Biotechnology (Plant Biotechnology)

The world food production has increased substantially in the past century and the current growth rate of four major crops (maize, rice, wheat and soybean) is 0.9-1.6 % per year. At this rate, the production of these crops is likely to increase by 38-67% by 2050. The current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Alarmingly, to provide food security to this growing population, the global food production may need to increase by 60-110%. But the researchers are facing the challenges of loss of soil fertility, dwindling water resources and crop losses due to insects, pests and diseases. All these challenges call for harnessing the powerful tools of molecular biology and biotechnology in agriculture. Plant biotechnology is a term that includes a variety of techniques used to transfer beneficial traits from one plant to another. This volume 2 of 12 volume series on Recent Developments in Biotechnology is a source of rich information on the recent advances in the field of plant biotechnology. The volume 2 provides discussion on the following topics: o Molecular markers with special reference to SNP genotyping o Molecular markers based genetic diversity analysis of food crops o Induced systemic resistance for insect pest management o Micro RNA in nutrient homeostasis in plants o Wild A rachis for genetic improvement of cultivated peanut o Role of genetic engineering in protecting the peanut crop o Biotechnological approaches for improvement of pulse crops o Selectable marker genes for plant transformation o Strategies for increasing efficiency of maize breeding o Molecular marker studies for rust resistance and quality traits in wheat o Oxidative stress and antioxidant defense system in plants o Antioxidants for healthy lifestyle o Isolation of novel stress-inducible plant proteins o An overview of plant antifreeze proteins o Issues and future prospects in transgenic plants o Biotechnological potential of plant-associated entophytic bacteria o Biological control of plant pathogens by the strains of Bacillus sp. The volume 2 contains 17 chapters contributed by 70 researchers and/or academicians from 5 nations, namely, Brazil, China, India, Serbia and United States of America giving an overview of the various research activities being carried out in different parts of the world on Plant Biotechnology.

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