Plant Biotechnology, Volume 1 : Principles, Techniques, and Applications

This book, first of this new two-volume set, provides an informative tour of the basics of biotechnology to recent advances in biotechnology. Knowledge of new and fresh approaches is a prerequisite to solving plant biological problems, and to this end, the editors have brought together a group of contributors who address the most recent techniques and their applications in plant biotechnology. The chapters discuss some recent techniques such as TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions In Genomes), advances in molecular techniques to study diversity, protein purification, and methods and analysis in protein-protein interaction detection. The volume also covers molecular markers and QTL mapping, including four chapters that deal with different molecular markers, development of mapping populations, and association mapping for dissecting the genetic basis of complex traits in plants in sufficient detail.

The knowledge of biotechnology techniques and their applications will be valuable for researchers and scientists as well as for the many students engaged in plant biotechnology studies.

Bishun Deo Prasad, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Scientist in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering at Bihar Agricultural University in Sabour, India. He has published 12 research papers in reputed peer-reviewed international journals and has also contributed to one authored book. He has written several book chapters, and has submitted 10 sequences of different isolates to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). He is reviewer of International Journal of Agriculture Sciences and the Journal of Environmental Biology. Dr. Prasad has received several prestigious awards for his work. Dr. Prasad has been associated with biotechnological aspects of rice, Brassica napus, arabidopsis, linseed, lentil, vegetable (bitter guard and pointed guard), and horticultural (mango, litchi and banana) crops. He is also associated with host pathogen interaction studies in rice, B. napus and Arabidopsis as well as mutational breeding aspect in rice for abiotic stress tolerance.

Sangita Sahni, PhD, is a Junior Scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India. She has published 10 research papers in reputed peer-reviewed national and international journals and has published one authored book and several book chapters. She is an officer in charge of the Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS) Cell, Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi, and a member of different committees at Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, India. She has been an active member of the organizing committees of several national and international seminars. Dr. Sahni has been associated with molecular host pathogen interaction studies in Arabidopsis and B. napus. She is also associated with the pathological aspect of chickpea and MULLaRP (mungbean, urdbean, lentil, lathyrus, rajmash, and pea). She is actively involved in teaching graduate and postgraduate courses on plant pathology and biotechnology. In her research, she has isolated several bacterial isolates from different sources and submitted their sequences to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Prasant Kumar, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the C. G. Bhakta Institute of Biotechnology, Department of Fundamental and Applied Science at Uka Tarsadia University, Surat, Gujarat, India. He is the author or co-author of 10 peer-reviewed journal articles and eight conference papers and newsletters. He is a reviewer and an editorial board member of several peer-reviewed journals. He has been an active member of the organizing committees of several national and international seminars and conferences. He previously was an Assistant Professor at Sarder Patel University, Anand, Gujarat, India.

Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Scientist in the Department of Food Science and Post-Harvest Technology, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, India, and author or co-author of 31 peer-reviewed research articles, 26 book chapters, two manuals, and 18 conference papers. He has over a dozen edited books and one authored book to his credit. Dr. Siddiqui has established the international peer-reviewed Journal of Postharvest Technology. He has received several grants and respected awards for his research work by a number of organizations. He is an active member of the organizing committees of several national and international seminars, conferences, and summits. He is one of key members in establishing the World Food Preservation Center (WFPC), LLC, USA, and is currently an active associate and supporter.