Summary
Floriculture, Ornamental and Plant Biotechnology: Advances and Topical Issues is a network of review articles, research and original papers, and a compendium of opinions and techniques that deals with the most important issues in the forefront of Floriculture and Ornamental Biology, Plant Science and Biotechnology. The book contains contributions from leaders at internationally reputed research institutions, universities and independent scientists who are at the forefront of research in issues and topics that affect and influence all plant scientists. The book also encompasses fields that are usually not associated with floriculture, and attempts to find, in the reader and in the book, potential links between inter-disciplinary topics of research, written by eminent scholars on various advanced aspects of floriculture and plant biotechnology.
Flower-related topics include: research tools for floriculture biotechnology; flower colour and chimerism; manipulation of flower colour and shape; modification of plant and flower architecture and fragrance; molecular cloning, floral volatile analysis, scent-pollinator interactions; micro- and macro-arrays for floriculture; genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics for ornamental and floricultural biotechnology; role of volatiles emitted from flowers and leaves; floral and leaf senescence and genetic engineering of ethylene-insensitivity; regulating growth of floriculture crops; light, lighting, photosynthesis and flowering; circadian clocks; domestication/introduction of novel ornamental crops; improvement of post-harvest shelf life of flowers, post-harvest techniques and quality control; standardization of cut foliage and dry flower production technology; germplasm collection and maintenance in vitro and ex vitro; in vitro thin cell layer technology, embryogenesis, synthetic seeds and cryopreservation; agrotechniques for improved flower crop production and analysis; nursery stock and ornamental foliage and pot-plant production; aeroponics, hydroponics, micro-irrigation and water optimization, environmentally-friendly and organic farming for ornamentals; Agrobacterium and viral expression vectors; classical and insertional mutagenesis; plastid, chloroplast and protoplast transgenics; commercialization of genetically modified plants; programmed cell death, transgenic expression mechanisms and silencing; genetic and metabolic engineering for drought-tolerance, pest resistance; pollen biology; analysis of ethylene signal transduction; plant stress, polyamines and signalling; integrated pest management (IPM) and control (IPC) strategies and effective quarantine measures; viruses and viroids, their resistance strategies and detection; weeds and ornamentals; plant-plant interactions and allelopathy, plantmicrobe, plant-insect, plant-pest interactions; soil-water and soil-root/plant interactions and soil management strategies; greenhouse and protected structures and dynamics, management strategies, mechanization and robotics; ornamentals in landscaping and gardening; impact of the floriculture and ornamental industry and plant biotechnology in reducing poverty and hunger in developing and underdeveloped nations; cut-flower, ornamental plant, foliage and pot-plant economics and markets; certification, plant protection and patents; ornamental and floricultural ethics, and people-plant interactions; floriculture and its future in both science and society.
In addition, the book takes on a unique flavour by incorporating techniques commonly used in other plant species or other sectors of non-plant biotechnology, and examines its potential use in floriculture and plant biotechnology: space research, nanotechnology, allelopathy, mutagenesis, plants for revegetation and bioremediation, rare sugars, secondary metabolite production, ethnobotany, and herbs and medicinal plants as ornamentals and in cuisine.
This book series will be essential in the exposure of modern techniques and themes for undergraduate, postgraduate and research students of floriculture, plant science and plant biotechnology, as well as for scientists and policy makers involved with genetically-modified organisms, floriculture and plant biotechnology industry. This book series will take Flower and Ornamental Plant Biotechnology to a new frontier.
Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva