Plant development and productivity are negatively regulated by various environmental stresses. Abiotic stress factors such as heat, cold, drought, and salinity represent key elements limiting agricultural productivity worldwide. Thus, developing crop plants with the ability to tolerate abiotic stresses is a critical need which demands modern novel strategies for the thorough understanding of plant response to abiotic stresses. Crop Improvement under Adverse Conditions will serve as a cutting-edge resource for researchers and students alike who are studying plant abiotic stress tolerance and crop improvement. The book presents the latest trends and developments in the field, including the impact of extreme events on salt tolerant forest species of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the overlapping horizons of salicylic acid in different stresses, and fast and reliable approaches to crop improvement through In Vitro haploid production. Written by renowned experts and featuring useful illustrations and photographs, Crop Improvement under Adverse Conditions is a concise and practical update on plant abiotic stress tolerance and crop improvement.

An up-to-date overview of current progress in improving crop quality and quantity using modern methods. With a particular emphasis on genetic engineering, this text focusses on crop improvement under adverse conditions, paying special attention to such staple crops as rice, maize, and pulses. It includes an excellent mix of specific examples, such as the creation of nutritionally-fortified rice and a discussion of the political and economic implications of genetically engineered food. The result is a must-have hands-on guide, ideally suited for the biotech and agro industries.

Advancement in Crop Improvement Techniques presents updates on biotechnology and molecular biological approaches which have contributed significantly to crop improvement. The book discusses the emerging importance of bioinformatics in analyzing the vast resources of information regarding crop improvement and its practical application and utilization. Throughout this comprehensive resource, emphasis is placed on various techniques used to improve agricultural crops, providing a common platform for the utility of these techniques and their combinations. Written by an international team of contributors, this book provides an in-depth analysis of existing tools and a framework for new research. - Reviews techniques used for crop improvement, from selection and crossing over, to microorganismal approaches - Explores the role of conventional biotechnology in crop improvement - Summarizes the combined approaches of cytogenetics and biotechnology for crop improvement, including the importance of molecular techniques in this process - Focuses on the emerging role of bioinformatics for crop improvement

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

Priming-Mediated Stress and Cross-Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants provides the latest, in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with the development of stress and cross-stress tolerance in plants. Plants growing under field conditions are constantly exposed, either sequentially or simultaneously, to many abiotic or biotic stress factors. As a result, many plants have developed unique strategies to respond to ever-changing environmental conditions, enabling them to monitor their surroundings and adjust their metabolic systems to maintain homeostasis. Recently, priming mediated stress and cross-stress tolerance (i.e., greater tolerance to a second, stronger stress after exposure to a different, milder primary stress) have attracted considerable interest within the scientific community as potential means of stress management and for producing stress-resistant crops to aid global food security. Priming-Mediated Stress and Cross-Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants comprehensively reviews the physiological, biochemical, and molecular basis of cross-tolerance phenomena, allowing researchers to develop strategies to enhance crop productivity under stressful conditions and to utilize natural resources more efficiently. The book is a valuable asset for plant and agricultural scientists in corporate or government environments, as well as educators and advanced students looking to promote future research into plant stress tolerance. - Provides comprehensive information for developing multiple stress-tolerant crop varieties - Includes in-depth physiological, biochemical, and molecular information associated with cross-tolerance - Includes contribution from world-leading cross-tolerance research group - Presents color images and diagrams for effective communication of key concepts

The mechanisms underlying endurance and adaptation to environmental stress factors in plants have long been the focus of intense research. Plants overcome environmental stresses by development of tolerance, resistance or avoidance mechanisms, adjusting to a gradual change in its environment which allows them to maintain performance across a range of adverse environmental conditions. Plant Acclimation to Environmental Stress presents the latest ideas and trends on induced acclimation of plants to environmental stresses under changing environment. Written by experts around the globe, this volume adds new dimensions in the field of plant acclimation to abiotic stress factors. Comprehensive and lavishly illustrated, Plant Acclimation to Environmental Stress is a state-of-the-art guide suited for scholars and researchers working in the field of crop improvement, genetic engineering and abiotic stress tolerance.

Climate Change and Crop Stress: Molecules to Ecosystems expounds on the transitional period where science has progressed to 'post-genomics' and the gene editing era, putting field performance of crops to the forefront and challenging the production of practical applicability vs. theoretical possibility. Researchers have concentrated efforts on the effects of environmental stress conditions such as drought, heat, salinity, cold, or pathogen infection which can have a devastating impact on plant growth and yield. Designed to deliver information to combat stress both in isolation and through simultaneous crop stresses, this edited compilation provides a comprehensive view on the challenges and impacts of simultaneous stresses. Presents a multidisciplinary view of crop stresses, empowering readers to quickly align their individual experience and perspective with the broader context Combines the mechanistic aspects of stresses with the strategic aspects Presents both abiotic and biotic stresses in a single volume

Plants, being sessile and autotrophic in nature, must cope with challenging environmental aberrations and therefore have evolved various responsive or defensive mechanisms including stress sensing mechanisms, antioxidant system, signaling pathways, secondary metabolites biosynthesis, and other defensive pathways among which accumulation of osmolytes or osmo-protectants is an important phenomenon. Osmolytes with organic chemical nature termed as compatible solutes are highly soluble compounds with no net charge at physiological pH and nontoxic at higher concentrations to plant cells. Compatible solutes in plants involve compounds like proline, glycine betaine, polyamines, trehalose, raffinose family oligosaccharides, fructans, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and sugar alcohols playing structural, physiological, biochemical, and signaling roles during normal plant growth and development. The current and sustaining problems of climate change and increasing world population has challenged global food security. To feed more than 9 billion, the estimated population by 2050, the yield of major crops needs to be increased 1.1–1.3% per year, which is mainly restricted by the yield ceiling. A major factor limiting the crop yield is the changing global environmental conditions which includes drought, salinity and extreme temperatures and are responsible for a reduction of crop yield in almost all the crop plants. This condition may worsen with a decrease in agricultural land or the loss of potential crop yields by 70%. Therefore, it is a challenging task for agricultural scientists to develop tolerant/resistant varieties against abiotic stresses. The development of stress tolerant plant varieties through conventional breeding is very slow due to complex multigene traits. Engineering compatible solutes biosynthesis by deciphering the mechanism behind the abiotic tolerance or accumulation in plants cell is a potential emerging strategy to mitigate adverse effects of abiotic stresses and increase global crop production. However, detailed information on compatible solutes, including their sensing/signaling, biosynthesis, regulatory components, underlying biochemical mechanisms, crosstalk with other signaling pathways, and transgenic development have not been compiled into a single resource. Our book intends to fill this unmet need, with insight from recent advances in compatible solutes research on agriculturally important crop plants.

In this ready reference, a global team of experts comprehensively cover molecular and cell biology-based approaches to the impact of increasing global temperatures on crop productivity. The work is divided into four parts. Following an introduction to the general challenges for agriculture around the globe due to climate change, part two discusses how the resulting increase of abiotic stress factors can be dealt with. The third part then outlines the different strategies and approaches to address the challenge of climate change, and the whole is rounded off by a number of specific examples of improvements to crop productivity. With its forward-looking focus on solutions, this book is an indispensable help for the agro-industry, policy makers and academia.

Abiotic stress, such as high salinity and drought is the most common challenge for sustainable food production in large parts of the world, in particular in emerging countries. The ongoing and expected global climate change will further increase these challenges in many areas, making improved stress resistance of crops a key topic for the 21st Century. Proteomics, genomics and metabolomics are methods allowing for the rapid and complete analysis of the complete physiology of crop plants. This knowledge in turn, is the prerequisite for improvements of crop resistance against abiotic stress through genetic engineering or traditional breeding methods. Improving Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stress is a double-volume, up-to-date overview of current progress in improving crop quality and quantity using modern methods such as proteomics, genomics and metabolomics. With this particular emphasis on genetic engineering, this text focuses on crop improvement under adverse conditions, paying special attention to such staple crops as rice, maize, and pulses. It includes an excellent mix of specific examples, such as the creation of nutritionally-fortified rice and a discussion of the political and economic implications of genetically engineered food. The result is a must-have hands-on guide, ideally suited for Agricultural Scientists, Students of Agriculture, Plant Physiologists, Plant Breeders, Botanists and Biotechnologists. Sections include: PART I Climate Change and Abiotic Stress Factors PART II Methods to Improve Crop Productivity PART III Species-Specific Case Studies: Graminoids, Leguminosae, Rosaceae