V. 1. Laboratory procedures and their applications.--v. 2. Cell growth, nutrition, cytodifferentiation, and cryopreservation.--v. 3. Plant regeneration and genetic variability.--v. 4. Cell culture in phytochemistry.--v. 5. Phytoche micals in plant cell cultures.--v. 6. Molecular biology of plant nuclear genes. --v. 7A. The molecular biology of plastids.--v. 7B. The photosynthetic apparatus: molecular biology and operation.--v. 8. Scale-up and automation in plant propagation.

Plant Improvement and Somatic Cell Genetics includes all but one of the papers presented at two symposia held during the XIII International Botanical Congress in Sydney, Australia, on August 21-28, 1981. ""Frontiers in Plant Breeding"" and ""Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics in Plant Biology"" highlight the ways in which plant breeding techniques can improve crops. The book explores the potentials as well as the limitations of plant breeding, and cellular and molecular techniques in plant improvement. Comprised of 14 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the potential applications of exotic germplasm for tomato and cereal crop improvement. It continues with a discussion of multiline breeding, breeding of crop plants that can tolerate soil stresses, combining genomes by means of conventional methods, use of embryo culture in interspecific hybridization, use of haploids in plant improvement, and somaclonal variation and somatic hybridization as new techniques for plant improvement. The reader is also introduced to plant cell culture, as well as somatic cell genetics of cereals and grasses, somatic cell fusion for inducing cytoplasmic exchange, uses of cell culture mutants, genetic transformation of plant cells by experimental procedures in the context of plant genetic engineering, and use of molecular biology techniques for recognition and modification of crop plant genotypes. This book will be a useful resource for scientists and plant breeders interested in applying somatic cell genetics for crop improvement.

V. 1. Laboratory procedures and their applications.--v. 2. Cell growth, nutrition, cytodifferentiation, and cryopreservation.--v. 3. Plant regeneration and genetic variability.--v. 4. Cell culture in phytochemistry.--v. 5. Phytoche micals in plant cell cultures.--v. 6. Molecular biology of plant nuclear genes. --v. 7A. The molecular biology of plastids.--v. 7B. The photosynthetic apparatus: molecular biology and operation.--v. 8. Scale-up and automation in plant propagation.

Scale-Up and Automation in Plant Propagation reviews methods of automation and scale-up of plant propagation in vitro. It looks at the large scale clonal propagation of plants, or micropropagation, as the first major practical application of plant biotechnology. It also discusses the advantages and limitations of micropropagation and evaluates current methods of commercial micropropagation. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the benefits of scaling up and automating plant propagation before proceeding with a discussion of synthetic seeds and their use for plant propagation, along with problems and economic considerations associated with synthetic seed technology. It then considers the implementation of somatic embryogenesis technology for clonal forestry, the development and commercialization of bioreactor technology for automated propagation of potato microtubers and lily microbulbs, and approaches to automated propagation of fruit trees. Other chapters focus on issues of cost reduction and development of ""new"" products, scale-up and operation of prototype bioreactors for plant propagation, and application of machine vision technology to scale-up and automated evaluation of somatic embryogenesis in sweet potato. The book also describes methods of measurement and control of the environment in culture, environmental factors affecting photosynthesis, and use of robotics and field transplanters in the automation of plant propagation. Scientists and plant breeders will find this book extremely useful.