Over the past decades, chromatin remodelling has emerged as an important regulator of gene expression and plant defense. This book provides a detailed understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in plants of agronomic importance. The information presented here is significant because it is expected to provide the knowledge needed to develop in the future treatments to manipulate and selectively activate/inhibit proteins and metabolic pathways to counter pathogens, to treat important diseases and to increase crop productivity. New approaches of this kind and the development of new technologies will certainly increase our knowledge of currently known post-translational modifications and facilitate the understanding of their roles in, for example, host-pathogen interactions and crop productivity. Furthermore, we provide important insight on how the plant epigenome changes in response to developmental or environmental stimuli, how chromatin modifications are established and maintained, to which degree they are used throughout the genome, and how chromatin modifications influence each another.

Over the past few decades, chromatin modulation has emerged as an important regulator of gene expression. This second edition provides detailed information on the epigenetic mechanisms in plants, illustrating the value of this research in plants of agronomic importance. It examines recent advances regarding plants’ epigenetic regulation in response to abiotic and biotic types of stress; the epigenetic basis of plant immunity; evolution and functions of plant histones; epigenetic variation and plant breeding; and epigenome editing and crop improvement. The content is intended to promote the development of future biotechnologies to manipulate and selectively activate/inhibit proteins and metabolic pathways to counter pathogens, to treat important diseases, and to increase crop productivity. The development of new fields, like epigenome editing and RNA epigenetics, will certainly improve our understanding of currently known epigenetic modifications and their roles in e.g. host-pathogen interactions, crop productivity, and in response to environmental stimuli. This volume contains twelve new/revised chapters, written by an international team of experts on plant epigenetics, and addresses the needs of researchers and professionals in the fields of agronomics, crop breeding, epigenetics, plant biochemistry, plant developmental biology, and related disciplines.

This book discusses basic and applied aspects of somatic embryogenesis, one of the most powerful tools in plant biotechnology. It is divided into three parts; Part I includes topics such as the history of this research field, how differentiated plant cells can (re)acquire totipotency, molecular features, as well as the epigenetics and proteomics of somatic embryogenesis. Part II covers the somatic embryogenesis of different crops, such as Agave spp. maize, Cocos nucifera, Bixa orellana, Capsicum spp., Coffea spp., Musa spp., Pinus spp., and Arabidopsis thaliana. Various applications, like scale-up propagation and genetic engineering are discussed in detail in Part III. The book will appeal to plant scientists, plant breeders and experts working in industry.

Exploring plant genetic resources is crucial in a time when food security has been a critical topic worldwide due to crop shortages and the impact of climate change. This new book, Plant Genetic Resources for the 21st Century: The OMICS Era, presents the practical advancements in genomics, epigenetics, metabolomics, and phenomics from the point of view of researchers and scientists working in the field of genebanks, genetics resources, and germplasm for enabling plant breeding and adaptation to a changing climate. The book highlights the importance of genebanks as centers of innovation for crop and forage improvement and discusses database solutions for genebanks and germplasm collections. The book first looks at plant genetic resources and their values and goes on to investigate several genomic technologies for plant improvement, conservation, and better adaptation to changing climates. Major crops such as wheat and barley are discussed with genomic approaches for diversity and resilience to drought and other adverse conditions. Other omics techniques discussed include phenomics for the improvement of crop adaptation, metabolomics research for germplasm improvement and adaptation, and more. This volume will be valuable for researchers who are presently working in or with genebanks and genetic resources, primarily for trait or allele discovery and germplasm improvement. Most chapters in the book can also be used as teaching material at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Epigenetics and Biological Processes deals with epigenetic control of various plant processes such as chromatin modification, biomacromolecule interactions, cell cycle, DNA replication, DNA recombination, DNA damage response, transcription, RNA processing and translation initiation, host restriction and modification, heterochromatin, euchromatin, centromere functions, telomeric maintenance, transposon activation, transposon silencing, transposon reactivation, photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, polyploidisation, heterosis, homeostasis, cytoplasmic male sterility, self-incompatibility, circadian clocks, epigenetic imprinting, dosage compensation, somaclonal variation, plant stress response, plant-microbe interactions, disease responsive genes, and sustainable green revolution through epigenetics. Understanding epigenetics of these plant processes is essential for using science of epigenetics as a tool for crop improvement. This book is primarily designed as a textbook for senior/upper undergraduate (B.Sc. Agri.; B.Sc. Biotechnology and B.Tech. (Biotechnology) and graduate level (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) students studying epigenetics in conventional, agricultural and medical universities. Teachers and researchers in any discipline of life sciences, agricultural sciences, medicine, and biotechnology.

Epigenetics is a new field that explains gene expression at the chromatin structure and organization level. Three principal epigenetic mechanisms are known and hundreds of combinations among them can develop different phenotypic characteristics. DNA methylation, histone modifications and small RNAs have been identified, and their functions are being studied in order to understand the mechanisms of interaction and regulation among the different biological processes in plants. Although, fundamental epigenetic mechanisms in crop plants are beginning to be elucidated, the comprehension of the different epigenetic mechanisms, by which plant gene regulation and phenotype are modified, is a major topic to develop in the near future in order to increase crop productivity. Thus, the importance of epigenetics in improving crop productivity is undoubtedly growing. Current research on epigenetics suggest that DNA methylation, histone modifications and small RNAs are involved in almost every aspect of plant life including agronomically important traits such as flowering time, fruit development, responses to environmental factors, defense response and plant growth. The aim of this Research Topic is to explore the recent advances concerning the role of epigenetics in crop biotechnology, as well as to enhance and promote interactions among high quality researchers from different disciplines such as genetics, cell biology, pathology, microbiology, and evolutionary biology in order to join forces and decipher the epigenetic mechanisms in crop productivity.

The development of new plant varieties is a long and tedious process involving the generation of large seedling populations for the selection of the best individuals. While the ability of breeders to generate large populations is almost unlimited, the selection of these seedlings is the main factor limiting the generation of new cultivars. Molecular studies for the development of marker-assisted selection (MAS) strategies are particularly useful when the evaluation of the character is expensive, time-consuming, or with long juvenile periods. The papers published in the Special Issue “Plant Genetics and Molecular Breeding” report highly novel results and testable new models for the integrative analysis of genetic (phenotyping and transmission of agronomic characters), physiology (flowering, ripening, organ development), genomic (DNA regions responsible for the different agronomic characters), transcriptomic (gene expression analysis of the characters), proteomic (proteins and enzymes involved in the expression of the characters), metabolomic (secondary metabolites), and epigenetic (DNA methylation and histone modifications) approaches for the development of new MAS strategies. These molecular approaches together with an increasingly accurate phenotyping will facilitate the breeding of new climate-resilient varieties resistant to abiotic and biotic stress, with suitable productivity and quality, to extend the adaptation and viability of the current varieties.

CRISPR is a crucial technology in plant physiology and molecular biology resulting in more sustainable agricultural practices, including outcomes of better plant stress tolerance and crop improvement. CRISPR and Plant Functional Genomics explores ways to release the potential of plant functional genomics, one of the prevailing topics in plant biology and a critical technology for speed and precision crop breeding. This book presents achievements in plant functional genomics and features information on diverse applications using the emerging CRISPR-based genome editing technologies producing high-yield, disease-resistant, and climate-smart crops. It also includes theories on organizing strategies for upgrading the CRISPR system to increase efficiency, avoid off-target effects, and produce transgene-free edited crops. Features: Presents CRISPR-based technologies, releasing the potential of plant functional genomics Provides methods and applications of CRISPR/Cas-based plant genome editing technologies Summarizes achievements of speed and precision crop breeding using CRISPR-based technologies Illustrates strategies to upgrade the CRISPR system Supports the UN’s sustainable development goals to develop future climate-resilient crops CRISPR and Plant Functional Genomics provides extensive knowledge of CRISPR-based technologies and plant functional genomics, and is an ideal reference for researchers, graduate students, and practitioners in the field of plant sciences as well as agronomy and agriculture.

Integrative omics of plants in response to stress conditions play more crucial roles in the post-genomic era. High-quality genomic data provide more deeper understanding of how plants to survive under environmental stresses. This book is focused on concluding the recent progress in the Protein and Proteome Atlas in plants under different stresses. It covers various aspects of plant protein ranging from agricultural proteomics, structure and function of proteins, and approaches for protein identification and quantification. A total of 27 papers including two timely reviews have contributed to this Special Issue. In the first part with the topic of “Comparative Proteomics of Different Plants”, six papers were included to describe the phenotypic changes and proteomic analyses of different plants under different conditions. Then, another six papers with the topic of “Proteomics of Plants under Osmotic Stress” were included to describe the recent comparative proteomics analyses of plants under osmotic stress, particularly the drought and salinity stresses in leaves of certain plant species. The other proteomics studies on several energy plants and economic crops were reported to demonstrate the recent omics studies on different plants during their development processes. More stress responsive genes and proteins in these plants were identified. These target genes and proteins are important candidates for further functional validation in economic plants and crops.

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. This latest volume includes reviews on plant physiology, biochemistry, genetics and genomics, forests, and ecosystems.