'frees contribute a major part of fuel, fodder and fruit, and are an im of bioenergy. They are now needed in large numbers more portant source than ever before for afforestation and social forestry, so that fast-grow ing and multipurpose trees assume great importance. After extensive in discriminate deforestation and rapid depletion of genetic stocks, efforts are now being made to evolve methods for clonal mass propagation of improved and elite trees. Production of short-duration trees with a rapid turnover of biomass, and induction of genetic variability through in vitro manipulation for the production of novel fruit and forest trees, which are high-yielding and resistant to pests and diseases, and trees which display increased photosynthetic efficiency are in demand. These objectives are well within the realm of horticultural and forest biotech nology. Some of the recent advances, such as the regeneration of com plete trees from isolated protoplasts, somatic hybridization, and the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in various tree species have opened new vistas for the genetic engineering of fruit and forest trees. This book is a continuation of the earlier volume Trees I, and presents 31 chapters on fruit, forest, nut and ornamental trees, such as avocado, pineapple, crabapple, quince, pistachio, walnut, hazelnut, date palm, oil palm, cacao, rubber, maple, sweet-gum, poplars, birches, Chinese tallow, willows, oaks, paper mulberry, rhododendrons, Scots pine, Calabrian pine, Douglas-fir, redwood, ginkgo, cycads and some flowering trees.

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The present work is based on the study of the laticiferous system in Hevea. It therefore covers anatomical, histological, and cytological research on laticifers and latex, together with biochemical and enzymological investigation of latex in vitro. Integration of all these studies led to the investigation of the physiology of the laticiferous function. The work described includes the most important results obtained over a period of nearly a century and the most recent work which has yet to be published.

Major tree crops contribute substantially to the economy of many developing countries on the Asian, African and Latin American continents. For example, coffee is the main revenue earner for Kenya. This book provides a comprehensive review of the agronomy, botany, taxonomy, genetics, chemistry, economics, and future global prospects of a range of crops that have great food, industrial and economic value such as cocoa, coffee, cashew, oil palm and natural rubber. - Discusses the major tree crops of great economic value to the developing world - The author is an eminent scientist who has won numerous awards for his work in this area

In the second edition of this book, the origin, upkeep and latex harvest from the Hevea rubber tree are dealt with succinctly. New chapters have been included on Propagation Systems and Genetic Resources. The importance of Heterozygosis and Breeding is a new theme for the section on Breeding. A new chapter on Genomics and Molecular Breeding that focuses on the latest advancements on gene mapping, marker assisted selection and stimulation has been added. Lastly, ‘textboxes’ that highlight points and topics of significant interest are included in the new addition. Natural rubber has been an essential commodity not only for the tire industry but also for more than 50,000 products that holds elasticity as an attribute. The prime source of natural rubber worldwide is Hevea brasiliensis. Hevea rubber tree is an excellent example of how a soil-tree-atmosphere system can work in tandem. The retrieval of rubber through ‘injuring’ the tree on alternate days or once in three days or once in seven days, is indeed a unique arrangement followed universally that ensures income to the planter almost throughout the year. Every molecule of rubber is the end result of meticulous biochemical changes. Therefore the biology of Hevea rubber tree itself is a subject that aggregates science and technology for the realization of its industrial utility.

This book presents the first comprehensive compilation of genome research on the Hevea brasiliensis rubber tree. The genomes of Hevea tree clones (cultivars) are described by three major international groups. Chapters on omics-driven investigations address a broad range of topics including genome annotation and utilisation, transcriptome and gene family analysis, genetic mapping, metabolic pathways in latex and molecular breeding. Additionally, an overview of fundamental rubber biology, especially on laticifers, provides a historical background that is relevant to rubber genome analysis. The book concludes with several perspectives on the future needs of rubber investigations and prospects of rubber genomics. Given the scope of topics, this book will appeal to researchers and university students working in genomics and biotechnology of the rubber tree, and to rubber breeders with an interest in non-conventional approaches to trait analysis, selection and breeding.