Plant Developmental Biology

Many exciting discoveries in recent decades have contributed new knowledge to our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate various stages of plant growth and development. Such information, coupled with advances in cell and molecular biology, is fundamental to crop improvement using biotechnological approaches. Two volumes constitute the present work. The ?rst, comprising 22 chapters, commences with introductions relating to gene regulatory models for plant dev- opment and crop improvement, particularly the use of Arabidopsis as a model plant. These chapters are followed by speci?c topics that focus on different developmental aspects associated with vegetative and reproductive phases of the life cycle of a plant. Six chapters discuss vegetative growth and development. Their contents consider topics such as shoot branching, bud dormancy and growth, the devel- ment of roots, nodules and tubers, and senescence. The reproductive phase of plant development is in 14 chapters that present topics such as ?oral organ init- tion and the regulation of ?owering, the development of male and female gametes, pollen germination and tube growth, fertilization, fruit development and ripening, seed development, dormancy, germination, and apomixis. Male sterility and self-incompatibility are also discussed.

The study of plant development using molecular and genetic techniques is rapidly becoming one of the most active areas of research on flowering plants. Developmental Biology of Flowering Plants relates classical developmental work with the outstanding problems of the future in the study of plant development. An important feature of this book is the integration of results from molecular and genetic studies on various aspects of plant development in a cellular and physiological context.

Plants come in myriads of shapes and colors, and the beauty of plants has fascinated mankind for thousands of years. Long before Mendel discovered the laws of heritab- ity and Darwin developed his theory on evolution, the affection for ornamental plants led people to select alleles that establish novel plant forms. Today, plant developmental biology tries to discover the mechanisms that control the establishment of specialized cell types, tissues, and organs from the fertilized egg during a plant’s life. Although the underlying processes of cell proliferation and differentiation are similar in plants and a- mals, plants are different because their development is usually open, and its outcome is not the faithful repetition of a general plan but is strongly in?uenced by environm- tal conditions. In the last few decades, plant developmental biology has pinpointed a large number of developmental regulators and their interactions and the mechanisms that govern plant development start to emerge. In part, this progress was enabled by the advance of powerful molecular tools for a few model species, most importantly Arabidopsis. This volume of the Methods in Molecular Biology series provides a collection of protocols for many of the common experimental approaches in plant developmental bi- ogy. All chapters are written in the same format as that used in the Methods in Molecular TM Biology series. Each chapter opens with a description of the basic theory behind the method being described.

Plant Growth and Development: A Molecular Approach presents the field of plant development from both molecular and genetic perspectives. This field has evolved at a rapid rate over the past five years through the increasing exploitation of the remarkable plant Arabidopsis. The small genome, rapid life cycle, and ease of transformation of Arabidopsis, as well as the relatively large number of laboratories that are using this plant for their research, have lead to an exponential increase in information about plant development mechanisms. In Plant Growth and Development: A Molecular Approach Professor Fosket synthesizes this flood of new information in a way that conveys to students the excitement of this still growing field. His textbook is based on notes developed over more than ten years of teaching a course on the molecular analysis of plant growth and development and assumes no special knowledge of plant biology. It is intended for advanced undergraduates in plant development, as well as those in plant molecular biology. Graduate students and researchers who are just beginning to work in the field will also find much valuable information in this book. Each chapter concludes with questions for study and review as well as suggestions for further reading. Illustrated with two-color drawings and graphs throughout, and containing up-to-date and comprehensive coverage, Plant Growth and Development: A Molecular Approach will excite and inform students as it increases their understanding of plant science. * * Presents plant development from a molecular and cellular perspective * Illustrates concepts with two-colour diagrams throughout * Offers key study questions and guides to further reading within each chapter * Gives an up-to-date and thorough treatment of this increasingly important subject area * Derived from the author's many years of teaching plant developmental biology

Plant Development and Evolution, the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on the Evolution of the plant body plan, Lateral root development and its role in evolutionary adaptation, the Development of the vascular system, the Development of the shoot apical meristem and phyllotaxis, the Evolution of leaf diversity, the Evolution of regulatory networks in land plants, The role of programed cell death in plant development, the Development and evolution of inflorescence architecture, the Molecular regulation of flower development, the Pre-meiotic another development, and much more. Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors Presents the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series Updated release includes the latest information on Plant Development and Evolution

Interest in developmental biology has exploded in recent years with the use of molecular techniques. There are some excellent textbooks on animal systems, but they make only a token gesture towards plants. For this book, Peter Westhoff and his strong team of co-authors have taken great painsto prepare a clear, integrated textbook for undergraduate and graduate students studying the molecular and developmental biology of plants. Pedagogical features include boxes and definitions, two-colour text and illustrations throughout, and an extensive glossary. A short format has been chosendeliberately to keep the information concise, while building on basic knowledge which is treated in more elementary textbooks and referring to additional work in a commented bibliography.

Patterns in Plant Development offers an introduction to the development of the whole plant.