Outbreeding Mechanisms In Flowering Plants

Great progress has been made in our understanding of pollen-pistil interactions and self-incompatibility (SI) in flowering plants in the last few decades. This book covers a broad spectrum of research into SI, with accounts by internationally renowned scientists. It comprises two sections: Evolution and Population Genetics of SI, Molecular and Cell Biology of SI Systems. The reader will gain an insight into the diversity and complexity of these polymorphic cell-cell recognition and rejection systems. Heteromorphic and homomorphic SI systems and our current understanding of the evolution and phylogeny of these systems, based on the most recent molecular sequence data, are covered. Further, the book presents major advances in our knowledge of the pistil and pollen S-determinants and other unlinked components involved in SI, as well as the apparently diverse cellular regulatory mechanisms utilised to ensure inhibition of “self” pollen.

Sexual reproduction is the predominant mode of perpetuation for flowering plant species. Investigating the reproductive strategies of plants has grown to become a vast area of research and, in crop plants, covers events from flowering to fruit and seed development; in wild species, it extends up to seed dispersal and seedling recruitment. Thus, reproduction determines the extent of yield in crop plants and, in wild plants, also determines the efficacy of recruiting new adults to the population, making this field important both from fundamental and applied plant biology perspectives. Moreover, in light of the growing concerns regarding food and nutritional security for the growing population and preserving biological diversity, reproductive biology of flowering plants has acquired special significance. Extensive studies on various facets of reproduction are being carried out around the world. However, these studies are scattered across research journals and reviews from diverse areas of biology. The present volume covers the whole spectrum of reproductive ecology, from phenology and floral biology, to sexuality and pollination biology/ecology including floral rewards, breeding systems, apomixis and seed dispersal. In turn, transgene flow, its biosafety and mitigation approaches, and the ‘global pollinator crisis’, which has become a major international concern in light of the urgent need to sustain crop yield and biodiversity, are discussed in detail. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for students, teachers and researchers of botany, zoology, ecology, agriculture and forestry, as well as conservation biologists.

A century of research on heterostylous plants has passed since the publication of Charles Darwin's book "The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species" in 1877 summarizing his extensive observations and experiments on these complex breeding systems involving genetic polymorphisms of floral sex organs. Since then heterostylous plants have provided a rich source of material for evolutionary biologists and today they represent one of the classic research paradigms for approaches to the study of evolution and adaptation. The present book is the first modern and comprehensive accont of the subject. In 10 chapters it is concerned with the evolution, genetics, development, morphology, and adaptive significance of heterostyly. Broad syntheses of research on heterostyly as well as new theoretical ideas and experimental data are included.

Attempting to collect, sort out, comment on and summarize from available literature the relevant information dealing with a specific problem is always a difficult task which necessarily involves sub jective choices and implies a considerable risk of errors and omis sions. The difficulty is increased when, as in the case of incompati bility in angiosperms, the subject to be treated traces its history to preDarwinian times and reflects the total sum of numerous in vestigations dealing with widely different disciplines, such as ge netics, cytology, biochemistry, systematics and physiology, which no single reviewer may pretend to master sufficiently to avoid completely the possibility of misinterpretation. Furthermore, the complexity of the task is further augmented by the fact that the student of incompatibility, confronted as he or she is with still poorly understood phenomena of genetic control and molecular recognition, often tends to be speculative and, in some instances, over-imaginative at the time of fitting research observations and experimental data into appropriate models, schemes and hypo theses. The compensation for such a state of affair is, however, a strong one and lies in the remarkable willingness and readiness of "in compatibilists" to cooperate, and to provide information, ex planations and illustrations to anyone attempting to penetrate into their universe of research and of reflection.

The explosion of the field of genetics over the last decade, with the new technologies that have stimulated research, suggests that a new sort of reference work is needed to keep pace with such a fast-moving and interdisciplinary field. Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set, builds on the foundation of the first edition by addressing many of the key subfields of genetics that were just in their infancy when the first edition was published. The currency and accessibility of this foundational content will be unrivalled, making this work useful for scientists and non-scientists alike. Featuring relatively short entries on genetics topics written by experts in that topic, Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set provides an effective way to quickly learn about any aspect of genetics, from Abortive Transduction to Zygotes. Adding to its utility, the work provides short entries that briefly define key terms, and a guide to additional reading and relevant websites for further study. Many of the entries include figures to explain difficult concepts. Key terms in related areas such as biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology are also included, and there are entries that describe historical figures in genetics, providing insights into their careers and discoveries. This 7-volume set represents a 25% expansion from the first edition, with over 1600 articles encompassing this burgeoning field Thoroughly up-to-date, with many new topics and subfields covered that were in their infancy or not inexistence at the time of the first edition. Timely coverage of emergent areas such as epigenetics, personalized genomic medicine, pharmacogenetics, and genetic enhancement technologies Interdisciplinary and global in its outlook, as befits the field of genetics Brief articles, written by experts in the field, which not only discuss, define, and explain key elements of the field, but also provide definition of key terms, suggestions for further reading, and biographical sketches of the key people in the history of genetics

view than its own proper males should fecundate each blossom." ANDREW KNIGHT Philosophical Transactions, 1799 Pollination mechanisms and reproduction have a decisive bearing upon rational procedures in plant breeding and crop production. This book intends to furnish' under one cover an integrated botanical, genetical and breeding-methodologi cal treatment of the reproductive biology of spermatophytes mainly angiosperms; it is based on an advanced topical course in plant breeding taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusa lem. We have tried to present a coverage which is concise, but as comprehensive as possible, of the pollination mechanism and modes of reproduction of higher plants, and to illustrate topics, whenever practicable, by examples from cultivated plants. Nevertheless, some relevant publications may have escaped our attention or may not be mentioned because of various limitations. The book is organized into three parts. The first part starts with an evaluation of the significance of the different pollination mechanisms for plant breeding and crop produc tion, describes modes of reproduction in higher plants and discusses ecology and dynamics of pollination. The second part is devoted to crops propagated by self pollination and describes specific breeding procedures for such crops. The third part details sexual reproduction in higher plants and handles three mechanisms involved in the prevention of self pollination and their utilization in plant breeding: sex expres sion, incompatibility, and male sterility.