This unique resource reviews progress made by scientists researching into how ambient changes in the wavelength, intensity, direction and duration of light environment affect plant growth and development. It explains how combinations of new research with classical photobiology and physiology have made it feasible to interpret intriguing light dependent phenomena such as phototropism, determination of flowering time, shade avoidance etc. at molecular level. Written by over 20 leading experts in the field the book covers major breakthroughs achieved in the last decade. It is generously referenced with more than 2389 bibliographic citations.
With the invitation to edit this volume, I wanted to take the opportunity to assemble reviews on different aspects of circadian clocks and rhythms. Although most c- tributions in this volume focus on mammalian circadian clocks, the historical int- duction and comparative clocks section illustrate the importance of various other organisms in deciphering the mechanisms and principles of circadian biology. Circadian rhythms have been studied for centuries, but only recently, a mole- lar understanding of this process has emerged. This has taken research on circadian clocks from mystic phenomenology to a mechanistic level; chains of molecular events can describe phenomena with remarkable accuracy. Nevertheless, current models of the functioning of circadian clocks are still rudimentary. This is not due to the faultiness of discovered mechanisms, but due to the lack of undiscovered processes involved in contributing to circadian rhythmicity. We know for example, that the general circadian mechanism is not regulated equally in all tissues of m- mals. Hence, a lot still needs to be discovered to get a full understanding of cir- dian rhythms at the systems level. In this respect, technology has advanced at high speed in the last years and provided us with data illustrating the sheer complexity of regulation of physiological processes in organisms. To handle this information, computer aided integration of the results is of utmost importance in order to d- cover novel concepts that ultimately need to be tested experimentally.
Plant Cold Acclimation: Methods and Protocols details many of the methods and protocols commonly used to study plant cold acclimation and freezing tolerance, breeding, genetics, physiology or molecular biology, or any combination of these specialties. Chapters focus on interdisciplinary approaches, experimental methods, and concepts from different areas of science. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Plant Cold Acclimation: Methods and Protocols seeks to help not only new researchers starting in this field, but also those already working in a particular area of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance research who are looking to expand their range of experimental approaches.
The regulation of the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation process, resulting in “cellular switches” that monitor normal plant physiology, growth and development, has immense potential in crop systems. With much of the information in the nascent stages, coming largely from Arabidopsis and rice particularly, the use of cell biology, genetic screens, biochemical approaches aided by an omics approach should help unravel the detail functional information available about signaling pathways in plants. The regulation could be exploited to develop crop varieties better equipped to handle changing environments and enhance agricultural productivity. In the post-genomic era, one of the major challenges is investigation and understanding of multiple genes and gene families regulating a particular physiological and developmental aspect of plant life cycle. One of the important physiological processes is regulation of stress response, which leads to adaptation or adjustment in response to adverse stimuli. With the holistic understanding of the signaling pathways involving phosphatases, one gene family or multiple genes or gene families, plant biologist can lay a foundation for designing and generating future crops, which can withstand the higher degree of environmental stresses. Especially abiotic stresses, which are the major cause of crop loss throughout the world without losing crop yield and productivity. This book incorporates the contributions from leading plant biologists in the field of stress-mediated dephosphorylation by phosphatases as an important task to elucidate the aspects of stress signaling by functional genomic approaches.
It is now well established that jasmonates, originally identified as the major component of jasmine scent, play a universal role in the plant kingdom and are involved in the regulation of diverse aspects of plant biology, including growth, development, metabolism, and interaction with the environment. In Jasmonate Signaling: Methods and Protocols, experts in the field aim to unite powerful emerging omics platforms with a number of key reductionist approaches to form a comprehensive collection of tools and protocols. The detailed chapters in this book embrace physiological, environmental, molecular, omics, and bioinformatics approaches that allow dissecting jasmonate actions in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana or in other plants. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters feature introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, along with tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Jasmonate Signaling: Methods and Protocols will empower interested researchers to dissect all steps of jasmonate signaling and the processes they modulate.
This book focuses on light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, mainly for the commercial production of horticultural crops in plant factories and greenhouses with controlled environments, giving special attention to: 1) plant growth and development as affected by the light environment; and 2) business and technological opportunities and challenges with regard to LEDs. The book contains more than 30 chapters grouped into seven parts: 1) overview of controlled-environment agriculture and its significance; 2) the effects of ambient light on plant growth and development; 3) optical and physiological characteristics of plant leaves and canopies; 4) greenhouse crop production with supplemental LED lighting; 5) effects of light quality on plant physiology and morphology; 6) current status of commercial plant factories under LED lighting; and 7) basics of LEDs and LED lighting for plant cultivation. LED lighting for urban agriculture in the forthcoming decades will not be just an advanced form of current urban agriculture. It will be largely based on two fields: One is a new paradigm and rapidly advancing concepts, global technologies for LEDs, information and communication technology, renewable energy, and related expertise and their methodologies; the other is basic science and technology that should not change for the next several decades. Consideration should be given now to future urban agriculture based on those two fields. The tremendous potentials of LED lighting for urban agriculture are stimulating many people in various fields including researchers, businesspeople, policy makers, educators, students, community developers, architects, designers, and entrepreneurs. Readers of this book will understand the principle, concept, design, operation, social roles, pros and cons, costs and benefits of LED lighting for urban agriculture, and its possibilities and challenges for solving local as well as global agricultural, environmental, and social issues.
Plant Signaling Molecule: Role and Regulation under Stressful Environments explores tolerance mechanisms mediated by signaling molecules in plants for achieving sustainability under changing environmental conditions. Including a wide range of potential molecules, from primary to secondary metabolites, the book presents the status and future prospects of the role and regulation of signaling molecules at physiological, biochemical, molecular and structural level under abiotic stress tolerance. This book is designed to enhance the mechanistic understanding of signaling molecules and will be an important resource for plant biologists in developing stress tolerant crops to achieve sustainability under changing environmental conditions. - Focuses on plant biology under stress conditions - Provides a compendium of knowledge related to plant adaptation, physiology, biochemistry and molecular responses - Identifies treatments that enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses - Illustrates specific physiological pathways that are considered key points for plant adaptation or tolerance to abiotic stresses
This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.
Abscisic Acid in Plants, Volume 92, the latest release in the Advances in Botanical Research series, is a compilation of the current state-of-the-art on the topic. Chapters in this new release comprehensively describe latest knowledge on how ABA functions as a plant hormone. They cover topics related to molecular mechanisms as well as the biochemical and chemical aspects of ABA action: hormone biosynthesis, catabolism, transport, perception, signaling in plants, seeds and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses, hormone evolution and chemical biology, and much more. - Presents the latest release in the Advances in Botanical Research series - Provides an Ideal resource for post-graduates and researchers in the plant sciences, including plant physiology, plant genetics, plant biochemistry, plant pathology, and plant evolution - Contains contributions from internationally recognized authorities in their respective fields
