This important 2-volume reference book is the first comprehensive resource reflecting the current global status and prospects of date palm cultivation by country. This volume covers Africa and the Americas. Countries included are: Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Cameroon, Djibouti, Chad, Mali Somalia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Senegal, as well as the United States of America and the South American countries Chile and Peru. Topics discussed are: cultivation practices; genetic resources and breeding; conservation and germplasm banks; cultivar classification and identification based on morphological and molecular markers; micropropagation and progress toward scale-up production; and advances in dates processing and marketing. Chapters are supported by tables and color photographs. Appendixes summarize traits and distribution of major cultivars, commercial resources of offshoots and in vitro plants; and institutions and scientific societies concerned with date palm.

This important 2-volume reference book is the first comprehensive resource reflecting the current global status and prospects of date palm cultivation by country. This volume covers Asia and Europe. The Asian countries included are: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine and India. Europe is represented by Spain. Topics discussed are: cultivation practices; genetic resources and breeding; conservation and germplasm banks; cultivar classification and identification based on morphological and molecular markers; micropropagation and progress toward scale-up production; and advances in dates processing and marketing. Chapters are supported by tables and color photographs. Appendixes summarize traits and distribution of major cultivars, commercial resources of offshoots and in vitro plants; and institutions and scientific societies concerned with date palm.

This important reference book is the first comprehensive resource worldwide that reflects research achievements in date palm biotechnology, documenting research events during the last four decades, current status, and future outlook. This book is essential for researchers, policy makers, and commercial entrepreneurs concerned with date palm. The book is invaluable for date palm biotechnology students and specialists. This monument is written by an international team of experienced researchers from both academia and industry. It consists of five sections covering all aspects of date palm biotechnology including A) Micropropagation, B) Somaclonal Variation, Mutation and Selection, C) Germplasm Biodiversity and Conservation, D) Genetics and Genetic Improvement, and E) Metabolites and Industrial Biotechnology. The book brings together the principles and practices of contemporary date palm biotechnology. Each chapter contains background knowledge related to the topic, followed by a comprehensive literature review of research methodology and results including the authors own experience including illustrative tables and photographs.

The book first summarizes the bioaccesibility of bioactive compounds in several Phoenix species, P. dactylifera, P. reclinata, P. sylvestris and P. loureiroi, to foster the integration of herbal and modern medicine. Date palm propagation means by conventional techniques, biotechnology tools, and maintenance of plant material in the greenhouse prior to field transfer are presented. An overview of field transfer of date palm vitro-plants is also provided. Following this, the authors discuss how experiments show that fertilizer addition is necessary for the improvement of date palm growth and increase of date fruits production. Date palm requires relatively great amounts of macro and micro nutrients to achieve good growth and give reasonable and economical production. Therefore, fertilization is one of the important practices that increases dates production and improves fruits quality. Artificial pollination is a distinguished and vital practice in commercial production of the date palm fruit. As such, the authors discuss how safe transfer of pollen grains to the female flower stigma at the proper condition is necessary in order for the ovule to be fertilized and the proper fruit set achieved. Date palm genetic resources have been preserved using in vitro micropropagation, and new elite cultivars are being produced using certain molecular breeding and biotechnological approaches. However, such measures are insufficient sustainable date palm production. This compilation proposes that it is time to introduce newly developed approaches such as high-throughput sequencing technologies, -omics technologies and CRISPR/Cas based approaches to revolutionize the date palm genetic improvement. Next, the authors discuss the most suitable irrigation water management strategy to minimize the effects of irrigation practices and future climate change on soil properties and on productivity of date palms. In the closing study, the effects of light and darkness on the germination and conversion of date palm somatic embryos to plants is studied. The observed results indicate that darkness is associated with increased proliferation and germination of somatic embryos.

This book provides complete, comprehensive, and broad subject-based reviews for students, teachers, researchers, policymakers, conservationists, and NGOs interested in the biodiversity and conservation of woody plants. Forests cover approximately 31 percent of the world’s total landmass; 93 percent is natural forest and only 7 percent consists of planted trees. Forest decline is progressing at an alarming rate worldwide. In addition to human activities (logging, deforestation, and exploiting forest lands for agriculture and industrial use), a number of other factors – including pests and diseases, drought, soil acidity, radiation, and ozone – are cumulatively contributing to global forest decline. The present situation forces us to focus on forest conservation strategies for the present and future. Gene conservation and maintaining genetic diversity in forest ecosystems are crucial to the preservation of forest genetic resources. This calls for integrated action to implement both the in situ (on site) preservation of forest stands and ex situ (distant from the original site) strategies for the conservation of woody plants’ genetic resources. Selected priority areas include: 1) assessing patterns of genetic diversity and threats, 2) understanding the biological processes regulating genetic diversity, 3) assessing the impact of human activities and climate change on genetic diversity, and 5) finding methods for prioritizing species and populations for the conservation of forest trees genetic resources. All chapters were written by leading scientists in their respective fields, which include: woody plant diversity, ecology and evolution; assessment of genetic diversity in forest tree populations; conservation planning under climate change; and in situ and ex situ strategies, including biotechnological approaches, for the conservation of woody plants genetic resources.

This publication provides a basic introduction to date palm propagation, production and protection techniques. Chapters cover: botanical and systematic description, origin, geographical distribution and nutritional value, economic importance, climatic requirements, orchard management, harvesting, and diseases and pests of date palm.

The publication was prepared based on information provided by 86 countries, outcomes from regional and subregional consultations and commissioned thematic studies. It includes: •an overview of definitions and concepts related to Forest Genetic Resources (FGR) and a review of their value; •a description of the main drivers of changes; •the presentation of key emerging technologies; •an analysis of the current status of FGR conservation, use and related developments; •recommendations addressing the challenges and needs. By the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Bioinformatics offers novel tools and resources to analyze plant genomes and genes. The complete genomes of two important commercial palms (dates and oil palm) have recently been sequenced. This offers scope for many computational tools to decipher the synteny, collinearity and common and unique genes of palms. This book reviews the latest developments in this field. Includes the latest information on the molecular breeding and bioinformatics of palms Covers past and current work and future opportunities Written in simple language avoiding technical jargon

This book is the first volume of a comprehensive assemblage of contemporary knowledge relevant to genomics and other omics in date palm. Volume 1 consists of 11 chapters arranged in 3 parts grouped according to subject. Part I, Biology and Phylogeny, focuses on date palm biology, evolution and origin. Part II, Biodiversity and Molecular Identification, covers conformity of in vitro derived plants, molecular markers, barcoding, pollinizer genetics and gender determination. Part III, Genome Mapping and Bioinformatics, addresses genome mapping of nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA, in addition to a chapter on progress made in date palm bioinformatics. This volume represents the efforts of 30 international scientists from 10 countries and contains 78 figures and 30 tables to illustrate presented concepts. Volume 2 is published under the title: Omics and Molecular Breeding.

This book is the first comprehensive assemblage of contemporary knowledge relevant to genomics and other omics in date palm. Volume 2 consists of 11 chapters. Part I, Nutritional and Pharmaceuticals Properties, covers the utilization of date palm as an ingredient of various food products, a source of bioactive compounds and the production of nanomaterials. Part II, Omics Technologies, addresses omics resources, proteomics and metabolomics. Part III, Molecular Breeding and Genome Modification, focuses on genetic improvement technologies based on mutagenesis, quantitative traits loci and genome editing. Part IV, Genomics of Abiotic and Biotic Stress, covers metagenomics of beneficial microbes to enhance tolerance to abiotic stress and the various genomics advances as they apply to insect control. This volume represents the efforts of 34 international scientists from 12 countries and contains 65 figures and 19 tables to illustrate presented concepts. Volume 1 is published under the title: Phylogeny, Biodiversity and Mapping.