Epigenetics and Breeding, Volume 88, the latest release in the Advances in Botanical Research series, brings together the experiences and critical information teachers, researchers and managers must consider from both scientific and legal points-of-view as they relate to biotechnology. New chapters in this updated volume include sections on Epigenetic Mechanisms in Plants, Epigenomic Diversity and Applications to Breeding, Epigenetics in Breeding, EpiRILs: Lessons from Arabidopsis, Transposable Elements as a Tool for Plant Improvement, Epigenome Editing, Epigenetics and Grafting, Sexual and Non-sexual reproduction, Epigenetics in Cereals, and more. Encompasses various aspects of botanical research, including its historical background, current status, recent research outcomes and potential future developments Written by highly competent authors from all continents Provides data that is based on facts and written in a dispassionate and non-polemical tone

This book describes the current state of international grape genomics, with a focus on the latest findings, tools and strategies employed in genome sequencing and analysis, and genetic mapping of important agronomic traits. It also discusses how these are having a direct impact on outcomes for grape breeders and the international grape research community. While V. vinifera is a model species, it is not always appreciated that its cultivation usually requires the use of other Vitis species as rootstocks. The book discusses genetic diversity within the Vitis genus, the available genetic resources for breeding, and the available genomic resources for other Vitis species. Grapes (Vitis vinifera spp. vinifera) have been a source of food and wine since their domestication from their wild progenitor (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris) around 8,000 years ago, and they are now the world’s most valuable horticultural crop. In addition to being economically important, V. vinifera is also a model organism for the study of perennial fruit crops for two reasons: Firstly, its ability to be transformed and micropropagated via somatic embryogenesis, and secondly its relatively small genome size of 500 Mb. The economic importance of grapes made V. vinifera an obvious early candidate for genomic sequencing, and accordingly, two draft genomes were reported in 2007. Remarkably, these were the first genomes of any fruiting crop to be sequenced and only the fourth for flowering plants. Although riddled with gaps and potentially omitting large regions of repetitive sequences, the two genomes have provided valuable insights into grape genomes. Cited in over 2,000 articles, the genome has served as a reference in more than 3,000 genome-wide transcriptional analyses. Further, recent advances in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics are enabling the assembly of reference-grade genome references for more grape genotypes revealing the exceptional extent of structural variation in the species.

This book highlights the technicalities of plant breeding in a seed-business environment and explains the crucial aspects of the value chain. It educates the readers on how to initiate, participate, sustain national and international agreements for material transfer, how consortia work to facilitate germplasm accessibility, and how to set visionary goals to develop a superior plant varieties. The book covers the aspects such as how to conduct disease screening trials at hot spots, preparing an operational budget, and how to accelerate product advancement. Plant breeding is broadly defined as manipulation of plant genotypes to create phenotypes that are beneficial to mankind. It helps to achieve food security and sustainability by developing high yielding, climate-resilient, nutritious varieties of crops and hence is able to address unprecedented challenges like rising global population, diminishing genetic biodiversity, and uncertainties of the weather . This book is an extraordinary source of information starting from goal-genesis to market-oriented product-profiling and help readers to accelerate/enhance? their work/professional performance more effectively. This book will be very useful to practicing plant breeders at various levels in the public and private sectors. It is a must-have book for potential plant breeders who enter plant breeding profession just after the completion of their formal plant breeding education.

This book summarizes the latest findings on the functions of microRNAs in the regulation of plant development and responses to the surrounding environment. MicroRNAs are an important class of molecules that can be found in diverse groups of organisms, including plants and animals, and the investigation of their roles is a highly dynamic and “hot” research topic. The respective chapters address four main aspects, namely: microRNA investigation and annotation, the regulatory roles of microRNAs in various developmental processes, in response to abiotic factors, and in the context of biotic stress response regulation. Systematically reviewing the most important findings in this field, the book offers an essential guide for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and plant science researchers. Due to the potential applications of microRNAs in crop breeding and plant protection, it also represents a valuable resource for scientists in academia and the private sector alike.

This new volume provides an up-to-date understanding of the numerous classes of plant transposable elements, the mobile units of DNA that comprise large portions of plant genomes, which are an important contributor for gene and genome evolution. Transposable elements (TEs) are major components of large plant genomes and main drivers of genome evolution, known to produce a wide variety of changes in plant gene expression and function. Providing a systematic interpretation of protocols designed to characterize TEs and their biotechnological roles, the volume explores TEs in plant development, their architecture, their epigenetic regulation, their use in DNA repair, their evolution and speciation, while also highlighting their importance in the approaching epoch of climate change. The volume begins with introduction of transposable elements, covering their classification and transposition. It delves into protocols designed to characterize TEs and their biotechnological applications. The book includes computational approaches for prediction and analysis, retro-transposon capture sequencing, and more. The section on transposon biology focuses on its role in plant development and as natural genetic engineers of genome mutation, evolution, and speciation. The book looks further into transposon applications in genome editing, exploring tagging and mutagenesis, genome engineering, and more.

Advances in Botanical Research: Past, Current and Future Topics, Volume 100 in the Advances in Botanical Research series, celebrates a remarkable achievement as 100 volumes have now been published, with several others being prepared. New chapters in this monumental release include Editorial activities for Advances in Botanical Research, Revisiting ABR editing in the period 2006-2012: An exciting experience with Jean-Claude Kader, A tribute to the scientific contributions of Pierre Gadal and his laboratory, Evolution of Bacterial Phototrophy, Algae for Global Sustainability, Genomics of cyanobacteria: New insights and lessons for shaping our future, An overview of the root-knot-nematode compatible interaction, and more. - Celebrates the 100th volume of a series that has covered multiple aspects of plant biology in the last 50 years - Includes impressive developments of plant physiology topics and techniques - Covers plant genomics, a newly developing section of plant sciences

This book offers comprehensive information on the genomics of spruces (Picea spp.), naturally abundant conifer tree species that are widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to their tremendous ecological and economic importance, the management of forest genetic resources has chiefly focused on conservation and tree improvement. A draft genome sequence of the 20-gigabase Norway spruce genome was published in the journal Nature in 2013. Continuous efforts to improve the spruce genome assembly are underway, but are hindered by the inherent characteristics of conifer genomes: high amounts of repetitive sequences (introns and transposable elements) in the genome and large gene family expansions with regards to abiotic stress, secondary metabolism and spruces' defense responses to pathogens and herbivory. This book presents the latest information on the status of genome assemblies, provides detailed insights into transposable elements and methylation patterns, and highlights the extensive genomic resources available for inferring population genomics and climate adaptation, as well as emerging genomics tools for tree improvement programs. In addition, this volume features whole-genome comparisons among conifer species, and demonstrates how functional genomics can be used to improve gene function annotations. The book closes with an outlook on emerging fields of research in spruce genomics.

The basic concept of this book is to examine the use of innovative methods augmenting traditional plant breeding towards the development of new crop varieties under different environmental conditions to achieve sustainable food production. This book consists of two volumes: Volume 1 subtitled Breeding, Biotechnology and Molecular Tools and Volume 2 subtitled Agronomic, Abiotic and Biotic Stress Traits. This is Volume 1 which consists of 21 chapters covering domestication and germplasm utilization, conventional breeding techniques and the role of biotechnology. In addition to various biotechnological applications in plant breeding, it includes functional genomics, mutations and methods of detection, and molecular markers. In vitro techniques and their applications in plant breeding are discussed with an emphasis on embryo rescue, somatic cell hybridization and somaclonal variation. Other chapters cover haploid breeding, transgenics, cryogenics and bioinformatics.

This book formulates a relativistic theory of biology, challenging the common gene-centred view of organisms.