Plants under Stress: Biochemistry, Physiology and Ecology and their Application to Plant Improvement

by Edited by Hamlyn G. Jones , T. J. Flowers , M. B. Jones

• ISBN13: 9780521050371
• ISBN10: 0521050375
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-04
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The volume identifies how stressful conditions affect plants. Various stresses, such as drought, salinity, waterlogging, high and low temperatures, can have a major impact on plant growth and survival - with important economic consequences in crop plants. This book examines some of the more important stresses, shows how they affect the plant and then reviews how new varieties or new species can be selected which are less vulnerable to stress. The wide-ranging and important consequences of stress should ensure that the volume is widely read by plant biologists at the graduate and research level.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Preface

Introduction: some terminology and common mechanisms

The impact of environmental stresses on ecosystems

Whole-plant responses to stress in natural and agricultural systems

Photosynthesis and gas exchange

Regulation of growth and development of plants growing with a restricted supply of water

Stresses, membranes and cell walls

Desiccation injury, anhydrobiosis and survival

Molecular biology: application to studies of stress tolerance

Environmental control of gene expression and stress proteins in plants

Plant tissue and protoplast culture: applications to stress physiology and biochemistry

Breeding methods for drought resistance

Selection for physiological characters - examples from breeding for salt tolerance

Prospects for improving crop production in stressful environments

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.