Fully covers the biology, biochemistry, genetics, and genomics of Medicago truncatula Model plant species are valuable not only because they lead to discoveries in basic biology, but also because they provide resources that facilitate translational biology to improve crops of economic importance. Plant scientists are drawn to models because of their ease of manipulation, simple genome organization, rapid life cycles, and the availability of multiple genetic and genomic tools. This reference provides comprehensive coverage of the Model Legume Medicago truncatula. It features review chapters as well as research chapters describing experiments carried out by the authors with clear materials and methods. Most of the chapters utilize advanced molecular techniques and biochemical analyses to approach a variety of aspects of the Model. The Model Legume Medicago truncatula starts with an examination of M. truncatula plant development; biosynthesis of natural products; stress and M. truncatula; and the M. truncatula-Sinorhizobium meliloti symbiosis. Symbiosis of Medicago truncatula with arbuscular mycorrhiza comes next, followed by chapters on the common symbiotic signaling pathway (CSSP or SYM) and infection events in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Other sections look at hormones and the rhizobial and mycorrhizal symbioses; autoregulation of nodule numbers (AON) in M. truncatula; Medicago truncatula databases and computer programs; and more. Contains reviews, original research chapters, and methods Covers most aspects of the M. truncatula Model System, including basic biology, biochemistry, genetics, and genomics of this system Offers molecular techniques and advanced biochemical analyses for approaching a variety of aspects of the Model Legume Medicago truncatula Includes introductions by the editor to each section, presenting the summary of selected chapters in the section Features an extensive index, to facilitate the search for key terms The Model Legume Medicago truncatula is an excellent book for researchers and upper level graduate students in microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, plant genetics and biochemistry. It will also benefit legume biologists, plant molecular biologists, agrobiologists, plant breeders, bioinformaticians, and evolutionary biologists.

This book focuses on the discoveries in M. truncatula genomic research which has been undertaken in the last two decades. Legumes are important for their economic values as food, feed, and fodder and also serve as the pillar of sustainable agriculture because of its biological nitrogen fixation capacity. Medicago truncatula was established as a model legume in the 1990s and has been well adopted as a model internationally since then. M. truncatula is an autogamous, diploid (2n = 16) species with a short generation time, and relatively small genome size (~375 Mbp). The M. truncatula genome was initially sequenced by the International Medicago Genome Annotation Group (IMGAG) in 2011 and has been well-annotated. M. truncatula research benefits from the availability of several genetic and genomic tools, such as gene expression atlas (MtGEA), insertion and neutron bombardment mutant populations, and a HapMap panel containing 384 sequenced inbred lines for genome-wide association studies. This book covers the current status and latest advancements of the M. truncatula genomics and transcriptomics resources along with a glimpse of newly developed tools that makes M. truncatula a front runner model in functional genomic studies.

ADVANCED FERMENTATION AND CELL TECHNOLOGY A comprehensive and up-to-date reference covering both conventional and novel industrial fermentation technologies and their applications Fermentation and cell culture technologies encompass more than the conventional microbial and enzyme systems used in the agri-food, biochemical, bioenergy and pharmaceutical industries. New technologies such as genetic engineering, systems biology, protein engineering, and mammalian cell and plant cell systems are expanding rapidly, as is the demand for sustainable production of bioingredients, drugs, bioenergy and biomaterials. As the growing biobased economy drives innovation, industrial practitioners, instructors, researchers, and students must keep pace with the development and application of novel fermentation processes and a variety of cell technologies. Advanced Fermentation and Cell Technology provides a balanced and comprehensive overview of the microbial, mammalian, and plant cell technologies used by the modern biochemical process industry to develop new and improved processes and products. This authoritative volume covers the essential features of advanced fermentation and cell technology, and highlights the interaction of food fermentation and cell culture biopharmaceutical actives. Detailed chapters, organized into five sections, cover microbial cell technology, animal and plant cell technology, safety issues of new biotechnologies, and applications of microbial fermentation to food products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Written by an internationally-recognized expert in food biotechnology, this comprehensive volume: Covers both conventional and novel industrial fermentation technologies and their applications in a range of industries Discusses current progress in novel fermentation, cell culture, commercial recombinant bioproducts technologies Includes overviews of the global market size of bioproducts and the fundamentals of cell technology Highlights the importance of sustainability, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), quality assurance, and regulatory practices Explores microbial cell technology and culture tools and techniques such as genome shuffling and recombinant DNA technology, RNA interference and CRISPR technology, molecular thermodynamics, protein engineering, proteomics and bioinformatics, and synthetic biology Advanced Fermentation and Cell Technology is an ideal resource for students of food science, biotechnology, microbiology, agricultural sciences, biochemical engineering, and biochemistry, and is a valuable reference for food scientists, researchers, and technologists throughout the food industry, particularly the dairy, bakery, and fermented beverage sectors.

Sustainable food production is vital to ensure food and nutritional security to growing human population. Recently, there has been a shift in agricultural production system, crop production is not only considering yield as primary interest to produce higher number of calories for reducing hunger, but also more nutrient-rich food to reduce malnutrition or “hidden hunger”. Micronutrient malnutrition is a continuing and serious public health problem in many countries, various Interventions to alleviate this problem have been implemented. Biofortification, the process of breeding nutrients into food crops, provides a comparatively cost effective, sustainable, and long-term means of delivering more micronutrients. Legumes have higher protein content than most plant foods approximately twice than cereals and are rich in the key micronutrients folate, niacin, thiamine, calcium, iron and zinc. This book summarizes the biofortification of legumes. Detailed information through contributed chapters shed light on legumes research relevant to human health, with key topics that include genomic and genetic resources for food security, conventional and modern breeding approaches for improving nutrition, agronomic traits and biotechnological interventions.

This book will cover several topics to elaborate how proteomics may enhance agricultural productivity. These include crop and food proteomics, farm animal proteomics, aquaculture, microorganisms and insect proteomics. It will also cover several technical advances, which may address the current need for comprehensive proteome analysis.An emerging field of the proteomics aim is to integrate knowledge from basic sciences and to translate it into agricultural applications to solve issues related to economic values of farm animals, crops, food security, health, and energy sustainability. Given the wealth of information generated and to some extent applied in agriculture, there is the need for more efficient and broader channels to freely disseminate the information to the scientific community.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil bacterium that for more than a century has been known as a pathogen causing the plant crown gall disease. Unlike many other pathogens, Agrobacterium has the ability to deliver DNA to plant cells and permanently alter the plant genome. The discovery of this unique feature 30 years ago has provided plant scientists with a powerful tool to genetically transform plants for both basic research purposes and for agricultural development. Compared to physical transformation methods such as particle bomba- ment or electroporation, Agrobacterium-mediated DNA delivery has a number of advantages. One of the features is its propensity to generate a single or a low copy number of integrated transgenes with defined ends. Integration of a single transgene copy into the plant genome is less likely to trigger “gene silencing” often associated with multiple gene insertions. When the first edition of Agrobacterium Protocols was published in 1995, only a handful of plants could be routinely transformed using Agrobacterium. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is now commonly used to introduce DNA into many plant species, including monocotyledon crop species that were previously considered non-hosts for Agrobacterium. Most remarkable are recent developments indicating that Agrobacterium can also be used to deliver DNA to non-plant species including bacteria, fungi, and even mammalian cells.

This book is a collection of updated studies related to current improvements in legume traits and their agricultural benefits. It discusses the physiological functions, genetics, and genomics of legume crops. Chapters address such topics as genetics and biological insights of seed traits in the context of climate change, improving quality and yields of legume seeds, new genetic resources from diverse germplasms, and agricultural benefits of legumes in agroecosystems.

Plant Science, like the biological sciences in general, has undergone seismic shifts in the last thirty or so years. Of course science is always changing and metamorphosing, but these shifts have meant that modern plant science has moved away from its previous more agricultural and botanical context, to become a core biological discipline in its own right. However the sheer amount of information that is accumulating about plant science, and the difficulty of grasping it all, understanding it and evaluating it intelligently, has never been harder for the new generation of plant scientists or, for that matter, established scientists. And that is precisely why this Handbook of Plant Science has been put together. Discover modern, molecular plant sciences as they link traditional disciplines! Derived from the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Life Sciences! Thorough reference of up-to-the minute, reliable, self-contained, peer-reviewed articles – cross-referenced throughout! Contains 255 articles and 48 full-colour pages, written by top scientists in each field! The Handbook of Plant Science is an authoritative source of up-to-date, practical information for all teachers, students and researchers working in the field of plant science, botany, plant biotechnology, agriculture and horticulture.

Legume crops provide an excellent source of high quality plant protein and have a key role in arable crop rotations reducing the need for fertilizer application and acting as break-crops. However, these crops are affected by a number of foliar and root diseases, being ascochyta blights the most important group of diseases worldwide. Ascochyta blights are incited by different pathogens in the various legumes. A number of control strategies have been developed including resistance breeding, cultural practices and chemical control. However, only marginal successes have been achieved in most instances, most control methods being uneconomical, hard to achieve or resulting in incomplete protection. This eBook covers recent advances in co-operative research on these diseases, from agronomy to breeding, covering traditional and modern genomic methodologies.