This volume provides a wide-ranging survey of all the major grain legumes.

With the advent of genetic engineering, "designer" crops might interbreed with natural populations. Could such romances lead to the evolution of "superweeds", as some have suggested? But haven't crops had sex with wild plants in the past? Has such gene swapping occurred without consequences? And if consequences have indeed occurred, what lessons can be gleaned for engineered crops? In Dangerous Liaisons? Norman Ellstrand examines these and other questions. He begins with basic information about the natural hybridization process. He then describes what we now know about hybridization between the world's most important crops—such as wheat, rice, maize, and soybeans—and their wild relatives. Such hybridization, Ellstrand explains, is not rare, and has occasionally had a substantial impact. In some cases, the result was problematic weeds. In others, crop genes have diluted natural diversity to the point that wild populations of certain rare species were absorbed into the gene pool of the more common crop, essentially bringing the wild species to the brink of extinction. Ellstrand concludes with a look to the future. Will engineered crops pose a greater threat than traditional crops? If so, can gene flow and hybridization be managed to control the escape of engineered genes? This book will appeal to academics, policy makers, students, and all with an interest in environmental issues.

Cytogenetics plays an important role in understanding the chromosomal and genetic architecture of plant species. Plant Cytogenetics, Third Edition follows the tradition of its predecessors presenting theoretical and practical aspects of plant cytogenetics. Chapters describe correct handling of plant chromosomes, methods in plant cytogenetics, cell division, reproduction methods, chromosome nomenclature, karyotype analysis, chromosomal aberrations, genome analysis, transgenic crops, and cytogenetics in plant breeding. This new edition begins with a brief introduction on the historical aspect of cytogenetics and flows directly into handling of plant chromosomes by classical and modern cytological techniques, classical Mendelian Genetics, brief description of cell division, and chromosome identification by karyotype analysis. The comprehension of cytogenetics is incomplete without information on the role of aneuploidy in associating a gene on a particular chromosome, and the book covers these methodologies as a primary topic. Covering classical to modern cytogenetics, the book presents to the reader the crucial role of cytogenetics in improving crops.

There are chapters on varied topics covering the major gamut of dryland agriculture. The topics covered by eminent-scientists are : Dryland agricultural research in India - a historical perspective. The eminence of authors and the institutions they represent gives credence to the contents of the book. Research and development workers, all would like to possess this book for ready reference and use.

This book brings out the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on the taxonomy, biodiversity, and ecology of climbers in India. Climbing is one of the principal plant growth habits that have long attracted the interests of ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Climbing plants can add significantly to the species richness of many tropical forests ecosystems, yet they receive relatively lesser attention than trees in ecological studies. The difficulties in taxonomic assertions and lack of standard methodologies overlook climbers in plant inventories, resulting in the underrepresentation of climbers in regional floras. There is a growing consensus about the increasing abundance of climbers and their multifaceted role in tropical forests worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to understand the taxonomic diversity and ecology of climbers at the regional scale to substantiate our efforts towards constructing a global climber database, which serves as a reference for fundamental research in climber ecology and evolution. This book is of interest to biodiversity researchers, taxonomists, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists. Field biologists, forest managers, and naturalists will also find this a useful read.