Dr. Sudhakar Srivastava is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD), Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany at the University of Lucknow. He also served as a Scientific Officer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai from 2009 to 2014. He has more than nineteen years of research experience in the field of plant-metal interactions, with a major focus on stress responses in plants. He has published around 125 research articles, 50 review and letter articles in high-impact international and national journals and 6 books. He has also received several awards for his contributions, including a Young Scientist Award from the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Allahabad in 2011, Young Scientist Award from Uttar Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (UPCST) in 2013-2014, and Young Scientist Award from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in 2015. Dr. Srivastava is also an Associate of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and a life member of several societies as well as non-governmental organizations and serves as an Associate Editor for two international journals.Dr. Harmanjit Kaur currently works at the Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, India. She completed her M.Sc. (Hons. School), Gold Medalist and Ph.D. from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her areas of research are Plant Abiotic Stress Physiology and Agricultural Plant Sciences. She received the Young Scientist Award (Plant Biotechnology) at the National Conference on Biotechnology and Environment, Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia in 2017. She is a life member of Indian Society for Plant Physiology (ISPP) since 2016. She has published around 20 research and review articles in various SCI and SCOPUS indexed international journals. She has also published around 10 chapters in edited books. She has presented her research work in several National and International conferences. She has more than 9 years of teaching and research experience at both college and University level and serves as a reviewer for several high-impact international journals.

• Part I: An overview of the zinc in soil and plant responses.- Chapter 1. Zinc in soils and the regulatory roles of soil properties.- Chapter 2. Physiological significance of zinc for plants, animals and humans.- Chapter 3. The mechanisms of uptake, translocation, and distribution of zinc in plants.- Chapter 4. Physiological, biochemical and molecular plant responses to zinc deficiency and excess.- Chapter 5. Molecular aspects of zinc homeostasis in plants: Zinc deficit and surplus conditions.- Part II: Strategies to regulate zinc levels in plants.- Chapter 6. Strategies for increasing zinc uptake efficiency in plants.- Chapter 7. Exploitation of microbes as a means for biofortification of zinc in crop plants.- Chapter 8. Breeding approaches and modern tools to fight zinc deficiency in plants.- Chapter 9. Agronomic approaches to zinc biofortification in soil and soilless crops.- Chapter 10. Understanding hyperaccumulation of zinc in plants.- Chapter 11. Microbes as tools for the amelioration of zinc phytotoxicity.- Chapter 12. Brassinosteroids contribute to zinc stress tolerance: Dissecting the responses in crops.

Dr. Sudhakar Srivastava is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD), Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany at the University of Lucknow. He also served as a Scientific Officer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai from 2009 to 2014. He has more than nineteen years of research experience in the field of plant-metal interactions, with a major focus on stress responses in plants. He has published around 125 research articles, 50 review and letter articles in high-impact international and national journals and 6 books. He has also received several awards for his contributions, including a Young Scientist Award from the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Allahabad in 2011, Young Scientist Award from Uttar Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (UPCST) in 2013-2014, and Young Scientist Award from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in 2015. Dr. Srivastava is also an Associate of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and a life member of several societies as well as non-governmental organizations and serves as an Associate Editor for two international journals.Dr. Harmanjit Kaur currently works at the Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, India. She completed her M.Sc. (Hons. School), Gold Medalist and Ph.D. from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Her areas of research are Plant Abiotic Stress Physiology and Agricultural Plant Sciences. She received the Young Scientist Award (Plant Biotechnology) at the National Conference on Biotechnology and Environment, Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia in 2017. She is a life member of Indian Society for Plant Physiology (ISPP) since 2016. She has published around 20 research and review articles in various SCI and SCOPUS indexed international journals. She has also published around 10 chapters in edited books. She has presented her research work in several National and International conferences. She has more than 9 years of teaching and research experience at both college and University level and serves as a reviewer for several high-impact international journals.

• Part I: An overview of the zinc in soil and plant responses.- Chapter 1. Zinc in soils and the regulatory roles of soil properties.- Chapter 2. Physiological significance of zinc for plants, animals and humans.- Chapter 3. The mechanisms of uptake, translocation, and distribution of zinc in plants.- Chapter 4. Physiological, biochemical and molecular plant responses to zinc deficiency and excess.- Chapter 5. Molecular aspects of zinc homeostasis in plants: Zinc deficit and surplus conditions.- Part II: Strategies to regulate zinc levels in plants.- Chapter 6. Strategies for increasing zinc uptake efficiency in plants.- Chapter 7. Exploitation of microbes as a means for biofortification of zinc in crop plants.- Chapter 8. Breeding approaches and modern tools to fight zinc deficiency in plants.- Chapter 9. Agronomic approaches to zinc biofortification in soil and soilless crops.- Chapter 10. Understanding hyperaccumulation of zinc in plants.- Chapter 11. Microbes as tools for the amelioration of zinc phytotoxicity.- Chapter 12. Brassinosteroids contribute to zinc stress tolerance: Dissecting the responses in crops.