxic, enzyme inhibitory, antimicrobial, phytotoxic, antirheumatoid and other activities. Chaetomium taxa are frequently reported to be cellulase and ligninase producers withthe ability to degrade cellulosic and woody materials. This is the first, comprehensive volume covering Chaetomium genus in detail. It includes the latest research, methods, and applications, and was written by scholars working directly in the field. The book also contains informative illustrations and is fully referenced for further reading.

This volume covers the orders Apiales (Asterids I) and Gentianales (except Rubiaceae; Asterids II). It is the last of five volumes to (almost) complete the treatment of the Asterids in this series after publication of Vols. VI (Cornales, Ericales, 2004), VII (Lamiales, 2004), VIII (Asterales, 2007) and XIV (Aquifoliales, Boraginales, Bruniales, Dipsacales, Escalloniales, Garryales, Paracryphiales, Solanales, Icacinaceae, Metteniusaceae, Vahliaceae, 2016). The present volume provides descriptions for 11 families with altogether 1021 genera. Identification keys are provided for families within orders and for all genera within families, and likely phylogenetic relationships are discussed. The wealth of information contained in this volume makes it an indispensable source for all working in pure and applied plant sciences.

This book provides insight into the biology and genomics of the genus Boswellia (family Burseraceae), a natural resource used for the production of frankincense, an oleo-gum resin. The Boswellia species are ecologically, medicinally, commercially and culturally important. Significantly contributing to the paucity of comprehensive literature on this genus, this volume provides a detailed discussion on the genomics, physiology and ecology of Boswellia. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including taxonomy, distribution, genetic diversity and microbiology. The production process of frankincense and its impact on the species are presented as well. In light of the recent decline of various Boswellia populations, species propagation and conservation are discussed. Plant scholars, ecologists and conservation biologists will find this book to be an important and informative reference.

This book, now in its second edition, provides researchers and operators a complete description of all aspects regarding the wild ancestor of sugar beet. The possibility of crossing modern crops with the ancestors from which they are derived in order to recover some traits lost through domestication is increasingly attracting interest. The selective process implemented by the first growers led to the elimination of features not considered useful at the time. Yet some of these lost traits have now become very important. In fact, in many areas sugar beet cultivation would now be impossible without the transfer of some genetic resistances from Beta maritima, the crop's ancestor. Moreover, the isolation of such traits is becoming increasingly critical with regard to current and future environmental and economic considerations on e.g. the use of pesticides. This second edition replaces certain photographs and has been updated to reflect the latest advances and findings. One chapter and several sections have been rewritten, and significant revisions have been made throughout the text. The new techniques provide breeders with massively improved analytical means for the safest and fastest selection procedures. Not only will these techniques allow Beta maritima to take on a far greater role as a source of favorable traits; the relative ease with which these characteristics can be transferred will also make it possible to use the germplasm of the whole genus Beta and Patellifolia, which to date has been highly complex, if not impossible, due to the difficulties of hybridization.

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.

This book discusses the latest developments in plant-mediated fabrication of metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles, and their characterization by using a variety of modern techniques. It explores in detail the application of nanoparticles in drug delivery, cancer treatment, catalysis, and as antimicrobial agent, antioxidant and the promoter of plant production and protection. Application of these nanoparticles in plant systems has started only recently and information is still scanty about their possible effects on plant growth and development. Accumulation and translocation of nanoparticles in plants, and the consequent growth response and stress modulation are not well understood. Plants exposed to these particles exhibit both positive and negative effects, depending on the concentration, size, and shape of the nanoparticles. The impact on plant growth and yield is often positive at lower concentrations and negative at higher ones. Exposure to some nanoparticles may improve the free-radical scavenging potential and antioxidant enzymatic activities in plants and alter the micro-RNAs expression that regulate the different morphological, physiological and metabolic processes in plant system, leading to improved plant growth and yields. The nanoparticles also carry out genetic reforms by efficient transfer of DNA or complete plastid genome into the respective plant genome due to their miniscule size and improved site-specific penetration. Moreover, controlled application of nanomaterials in the form of nanofertilizer offers a more synchronized nutrient fluidity with the uptake by the plant exposed, ensuring an increased nutrient availability. This book addresses these issues and many more. It covers fabrication of different/specific nanomaterials and their wide-range application in agriculture sector, encompassing the controlled release of nutrients, nutrient-use efficiency, genetic exchange, production of secondary metabolites, defense mechanisms, and the growth andproductivity of plants exposed to different manufactured nanomaterials. The role of nanofertilizers and nano-biosensors for improving plant production and protection and the possible toxicities caused by certain nanomaterials, the aspects that are little explored by now, have also been generously elucidated.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of plant stresses caused by salt, drought, extreme temperatures, oxygen and toxic compounds, which are responsible for huge losses in crop yields. It discusses the latest research on the impact of salinity and global environment changes, and examines the advances in the identification and characterization of the mechanisms that allow plants to tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses. Further it presents our current understanding of metabolic fluxes and the various transporters that collectively open the possibility of applying in vitro technology and genetic engineering to improve stress tolerance. Exploring advanced methods that augment traditional plant tissue culture and breeding techniques toward the development of new crop varieties that can tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses to achieve sustainable food production, this book is a valuable resource for plant scientists and researchers.

Desiccation tolerance was essential when plants first began to conquer land, roughly 400 million years ago. While most desiccation-tolerant plants belong to basal phylogenetic taxa, this capacity has also evolved among some vascular plant species.In this volume renowned experts treat plant desiccation tolerance at the organismic as well as at the cellular level. The diversity of ecophysiological adaptations and acclimations of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, mosses, and lichens is addressed in several chapters. The particular problems of vascular plants during dehydration/rehydration cycles resulting not only from their hydraulic architectures, but also from severe secondary stresses associated with the desiccated state are discussed. Based on the treatment of desiccation tolerance at the organismic level, a second section of the book is devoted to the cell biological level. It delineates the general concepts of functional genomics, epigenetics, genetics, molecular biology and the sensing and signalling networks of systems biology involved in dehydration/rehydration cycles. This book provides an invaluable compilation of current knowledge, which is a prerequisite for a better understanding of plant desiccation tolerance in natural as well as agro- and forest ecosystems where water is one of the most essential resources.