Plant Biology and Biotechnology Volume II: Plant Genomics and Biotechnology

Plant genomics and biotechnology have recently made enormous strides, and hold the potential to benefit agriculture, the environment and various other dimensions of the human endeavor. It is no exaggeration to claim that the twenty-first century belongs to biotechnology. Knowledge generation in this field is growing at a frenetic pace, and keeping abreast of the latest advances and calls on us to double our efforts. Volume II of this two-part series addresses cutting-edge aspects of plant genomics and biotechnology. It includes 37 chapters contributed by over 70 researchers, each of which is an expert in his/her own field of research.

Biotechnology has helped to solve many conundrums of plant life that had long remained a mystery to mankind. This volume opens with an exhaustive chapter on the role played by thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, which is believed to be the Drosophila of the plant kingdom and an invaluable model plant for understanding basic conceptsin plant biology. This is followed by chapters on bioremediation, biofuels and biofertilizers through microalgal manipulation, making it a commercializable prospect; discerning finer details of biotic stress with plant-fungal interactions; and the dynamics of abiotic and biotic stresses, which also figure elsewhere in the book.

Breeding crop plants for desirable traits has long been an endeavor of biotechnologists. The significance of molecular markers, marker assisted selection and techniques are covered in a dedicated chapter, as are comprehensive reviews on plant molecular biology, DNA fingerprinting techniques, genomic structure and functional genomics. A chapter dedicated to organellar genomes provides extensive information on this important aspect.

Overcoming barriers to sexual incompatibility has also long been a focus of biotechnology, and is addressed in chapters on wide hybridization and hybrid embryo rescue. Another area of accomplishing triploids through endosperm culture is included as a non-conventional breeding strategy. Secondary metabolite production through tissue cultures, which is of importance to industrial scientists, is also covered.

Worldwide exchange of plant genetic material is currently an essential topic, as is conserving natural resources in situ. Chapters on in vitro conservation of extant, threatened and other valuable germplasms, gene banking and related issues are included, along with an extensive account of the biotechnology of spices – the low-volume, high-value crops.

Metabolic engineering is another emerging field that provides commercial opportunities. As is well known, there is widespread concern over genetically modified crops among the public. GM crops are covered, as are genetic engineering strategies for combating biotic and abiotic stresses where no other solutions are in sight. RNAi- and micro RNA- based strategies for crop improvement have proved to offer novel alternatives to the existing non-conventional techniques, and detailed information on these aspects is also included. The book’s last five chapters are devoted to presenting the various aspects of environmental, marine, desert and rural biotechnology.

The state-of-the-art coverage on a wide range of plant genomics and biotechnology topics will be of great interest to post-graduate students and researchers, including the employees of seed and biotechnology companies, and to instructors in the fields of plant genetics, breeding and biotechnology.

1. Arabidopsis thaliana: A Model for Plant Research.- 2. Microalgae in Biotechnological Application: A Commercial Approach.- 3. Application of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Tools in Plant-Fungal Interactions.- 4. Genetic Markers, Trait Mapping and Marker-Assisted Selection in Plant Breeding.- 5. Doubled Haploid Platform - An Accelerated Breeding Approach for Crop Improvement.- 6. Plant Molecular Biology Applications in Horticulture: An Overview.- 7. A History of Genomic Structures: The Big Picture.- 8. Organellar Genomes of Flowering Plants.- 9. DNA Fingerprinting Techniques for Plant Identification.- 10. Functional Genomics.- 11. Translating the Genome for Translational Research: Proteomics in Agriculture.- 12. Epigenetic Mechanisms in Plants: An Overview.- 13. Bioinformatics: Application to Genomics.- 14. Systems Biology: A New Frontier in Science.- 15. Somatic Embryogenesis.- 16. Micropropagation of Plants.- 17. Efficacy of Biotechnological Approaches to Raise Wide Sexual Hybrids.- 18. Hybrid Embryo Rescue in Crop Improvement.- 19. Applications of Triploids in Agriculture.- 20. Improving Secondary Metabolite Production in Plant Tissue Cultures.- 21. Somaclonal Variation in Micropropagated Crops.- 22. In vitro Conservation of Plant Germplasm.- 23. Gene Banking for ex situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources.- 24. Conservation and Management of Endemic and Threatened Plant Species in India- An Overview.- 25. Biotechnological Approaches in Improvement of Spices – A Review.- 26. Metabolic Engineering in Plants.- 27. Genetically Modified Crops.- 28. Engineering of Plants for the Production of Commercially Important Products: Approaches and Accomplishments.- 29. Genetic Engineering Strategies for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants.- 30. Genetic Engineering Strategies for Biotic Stress Tolerance in Plants.- 31. RNAi for Crop Improvement.- 32. Plant Micro RNAs: Biogenesis, Functions and Applications.- 33. Environmental Biotechnology: A Quest for Sustainable Solutions.- 34. Phytoremediation: General Account and Its Application.- 35. Marine Biotechnology: Potentials of Marine Microbes and Algae with Reference to Pharmacological and Commercial Values.- 36. Desert Plant Biotechnology: Jojoba, Date Palm and Acacia Species.- 37. Rural Biotechnology in Transforming Agriculture and Rural Livelihood.

Dr. Bir Bahadur, born 5 April 1938, studied at City College, Hyderabad, for 5 years including an Intermediate Course (Osmania University) and graduated from Nizam College and postgraduated from University College, Osmania University, both in the first division. He obtained his Ph.D. in Plant Genetics from Osmania University. He was closely associated with late Prof. J.B.S. Haldane, F.R.S., a renowned British geneticist who encouraged him to study heterostyly and incompatibility in Indian plants, a subject first studied by Charles Darwin.

He made significant contributions in several areas, especially heterostyly, incompatibility, plant genetics, mutagenesis, plant tissue culture and biotechnology, morphogenesis, application of SEM in botanical research, plant asymmetry, plant morphology and anatomy, and lately biofuel plants Jatropha and castor.                                 

He served as Lecturer and Reader at Osmania University, Hyderabad, and as Reader and Professor at Kakatiya University, Warangal. He also served as Head of Department; Chairman, Board of Studies; Dean, Faculty of Science; and Co-ordinating Officer/Dean UGC Affairs at Kakatiya University. He has over 40 years of teaching and over 50 years of research experience. He has supervised 29 Ph.D. students and 3 M.Phil. students in both these universities and has published about 250 research papers/reviews which are well received and cited in national and international journals, textbooks and reference books.

He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Genetics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, and worked on mutagenesis and chromosome replication in Rhizobium. He is a recipient of the direct award from the Royal Society Bursar, London. He also worked at Birmingham University (UK). He was conferred with the title of Honorary Research Fellow by the Birmingham University. He studied species differentiation in wild and cultivated solanums using interspecific hybridization and the enzyme-etched seeds technique in combination with scanning electron microscopy to assess the relationship among various Solanum species. At the invitation of the Royal Society, he visited Oxford University, Leeds University, Reading University and London University, including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and various research labs. He was invited for international conferences by the US Science Foundation at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and the University of Texas, Houston (USA), and at the SABRO international conference at Szukoba, Japan. He has extensively visited most countries of Eastern and Western Europe as well as Tanzania and the Middle East.

He has authored/edited ten books. One of his important books is entitled Jatropha, Challenges for a New Energy Crop, Vol. 1 and 2, published by Springer, New York, USA, 2013, jointly edited with Dr. M. Sujatha and Dr. Nicolas Carels. These books are considered significant contributions to bioenergy in recent times. He was Chief Editor, Proceedings of Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences, Hyderabad, and Executive Editor, Journal of Palynology (Lucknow).

He is the recipient of the Best Teacher Award by the Andhra Pradesh Government for mentoring thousands of students in his teaching career spanning over 40 years.  He was honoured with Prof. Vishwamber Puri, Medal of Indian Botanical Society for his original contributions in various aspects of plant sciences. He has been honoured with the Bharat Jyoti Award at New Delhi for outstanding achievements and sustained contributions in the fields of education and research. He has been listed as one of the 39 prominent alumni of City College, a premier institution with a long history of about 90 years as per the latest update on its website. He has been chosen for distinguished standing and has been conferred with an Honorary Appointment to the Research Board of Advisors by the Board of Directors, Governing Board of Editors and Publications Board of the American Biographical Institute, USA.

He is a fellow of over a dozen professional bodies in India and abroad, including the following: Fellow of the Linnean Society, London; Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the Institute of Biology, London. Presently, he is an Independent Board of Director of Sri Biotech Laboratories India Ltd., Hyderabad, India.

Dr. Manchikatla Venkat Rajam is currently Professor and Head, Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India. He obtained his Ph.D. in Botany (1983) from Kakatiya University, Warangal, India. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the prestigious Yale University, New Haven (1984–1985), and also worked at BTI (Cornell University, Ithaca) for a couple of months as a visiting research associate. At Yale University, his work led to the discovery of a new method for the control of fungal plant infections through selective inhibition of fungal polyamine biosynth