Over the last decade there has been tremendous progress in the genetic transformation of plants, which has now become an established tool for the insertion of specific genes. Work has been conducted on more than 200 plant species of trees, cereals, legumes and oilseed crops, fruits and vegetables, medicinal, aromatic and ornamental plants etc. Transgenic plants have been field-tested in a number of countries, and some released to the farmers, and patented. Taking the above-mentioned points into consideration, it appeared nec- essary to review the literature and state of the art on genetic transformation of plants. Thus 120 chapters contributed by experts from 31 countries (USA, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Poland, Finland, Aus- tralia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Moroco, Senegal, Cuba, etc. ) have been compiled in a series composed of the following five books: 1.Transgenic Trees comprises 22 chapters on forest, fruit, and ornamental species such as Allocasuarina verticillala, Casuarina glauca, Cerasus vul- garis, Citrus spp. , Coffea species, Diospyros kaki, Eucalyptus spp. , Fagara zanthoxyloides, Larix spp. , Lawsonia inermis, Malus x domestica, Picea mariana, Pinus palustris, Pinus radiata, Poncirus trifoliata, Populus spp. , Prunus species, Rhododendron, Robinia pseudoacacia, Solanum mauri- tianum, Taxus spp. , and Verticordia grandis. 2.
