Description: The third volume in this annual series presents modern techniques and surveys important new research in all aspects of plant molecular and cell biology, including molecular genetics, biochemical and cell genetics, and plant micro-organism interactions. A timely update of work in the field for molecular and cell biologists, plant biochemists, and plant physiologists.
Description: The central thesis of this book is that Volvox and its unicellular and colonial relatives provide a wholly unrivaled opportunity to explore the proximate and ultimate causes underlying the evolution from unicellular ancestors of multicellular organisms with fully differentiated cell types. A major portion of the book is devoted to reviewing what is known about the genetic, cellular and molecular basis of development in the most extensively studied species of Volvox: V. cateri, which exhibits a complete division of labor between mortal somatic cells and immortal germ cells. However, this topic has been put in context by first considering the ecological conditions and cytological preconditions that appear to have fostered the evolution of organisms of progressively increasing size and with progressively increasing tendency to produce terminally differentiated somatic cells. The book concludes by raising the question of whether the germ-soma dichotomy may have evolved by similar or different genetic pathways in different species of Volvox.
Description: Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways are modules involved in the transduction of extracellular signals to intracellular targets in all eukaryotes. Distinct MAPK pathways are regulated by different extracellular stimuli and are implicated in a wide variety of biological processes. In plants, there is evidence for MAPKs playing a role in the signaling of abiotic stresses, pathogens, plant hormones, and cell cycle cues. The large number and divergence of plant MAPKs indicates that this ancient mechanism of bioinformatics is extensively used in plants and may provide new molecular hands on old questions.
Description: Applications of Plant Cell and Tissue Culture Chairman: Y. Yamada 1988 Interest in all aspects of plant cell and tissue culture is expanding rapidly as the technologies available improve and the commercial potential of these processes becomes apparent. This book covers basic plant physiology and cytology and extends to the practical exploitation of plants, both as crops per se and as sources of useful compounds produced as secondary metabolites. The reduction of plants to single cells or tissues that can be maintained in culture facilitates their manipulation by the techniques of molecular biology. Genes encoding desirable traits, for example herbicide or pathogan resistance or early flowering, can be introduced into domesticated crops by transformation of normal plant cells using a natural vector such as Agrobacterium, by the uptake of DNA into protoplasts using techniques developed for animal cells, or by direct injection of DNA into intact cells with cell walls. Application of these technologies to forest trees is especially important because the long lifespan of these species makes their improvement by conventional breeding programmes very slow. Problems of commercial exploitation considered include the storage of genetically engineered material until progeny evaluation has been completed, the stability of traits in culture, and the feasibility of adapting laboratory methods to large-scale production plants. There is also some discussion of the sociolegal aspects of genetic engineering of crop plants, and of the difficulties of marketing ‘natural’ compounds produced by cells under artificial conditions. Related Ciba Foundation Symposia: No 97 Better crops for food Chairman: E. A. Bell 1983 ISBN 0 272 79729 4 No 133 Plant resistance to viruses Chairman: B. D. Harris 1987 ISBN 0 471 91263 8
