The Pear Genome

Addressing the pear genome, this book covers the current state of knowledge regarding genetic and genomic resources, breeding approaches and strategies, as well as cutting-edge content on how these tools and resources are being / soon will be utilized to pursue genetic improvement efforts that will combine fruit quality, high productivity, precocious fruit bearing, and long postharvest storage life, along with elevated levels of resistance to various major diseases and insect pests. Throughout, the book also explores potential opportunities and challenges in genomic analysis, sequence assembly, structural features, as well as functional studies that will assist in future genetic improvement efforts for pears. The pear (Pyrus), an important tree fruit crop, is grown worldwide, and has several economically relevant cultivars. In recent years, modern genetic and genomic tools have resulted in the development of a wide variety of valuable resources for the pear. In the past few years, completion of whole genome assemblies of ‘Dangshansuli’, an Asian pear, and ‘Bartlett’, a European pear, have paved the way for new discoveries regarding for example, the pear’s genomic structure, chromosome evolution, and patterns of genetic variation. This wealth of new resources will have a major impact on our knowledge of the pear genome; in turn, these resources and knowledge will have significant impacts on future genetic improvement efforts.

This is the first book on Rosaceae genomics. It covers progress in recent genomic research among the Rosaceae, grounding this firmly in the historical context of genetic studies and in the application of genomics technologies for crop development.

This book fully integrates the conventional and biotechnological approaches to fruit crop breeding. Individual chapters are written on a wide variety of species covering all the major fruit crops in one volume. For each crop, there is a discussion of their taxonomy and evolution, history of improvement, crossing techniques, evaluation methods, and heritability of major traits and germplasm resources. Also discussed are the most recent advances in genetic mapping and QTL (quantitative trait loci) analysis, marker assisted breeding, gene cloning, gene expression analysis, regeneration and transformation. Patenting and licensing issues are also covered.

Contrary to a generally held view that pearls are found by chance in oysters, almost all are now produced from farms. This book is a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the biology of pearl oysters, their anatomy, reproduction, genetics, diseases, etc. It considers how they are farmed from spawning and culturing larvae in hatcheries to adults in the ocean; how various environmental factors, including pollution affect them; and how modern techniques are successfully producing large numbers of cultured pearls. This is the ultimate reference source on pearl oysters and the culture of pearls, written and edited by a number of scientists who are world experts in their fields. Comprehensive treatment of pearl oyster biology and pearl culture Written by the top world authorities Highly illustrated and figured Of practical relevance to a broad readership, from professional biologists to those involved in the practicalities and practice of pearl production

This book discusses different fruit crops and provides first-hand information on the nutritional composition of commercially important, as well as unexplored fruits, which are grown in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. A detailed nutritional profile of each fruit is presented in the book. The potential health implications against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, carcinoma, oxidative damage, asthma, aging and cognition are discussed and explained. Besides, nutritional composition and medicinal implications, origin, morphology, taxonomy and production scenarios of unexplored, as well as commercially important fruits, have also been highlighted in the book. This book will be of interest to students and researchers involved in agricultural sciences, food science, nutrition and the Indian medicine system.

Recent major advances in the field of comparative genomics and cytogenomics of plants, particularly associated with the completion of ambitious genome projects, have uncovered astonishing facets of the architecture and evolutionary history of plant genomes. The aim of this book was to review these recent developments as well as their implications in our understanding of the mechanisms which drive plant diversity. New insights into the evolution of gene functions, gene families and genome size are presented, with particular emphasis on the evolutionary impact of polyploidization and transposable elements. Knowledge on the structure and evolution of plant sex chromosomes, centromeres and microRNAs is reviewed and updated. Taken together, the contributions by internationally recognized experts present a panoramic overview of the structural features and evolutionary dynamics of plant genomes.This volume of Genome Dynamics will provide researchers, teachers and students in the fields of biology and agronomy with a valuable source of current knowledge on plant genomes.

The authors also provide a comparative survey of the properties of genomes (genome size, gene families, synteny, and polymorphism) for prokaryotes as well as the main eukaryotic models.

Fruit ripening is an important aspect of fruit production. The timing of it affects supply chains and buying behaviour, and for consumers ripeness not only affects perceptions of health but has nutritional effects too. Ripeness is closely related to spoilage which has a major financial impact on agricultural industries. Currently there are fast moving developments in knowledge of the factors affecting fruit ripeness, and this up-to-date monograph seeks to draw together the disparate research in this area. The aim of the book is to produce a comprehensive account covering almost every area related to fruit ripening including the latest molecular mechanisms regulating fruit ripening, its impact on human nutrition and emerging research and technologies.