Contents
Cover
Related Titles
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
List of Contributors
Part One: Climate Change
Chapter 1: Climate Change: Challenges for Future Crop Adjustments
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Climate Change
1.3 Crop Responses to Climate Change
1.4 Water Responses
1.5 Major Challenges
1.6 Grand Challenge
References
Chapter 2: Developing Robust Crop Plants for Sustaining Growth and Yield Under Adverse Climatic Changes
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Elevated Temperature and Plant Response
2.3 Elevated CO2 Levels and Plant Response
2.4 Genetic Engineering Intervention to Build Crop Plants for Combating Harsh Environments
2.5 Other Protein Respondents
2.6 Conclusions
References
Chapter 3: Climate Change and Abiotic Stress Management in India
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Impact of Climate Change and Associated Abiotic Stresses on Agriculture
3.3 CSA: Technologies and Strategies
3.4 National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture
3.5 Policy and Institutions
3.6 Partnership
References
Part Two: Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Climate Change
Chapter 4: Plant Environmental Stress Responses for Survival and Biomass Enhancement
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Stomatal Responses in the Control of Plant Productivity
4.3 Signaling and Transcriptional Control in Water Stress Tolerance
4.4 Protection Mechanisms of Photosynthesis During Water Stress
4.5 Metabolic Adjustment During Water Stress
4.6 Future Perspective
References
Chapter 5: Heat Stress and Roots
5.1 Roots, Heat Stress, and Global Warming: An Overview of the Problem
5.2 Effects of Heat Stress on Root Growth and Root versus Shoot Mass and Function
5.3 Interactions Between Heat Stress and Other Global Environmental-Change Factors on Roots
5.4 Heat Stress and Root–Soil Interactions
5.5 Summary: Synthesizing What We Know and Predict into a Conceptual Model of Heat Effects on Roots and Plant–Soil Links
References
Chapter 6: Role of Nitrosative Signaling in Response to Changing Climates
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Salinity
6.3 Drought
6.4 Heavy Metals
6.5 Heat Stress
6.6 Chilling/Freezing/Low Temperature
6.7 Anoxia/Hypoxia
6.8 Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 7: Current Concepts about Salinity and Salinity Tolerance in Plants
7.1 Introduction
7.2 What is Salt Stress?
7.3 Effects: Primary and Secondary
7.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Salinity Tolerance of Avicennia officinalis L. (Acanthaceae) from Gujarat Coasts of India
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Materials and Methods
8.3 Results
8.4 Discussion
References
Chapter 9: Drought Stress Responses in Plants, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidant Defense
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Plant Response to Drought Stress
9.3 Drought and Oxidative Stress
9.4 Antioxidant Defense System in Plants Under Drought Stress
9.5 Conclusion and Future Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 10: Plant Adaptation to Abiotic and Genotoxic Stress: Relevance to Climate Change and Evolution
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress
10.3 ROS Induce Genotoxic Stress
10.4 Adaptive Responses to Oxidative Stress
10.5 Transgenic Adaptation to Oxidative Stress
10.6 Adaptive Response to Genotoxic Stress
10.7 Role of MAPK and Calcium Signaling in Genotoxic Adaptation
10.8 Role of DNA Damage Response in Genotoxic Adaptation
10.9 Epigenetics of Genotoxic Stress Tolerance
10.10 Transgenerational Inheritance and Adaptive Evolution Driven by the Environment
10.11 Concluding Remarks
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 11: UV-B Perception in Plant Roots
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Effect of UV-B on Plants
11.3 Land Plant Evolution was Shaped via Ancient Ozone Depletion
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 12: Improving the Plant Root System Architecture to Combat Abiotic Stresses Incurred as a Result of Global Climate Changes
12.1 Introduction
12.2 RSA and its Basic Determinants
12.3 Breeding Approaches to Improve RSA and Abiotic Stress Tolerance
12.4 Genomic Approaches to Identify Regulators of RSA Associated with Abiotic Stress Tolerance
12.5 Transgenic Approaches to Improve RSA for Abiotic Stress Tolerance
12.6 Use of Polyamines and Osmotic Regulators in Stress-Induced Modulation of RSA
12.7 Hormonal Regulation of Root Architecture and Abiotic Stress Response
12.8 Small RNA-Mediated Regulation of RSA and Abiotic Stress Response
12.9 Application of Phenomics in Understanding Stress-Associated RSA
12.10 Conclusion and Future Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 13: Activation of the Jasmonate Biosynthesis Pathway in Roots in Drought Stress
13.1 Background and Introduction
13.2 Plant Growth Factors: Key Role in Biotic and Abiotic Stress Signaling
13.3 Jasmonate Biosynthesis Pathway
13.4 Roots as the Primary Organ Sensing the Soil Environment
13.5 Symbiotic Microorganisms Affect Root Growth and Plant Performance
13.6 Symbiotic Organisms Alleviate and Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Host Plants
13.7 Role of Jasmonates in Roots
13.8 Jasmonic Acid Signal Transduction in Roots and Jasmonic Acid Involvement in Abiotic Stress Response
13.9 Jasmonate in Root Response to Abiotic Stresses: Model Legumes and Chickpea Tolerant Varieties Showing Differential Transcript Expression During Salt and Drought Stress
13.10 Role of Transcription Factors and MicroRNAs in the Regulation of Jasmonic Acid Signaling
13.11 Conclusion
References
Part Three: Approaches for Climate Change Mitigation
Chapter 14: Can Carbon in Bioenergy Crops Mitigate Global Climate Change?
14.1 Introduction
14.2 The Many Faces of Carbon
14.3 Are Bioenergy Crops Carbon-Neutral?
14.4 Recalcitrant Carbon in Bioenergy Crops
14.5 Climate Change Mitigation Potential of Bioenergy Crops
14.6 Carbon in Bioenergy Crops
14.7 Genetic Improvement of Bioenergy Crops
14.8 Carbon Management in Bioenergy Crops
14.9 Carbon Quality in Bioenergy Crops
14.10 Life Cycle Assessment
14.11 Ecosystem Services of Carbon in Bioenergy Crops
14.12 Eco-Physiology and Carbon Sequestration
14.13 Climate Ethics and Carbon in Bioenergy Crops
14.14 Synthesis of Research Needs and Priorities
14.15 Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 15: Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies of Plant Under Drought and High-Temperature Stress
15.1 Background and Introduction
15.2 Plant Molecular Adaptation and Strategies Under Drought Stress
15.3 Plant Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Heat Stress Tolerance
15.4 Conclusions
References
Chapter 16: Emerging Strategies to Face Challenges Imposed by Climate Change and Abiotic Stresses in Wheat
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Physiological and Molecular Adaptive Strategies in Wheat
16.3 Drought Tolerance
16.4 Salinity Tolerance
16.5 Heat Tolerance
16.6 Cold Tolerance
16.7 Functional and Comparative Genomics Approaches for Wheat Improvement
16.8 Conclusion and Future Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 17: Protein Structure–Function Paradigm in Plant Stress Tolerance
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Plant Signaling Machinery
17.3 Proteins Involved in Metabolic Regulation
17.4 Stabilization of Proteins and RNAs
17.5 Antifreeze Proteins
17.6 Disordered Stress Proteins
17.7 Summary
References
Chapter 18: Abiotic Stress-Responsive Small RNA-Mediated Plant Improvement Under a Changing Climate
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Classes of Small RNAs
18.3 Artificial miRNAs
18.4 Stress–miRNA Networks for Adapting to Climate Change
18.5 Application of Small RNA-Mediated Suppression Approaches for Plant Improvement Under a Changing Climate
18.6 Conclusions and Outlook
Note
References
Chapter 19: Impact of Climate Change on MicroRNA Expression in Plants
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Small Non-Coding RNAs in Plants
19.3 Biogenesis and Function of miRNAs in Plants
19.4 Heat Stress
19.5 Drought
19.6 UV-B Radiation
19.7 Ozone
19.8 Conclusions and Future Directions
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 20: Role of Abscisic Acid Signaling in Drought Tolerance and Preharvest Sprouting Under Climate Change
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Major ABA Signaling Components in Response to Cellular Dehydration
20.3 ABA-Mediated Gene Expression in Seed Dormancy
20.4 Role of ABA in Plant Adaptation to Land and Environmental Changes
20.5 Potential Application of ABA Signaling Components to Improve Crop Productivity Under Climate Change
20.6 Future Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 21: Regulatory Role of Transcription Factors in Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants
21.1 Introduction
21.2 bZIP Proteins
21.3 MYB-Like Proteins
21.4 MYC-Like bHLH Proteins
21.5 HD- ZIP Proteins
21.6 AP2/ EREBP Domain Proteins
21.7 DREB Subfamily
21.8 CBF/DREB Genes from Arabidopsis
21.9 CBF/ DREB Regulation in Arabidopsis
21.10 DREB1A-Targeted Genes
21.11 Overexpression of DREB Genes in Plant Species
21.12 Conclusion
References
Chapter 22: Transcription Factors: Modulating Plant Adaption in the Scenario of Changing Climate
22.1 Catastrophes of the Changing Climate
22.2 Molecular Reprogramming Events Mitigate Environmental Constraints
22.3 Classification of Transcription Factors
22.4 Conclusion and Future Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 23: Role of Transcription Factors in Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants
23.1 Introduction
23.2 AP2/ERF Regulon
23.3 CBF/DREB Regulon
23.4 NAC Regulon
23.5 ZF-HD Regulon
23.6 MYB/MYC Regulon
23.7 AREB/ABF Regulon
23.8 Transcription Factor WRKY
23.9 Conclusions
References
Chapter 24: Coping with Drought and Salinity Stresses: Role of Transcription Factors in Crop Improvement
24.1 Transcription Factors: A Historical Perspective
24.2 Plant Transcription Factor Families Implicated in Drought and Salinity
24.3 Crop Domestication: Examples of the Major Role of Transcription Factors
24.4 Drought and Salinity: From Perception to Gene Expression
24.5 Transcription Factor Gene Discovery in Stress Responses
24.6 The Long and Winding Road to Crop Improvement
References
Chapter 25: Role of Na+/H+ Antiporters in Na+ Homeostasis in Halophytic Plants
25.1 Introduction
25.2 Tissue-Specific Adaptation of Halophytes
25.3 Ion Transporters
25.4 Conclusion and Perspectives
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 26: Role of Plant Metabolites in Abiotic Stress Tolerance Under Changing Climatic Conditions with Special Reference to Secondary Compounds
26.1 Introduction: Plant Secondary Metabolites
26.2 Climate Change
26.3 Role of Secondary Metabolites Under Changing Climatic Conditions
26.4 Role of Signaling Molecules During Abiotic Stress
26.5 Role of Secondary Metabolites in Drought, Salt, Temperature, Cold, and Chilling Stress
26.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 27: Metabolome Analyses for Understanding Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants to Evolve Management Strategies
27.1 Introduction
27.2 Metabolite Changes During Abiotic Stresses
27.3 Stress Hormones
27.4 Antioxidants
27.5 Stress Proteins and Protein Kinases
27.6 Stress-Responsive Gene Expression
27.7 Role of MicroRNAs in Abiotic Stress
27.8 Conclusion
References
Chapter 28: Metabolomic Approaches for Improving Crops Under Adverse Conditions
28.1 Introduction
28.2 Different Approaches to Study Metabolomics
28.3 Plant Metabolome Alterations During Adverse Conditions
28.4 Genetic Engineering for Metabolite Modulation for Stress Tolerance
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 29: Improvement of Cereal Crops through Androgenesis and Transgenic Approaches for Abiotic Stress Tolerance to Mitigate the Challenges of Climate Change in Sustainable Agriculture
29.1 Background
29.2 Androgenesis for Crop Improvement
29.3 Concluding Remarks
References
Chapter 30: Bioprospection of Weed Species for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants Under a Climate Change Scenario: Finding the Gold Buried within Weed Species
30.1 Introduction
30.2 Climate Change and Agriculture
30.3 Weeds as a Source of Genetic Materials for Abiotic Stress Tolerance
30.4 Conclusion
References
Part Four: Crop Improvement Under Climate Change
Chapter 31: Climate Change and Heat Stress Tolerance in Chickpea
31.1 Introduction
31.2 Effect of Heat Stress on Chickpea
31.3 Screening Techniques for Heat Tolerance
31.4 Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Heat Tolerance
31.5 Genetic Variability for Heat Tolerance
31.6 Breeding Strategies for Heat Tolerance
References
Chapter 32: Micropropagation of Aloe vera for Improvement and Enhanced Productivity
32.1 Introduction
32.2 Aloe as a Plant Resource of Dry Habitats
32.3 Aloe Biology
32.4 Genetic Resources and Biodiversity of Aloe
32.5 Biotechnology for Characterization, Conservation, Improvement, and Productivity Enhancement of Aloe
32.6 Cloning and Mass Propagation of Aloe Through Tissue Culture
32.7 Cloning of A. vera (Ghee-Kanwar/Gwar-Patha)
32.8 Conclusions
References
Chapter 33: Climate Change and Organic Carbon Storage in Bangladesh Forests
33.1 Introduction
33.2 Forests in Bangladesh: A General Overview
33.3 Climate Change Scenarios in Bangladesh
33.4 Trends of Organic Carbon Storage in Different Forest Types
33.5 Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Trees of Different Forest Types
33.6 Likely Impacts of Climate Change on Organic Carbon Storage in Forests
33.7 Question of Sustainability of Organic Carbon Storage
33.8 Conclusion
References
Chapter 34: Divergent Strategies to Cope with Climate Change in Himalayan Plants
34.1 Why Himalaya?
34.2 Climate Change is Occurring in Himalaya
34.3 Plant Response to Climate Change Parameters in Himalayan Flora
34.4 Impact on Secondary Metabolism Under the Climate Change Scenario
34.5 Path Forward
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 35: In Vitro Culture of Plants from Arid Environments
35.1 Introduction
35.2 Materials and Methods: Establishment of In Vitro Cultures
35.3 Results and Discussion
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 36: Salicylic Acid: A Novel Plant Growth Regulator – Role in Physiological Processes and Abiotic Stresses Under Changing Environments
36.1 Introduction
36.2 Metabolic and Biosynthetic Pathways
36.3 Signaling and Transport
36.4 Salicylic Acid-Regulated Physiological Processes
36.5 Growth and Productivity
36.6 Flowering
36.7 Photosynthesis and Plant–Water Relations
36.8 Respiration: Salicylic Acid Regulation of the Alternative Oxidase Pathway
36.9 Nitrogen Fixation
36.10 Salicylic Acid Regulates Antioxidant Systems
36.11 Senescence
36.12 Salicylic Acid and Stress Mitigation
36.13 Conclusion and Future Strategies
References
Chapter 37: Phosphorus Starvation Response in Plants and Opportunities for Crop Improvement
37.1 Introduction
37.2 Phosphate Acquisition from Soil Solution
37.3 Sensing of Pi Status in Plants
37.4 Local and Systemic Response in Pi Deficiency
37.5 Phytohormones Mediate both Local and Systemic Response in Pi Deficiency
37.6 Strategies for Improving Pi-Acquisition Efficiency and Pi-Use Efficiency in Crop Plants
37.7 Conclusions and Future Prospects
References
Chapter 38: Bacterial Endophytes and their Significance in the Sustainable Production of Food in Non-Legumes
38.1 Introduction
38.2 Soil, Microbes, and Plants (Rhizosphere/Rhizodeposition)
38.3 Bacterial Endophytes
38.4 Nitrogen Fixation by Free-Living versus Endophytic Bacteria
38.5 Diazotrophic Bacterial Endophytes
38.6 Non-Legumes (Cereals and Grasses) and Diazotrophic Bacterial Endophytes
38.7 Bacterial Endophytes and Stress Tolerance
38.8 Natural Products from Endophytic Bacteria
38.9 Antagonistic and Synergistic Interactions
38.10 Role in Phytoremediation
38.11 Genomics of Bacterial Endophytes
38.12 Metagenomics of Rhizospheric Microbes to Study Molecular and Functional Diversity
38.13 Concluding Remarks
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 39: Endophytic Fungi for Stress Tolerance
39.1 What are Endophytes?
39.2 Endophytic Fungi and Stress Tolerance
39.3 Stress Tolerance Mechanisms
39.4 Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 40: Polyamines and their Role in Plant Osmotic Stress Tolerance
40.1 Introduction
40.2 Polyamine Metabolism in Plants
40.3 Polyamines and Osmotic Stress Response
40.4 Conclusion
References
Index
Preface
The world population is projected to increase to around 9.2 billion by 2050, whereas crop productivity is being seriously limited by various abiotic stresses all over the world. Global climate change is becoming more unpredictable with the increased occurrence of droughts, floods, storms, heat waves, and sea water intrusion. It has been estimated that abiotic stresses (heat, cold, drought, salinity, wounding, heavy metals toxicity, excess light, flooding, high-speed winds, nutrient loss, anaerobic conditions, and radiation) are the principal cause of decreasing the average yield of major crops by more than 50%, which causes losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Global climate change and adversity of abiotic stress factors is a major limiting factor for attaining sustainably accelerated and inclusive growth. Minimizing these losses is a major area of concern for the whole world. Therefore, it is mandatory to improve crop production and feed the increasing world population, and hence to double global agriculture production. Farm productivity would need to increase by 1.8% each year. Global climate change and the adversity of abiotic stress factors are major limiting factors for attaining sustainably accelerated and inclusive growth. Engineered abiotic stress resistance is an important target for increasing agricultural productivity. Plant adaptation to environmental stresses is dependent upon the activation of cascades of molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the expression of specific stress-related genes and metabolites. Consequently, engineering genes that protect and maintain the function and structure of cellular components can enhance tolerance to stress. Plant genetic engineering and DNA markers have now become valuable tools in crop improvement for rapid precision breeding for specific purposes. Furthermore, sustainable agriculture technologies have been developed for conservation agriculture.
In the present book, we present a collection of 40 chapters in two volumes written by 138 experts in the field of plant abiotic stress tolerance and crop improvement. This book is an up-to-date overview of current progress in improving crop quality and quantity using modern methods in the era of climate change. The various chapters in the nook provide a state-of-the-art account of the information available on crop improvement and abiotic stress tolerance for sustainable agriculture. We present the approaches to plant abiotic stress tolerance under changing global climate change patterns with a special emphasis on approaches based on molecular and cell biology to the impact of increasing global temperatures on crop productivity. Following an introduction to the general challenges for agriculture around the globe due to climate change, the book also discusses how the resulting increase in abiotic stress factors can be dealt with. The result is a must-have hands-on guide, ideally suited for agro-industry, policy makers and academia. This book complements our previous titles: Improving Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stress (ISBN 978-3-527-32840-6, Volumes 1 and 2, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012 and Improving Crop Productivity in Sustainable Agriculture (ISBN: 978-3-527-33242-7, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).
For the convenience of readers, the whole book is divided into four major parts:
- Part One: Climate Change
- Part Two: Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Climate Change
- Part Three: Approaches for Climate Change Mitigation
- Part Four: Crop Improvement Under Climate Change
Part One: Climate Change covers three chapters. Chapter 1 deals with challenges for future crop adjustments under climate change, where emphasis has been paid to ensure the adequate food and feed supply required to meet the needs of 9 billion people. This chapter discusses a transdisciplinary approach to develop innovative strategies to manage our crop production systems to reduce or eliminate the impact of climate change. Chapter 2 focuses on developing robust crop plants for sustaining growth and yield under adverse climatic changes. Chapter 3 deals specifically with climate change and abiotic stress management in India, and emphasis is given to the development of climate-smart agriculture as the mainstreamed national policy agenda.
Part Two: Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Climate Change cover 10 chapters (Chapters 4–13). Chapter 4 focuses on plant environmental stress responses for survival and biomass enhancement, where emphasis has been paid to the development of genetically smart stress-tolerant crop plants, including crops and woody species, for enhanced biomass production. Chapter 5 deals with heat stress and roots. This chapter discusses the interactive effects between heat stress and other global environmental change factors (e.g., elevated carbon dioxide, drought, etc.) on roots. Chapter 6 unravels the role of nitrosative signaling in response to changing climates, which interestingly uncovers the importance of nitrosative signaling in model plants as well as crop plants in response to increasingly changing climates. Chapter 7 discusses the current concepts on salinity and salinity tolerance in plants. This chapter describes salt stress perception by plants, plant responses to salt stress, and the regulatory mechanisms that allow plants to cope with stress. Chapter 8 is on salinity tolerance of Avicennia officinalis L. (Acanthaceae) from the Gujarat coasts of India. Chapter 9 deals with drought stress responses in plants, oxidative stress, and antioxidant defense. Chapter 10 highlights plant adaptation to abiotic and genotoxic stress, and its relevance to climate change and evolution. The main focus is on the state of the art of transgenic vis -á -vis epigenetic approaches to accelerate adaptive evolution of plant tolerance to stress. Chapter 11 is all about UV-B perception in plant roots. In this chapter, attention is paid to a biological mystery: why have roots evolved sophisticated abilities of UV-B light recognition? Chapter 12 deals with improving the plant root system architecture to combat abiotic stresses incurred as a result of global climate changes. This chapter focuses on the molecular regulation of the root architecture in relation to abiotic stress responses. Chapter 13 deals with the activation of the jasmonate biosynthetic pathway in roots under drought stress.
Part Three: Approaches for Climate Change Mitigation covers 17 chapters (Chapters 14–30. Chapter 14 questions if carbon in bioenergy crops can mitigate global climate change? In this chapter, focus is given to assessing the state of knowledge, and exploring the opportunities and challenges of the role of carbon in bioenergy crops in mitigating global climate change, while sustainably providing other ecosystem services. Chapter 15 discusses adaptation and mitigation strategies of plants under drought and high-temperature stress. Chapter 16 deals with emerging strategies to face challenges imposed by climate change and abiotic stresses in wheat. Chapter 17 uncovers the protein structure–function paradigm in plant stress tolerance. Chapter 18 uncovers abiotic stress-responsive small RNA-mediated plant improvement under a changing climate. This chapter focuses on how small RNAs that regulate gene expression will enable researchers to explore the role of small RNAs in abiotic stress responses for adapting to climate change. Chapter 19 deals with the impact of climate change on microRNA expression in plants. Chapter 20 deals with the role of abscisic acid signaling in drought tolerance and preharvest sprouting under climate change. Chapter 21 emphasizes the regulatory role of transcription factors in abiotic stress responses in plants. Chapter 22 is on transcription factors and modulating plant adaption under the scenario of a changing climate. Chapter 23 deals with the role of transcription factors in abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Chapter 24 is on coping with drought and salinity stresses, and the role of transcription factors in crop improvement. Chapter 25 uncovers the role of Na+/H+ antiporters in Na+ homeostasis in halophytic plants. Chapter 26 deals with the role of plant metabolites in abiotic stress tolerance under changing climatic conditions with special reference to secondary compounds. Chapter 27 describes metabolome analyses for understanding abiotic stress responses in plants to evolve management strategies. Chapter 28 deals with metabolomic approaches for improving crops under adverse conditions. Chapter 29 deals with the improvement of cereal crops through androgenesis and transgenic approaches for abiotic stress tolerance to mitigate the challenges of climate change in sustainable agriculture. Chapter 30 is focused on bioprospection of weed species for abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants under a climate change scenario: finding the gold buried within weed species.
Part Four: Crop Improvement Under Climate Change covers 10 chapter (Chapters 31–40) Chapter 31 is on climate change and heat stress tolerance in chickpea, where it is reported that chickpea cultivars with enhanced heat tolerance will minimize yield losses in cropping systems/growing conditions where the crop is exposed to heat stress at the reproductive stage. Chapter 32 deals with micropropagation of Aloe vera for improvement and enhanced productivity. Chapter 33 deals specifically with climate change and organic carbon storage in Bangladesh. Chapter 34 uncovers divergent strategies to cope with climate change in Himalayan plants. Chapter 35 is on in vitro culture of plants from arid environments. Chapter 36 deals with salicylic acid, a novel plant growth regulator, and its role in physiological processes and abiotic stresses under changing environments. Chapter 37 uncovers the phosphorus starvation response in plants and the opportunities for crop improvement. Chapter 38 discusses bacterial endophytes and their significance in the sustainable production of food in non-legumes. Chapter 39 is on endophytic fungi for stress tolerance. Chapter 40 deals with polyamines and their role in plant osmotic stress tolerance.
The whole book has a forward-looking focus on solutions, and, therefore, is an indispensable help for agro-industry, policy makers and academia. The Editors and Contributing Authors hope that this book will provide a practical update on our knowledge for improving plant abiotic stress tolerance under changing global climatic conditions. This book will lead to new discussions and efforts on the use of various tools for the improvement of crop plants for abiotic stress tolerance.
We are highly thankful to Dr Ritu Gill, Center for Biotechnology, MD University, Rohtak and Dr Renu Tuteja, International Center for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi for their valuable help in formatting and incorporating editorial changes in the manuscripts. We would like to thank Professor R.K. Pachauri, Director General, TERI, New Delhi for writing the Preface for the book, and Wiley-Blackwell, Germany, particularly Gregor Cicchetti, Senior Publishing Editor, Life Sciences and Anne Chassin du Guerny, for their professional support and efforts in the publication of the book. We also thank Mr. Abhishek Sarkari, Project Manager, Thomson Digital, India, for his constant support during the course of proof development. We heartily dedicate this book to Professor M.S. Swaminathan – the father of the Green Revolution in India.
ICGEB, New Delhi
MDU, Rohtak, October 2013
Editors
Narendra Tuteja
Sarvajeet Singh Gill
