Legumes include many very important crop plants that contribute critical protein to the diets of many around the world. Many important forages and green manure crops are legumes. Legumes are also large contributors to the vegetable oil and animal feed protein sectors. One characteristic of legumes that could become even more important as world energy sources decline and nitrogen fertilizer prices increase is nitrogen fixation, something few other plants can do. Thus legumes have a unique and important niche in agriculture. While some of the small seeded forage legumes have been relatively easy to work with in tissue culture as far as culture initiation, plant regeneration and transformation are concerned, most large seeded legumes, like soybean, have been recalcitrant. Today, however, many laboratories are inserting genes into soybean and producing unique plants for both commercial and scientific uses. These advancements have taken a large amount of research effort and still require time and labour.

A comprehensive and groundbreaking collection of ideas for plant improvement Most of the world's supply of legumes is cultivated under adverse conditions that make this commercially important crop susceptible to the vagaries of nature and damaging stresses. Genetic manipulation has become a proven way for cultivators to battle these pro

This book provides comprehensive insights into the existing and emerging trends in orchid biology based on the findings of omics, high-throughput technology, biotechnology, molecular breeding, and genome editing approaches in orchids. It illustrates molecular mechanisms of orchid mycorrhizal symbiosis according to the recent achievements of transcriptomics and bioinformatics studies which accelerate the progress of orchid research with the aid of their high-throughput tools. In this book, a comprehensive view of orchid breeding was presented, and it includes fundamental methods as well as advanced strategies through the combination of several technologies such as genetic engineering, omics, computational biology, and genome editing. These resulting knowledge and tools are highly beneficial for obtaining novel and fascinating varieties in the orchid market which is a competitive industry of global trade. Another interesting content is the focus on the production of orchid bioactive compounds and their values in the field of ethnomedicine. Their sources chiefly came from secondary metabolites and can be enriched through elicitors and produced more efficiently by improved tissue culture protocols and bioreactors. In this edited collection, we provided space for presenting an updated review of in vitro seed germination which is a routine technology for well-trained researchers but can give a complete demonstration for the potential audiences including growers and research beginners. This book collects refined knowledge from a broad source of scientific literature by experts in the field of orchid research and surely is an adequate reference and textbook for students, teachers, and researchers. It includes methods and applications of orchid breeding technology which would gain high attention from growers, breeders, and the related fields of agriculture.

Abiotic stresses such as drought, high salt, cold, heat, UV radiation, heavy metal pollution, etc., are increasingly responsible for restricting plant growth and agricultural production and are becoming more alarming due to threats from global climate change. To combat these threats, this new 3-volume set provides a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that mediate biosynthesis, accumulation, and degradation of plant metabolites to improve crop production and enhance abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Volume 1: Secondary Metabolites in Environmental Stress Tolerance focuses exclusively on the diverse secondary metabolites that play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the environment and in overcoming stress conditions as well as their implications for enhancing tolerance mechanisms. The book presents available information on the protective roles rendered by a wide array of antioxidative secondary metabolites and their regulation during diverse environmental stress. Volume 2: Trace Elements in Environmental Stress Tolerance throws light on the different inorganic trace elements, including metal nanoparticles, that help to deal with environmental stresses. While these elements at high level create considerable phytotoxicity and halt metabolic and enzymatic activity, they also promote growth and development in limited quantity, so that they have significant potential in revamping plant morphology and physiology under stressed conditions. Hence, optimum concentration management of these elements can help to mitigate world hunger and contribute toward sustainable agriculture and food security under challenging environments. Volume 3: Sustainable Approaches for Enhancing Environmental Stress Tolerance focuses on the agronomic and biochemical approaches as well as biotechnological and high-throughput technologies, including the prospects of genetic engineering, epigenetics and the latest CRISPR/Cas technology, in generating stress-tolerant plants. The volume provides a clear roadmap for the implementation of techniques for improving abiotic stress tolerance in plants for better sustenance.

Ascochyta blights consistently affect large areas of grain legume production (pea, lentil, chickpea and faba bean) in all countries where they are cultivated. These diseases are capable of causing large yield losses. This book considers the state-of-the-art by taking a comparative approach of Ascochyta blight diseases of cool season food and feed legumes. Topics considered are pathogen diversity, legume genetics and breeding, and integrated disease management.

The use of nuts and seeds to improve human nutritional status has proven successful for a variety of conditions including in the treatment of high cholesterol, reduced risk of Type-2 Diabetes, and weight control. Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention is a complete guide to the health benefits of nuts and seeds. This book is the only single-source scientific reference to explore the specific factors that contribute to these potential health benefits, as well as discussing how to maximize those potential benefits. - Organized by seed-type with detailed information on the specific health benefits of each to provide an easy-access reference for identifying treatment options - Insights into health benefits will assist in development of symptom-specific functional foods - Includes photographs for visual identification and confirmation - Indexed alphabetically by nut/seed with a second index by condition or disease

This book presents deliberations on molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants to the abiotic stresses caused by heat, cold, drought, flooding, submergence, salinity, acidity, etc., important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in pulse crops is imperative for addressing FHNEE (food, health, nutrition, energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has provided precise information regarding the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to abiotic stresses. The nine chapters each dedicated to a pulse crop in this volume elucidate on different types of abiotic stresses and their effects on and interaction with the crop; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to abiotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing abiotic stress-resistant crop varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields, and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating abiotic stress-resistant crops.