Book Information

Plant Nutritional Genomics

Edited by: Martin Broadley and Philip White

Series: Biological Sciences Series

Reviews

The book is divided into 13 chapters covering three distinct topics: the molecular physiology of individual nutrients, methods for studying plant nutritional genomics, and applications of the knowl...

Description

A 'textbook' plant typically comprises about 85% water and 13.5% carbohydrates. The remaining fraction contains at least 14 mineral elements, without which plants would be unable to complete their life cycles.

Understanding plant nutrition and applying this knowledge to practical use is important for several reasons. First, an understanding of plant nutrition allows fertilisers to be used more wisely. Second, the nutritional composition of crops must be tailored to meet the health of humans and livestock. Third, many regions of the world are currently unsuitable for crop production, and an understanding of plant nutrition can be used to develop strategies either for the remediation of this land or for the cultivation of novel crops.

That application of knowledge of plant nutrition can be achieved through genotypic or agronomic approaches. Genotypic approaches, based on crop selection and / or breeding (conventional or GM), have recently begun to benefit from technological advances, including the completion of plant genome sequencing projects. This book provides an overview of how plant nutritional genomics, defined as the interaction between a plant's genome and its nutritional characteristics, has developed in the light of these technological advances, and how this new knowledge might usefully be applied.

This is a book for researchers and professionals in plant molecular genetics, biochemistry and physiology, in both the academic and industrial sectors.

TopTable of Contents

1. Nitrogen
Françoise Daniel-Vedele and Sylvain Chaillou, Plant Nitrogen Nutrition Unit, INRA Versailles, Frances

2. Potassium
Sabine Zimmermann and Isabelle Chérel, INRA - Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes, Montpellier, France

3. Calcium
Philip J. White, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwick, UK

4. Sulphur
Malcolm J. Hawkesford, Agriculture and the Environment Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK

5. Phosphorus
Kashchandra G. Raghothama, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

6. Sodium
Huazhong Shi, Ray A. Bressan, Paul M. Hasegawa and Jian-Kang Zhu, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

7. Mapping links between the genome and ionome in plants
Brett Lahner and David E. Salt, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architechture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

8. Transcriptional profiling of membrane transporters
Frans J.M. Maathuis, Department of Biology, University of York, UK and Anna Amtmann, Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University of Glasgow, UK

9. Exploring natural genetic variation to improve plant nutrient content
Dick Vreugdenhil , Mark G.M. Aarts and Maarten Koornneef, Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

10. Mapping nutritional traits in crop plants
Matthias Wissuwa, International Rice Research Institute, Manila, The Philippines

11. Sustainable crop nutrition: constraints and opportunities
R. Ford Denison and E. Toby Kiers, Agronomy & Range Science Department, University of California, Davis, USA

12. Methods to improve the crop-delivery of minerals to humans and livestock
Michael A. Grusak, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA and Ismail Cakmak, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey

13. Using plants to manage sites contaminated with heavy metals
Steven N. Whiting, School of Botany, University of Melbourne, Australia, Roger D. Reeves, Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, David Richards, Rio Tinto Plc, London, UK et al.

References

Index