Rajeev K. Varshney - Böcker

Within the past decade, there has been an explosion of research in both the public and private sectors regarding the use of plant genetic models to improve crop yield. Bringing together experts from across the globe, Model Plants and Crop Improvement provides a critical assessment of the potential of model plant species for crop improvement. The first comprehensive summary of the use of model plant systems, the book delineates the model species' contribution to understanding the genomes of crop species.The book provides an in-depth examination of the achievements and limitations of the model paradigm. It explores how continued research in models can contribute to the goal of delivering the outputs of molecular biology to crops. Covering the major genetic models such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Lotus japonicus, and Medigago, the book goes on to discuss applications to food plants of global importance including rice, canola, and legumes. The book introduces the evolutionary, genetic, genomic, and morphological attributes of B. distachyon that make it such an attractive new model plant system.As the post-genomic era dawns, a key question to address is how this growing body of genetic and biological information can be extended beyond the model to the modeled species. This book takes you one step closer to applying modeling results to crops in the field.

In a world where food security and sustainable agriculture face unprecedented challenges, the cultivated peanut emerges as an important food crop. Representing an essential quality oil and food legume crop grown across over 100 countries, peanuts provide vital nutrition and economic stability. Peanut Genomics and Biotechnology: Status and Prospects for Sustainability delves into the fascinating journey of peanuts, from their evolutionary origins as a natural tetraploid hybrid to their critical roles in addressing global food and oil demands amidst changing climates.Advances in peanut genomics and biotechnology have transformed the possibilities for sustainable production. This book is a comprehensive guide to these breakthroughs, offering insights into peanut genome sequencing, breeding programs, and the innovative biotechnological tools that are driving progress. From decoding the complexities of the peanut genome to addressing abiotic and biotic stresses, this resource provides actionable solutions to develop resilient cultivars with superior yields and nutritional content.Peanut Genomics and Biotechnology: Status and Prospects for Sustainability is useful to students, researchers, and practitioners, bringing together knowledge on genome editing technologies, omics, and bioinformatics applications. By providing a single, consolidated source of systemic information, it empowers scientists and agricultural professionals to revolutionize peanut breeding programs and contribute to sustainable agriculture.

Volume 2, entitled "Genomics Applications in Crops", compiles crop-specific studies that summarize both the achievements and limitations of genomics research for crop improvement.

Peanut, an amphidiploid, is an important food and oil crop and has an interesting evolutionary history. This book provides a glimpse of the advances in genetic resources and genomics research of peanut made during the last decade. It contains an overview of germplasm, advances in genetic and genomic resources, genetic and trait mapping, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses, functional and comparative genomics studies, and molecular breeding applications. This book should prove useful to students, teachers, and young researchers as a ready reference to the latest information on peanut genetics and genomics.

This book reviews the latest advances in multiple fields of plant biotechnology and the opportunities that plant genetics, genomics and molecular biology have offered for agriculture improvement.

The protein molecule is the basic building block of every living entity. Its deficiency leads to restricted growth and development of individuals. Globally, such malnutrition is on the rise due to various reasons such as rapid population growth, stagnation of productivity, and ever-rising costs. Millions of people, especially in developing and under-developed countries, suffer from protein malnutrition and the only possible solution is to encourage farmers to grow high-protein food legume crops in their fields for domestic consumption. This, however, could be possible if farmers are provided with new cultivars with high yield, and resistance to major insects, diseases, and key abiotic stresses. The major food legume crops are chickpea, cowpea, common bean, groundnut, lentil, pigeonpea, and soybean. Predominantly, the legume crops are grown under a subsistence level and, therefore, in comparison to cereals and horticultural crops their productivity is low and highly variable. The crop breeders around the globe are engaged in breeding suitable cultivars for harsh and changing environments but success has been limited and not up to needs.With the recent development of new technologies in plant sciences, efforts are being made to help under-privileged farmers through breeding new cultivars which will produce more protein per unit of land area. In this book, the contributors analyze the constraints, review new technologies, and propose a future course of crop breeding programs in seven cold and warm season legume crops.

The protein molecule is the basic building block of every living entity. Its deficiency leads to restricted growth and development of individuals. Globally, such malnutrition is on the rise due to various reasons such as rapid population growth, stagnation of productivity, and ever-rising costs. Millions of people, especially in developing and under-developed countries, suffer from protein malnutrition and the only possible solution is to encourage farmers to grow high-protein food legume crops in their fields for domestic consumption. This, however, could be possible if farmers are provided with new cultivars with high yield, and resistance to major insects, diseases, and key abiotic stresses. The major food legume crops are chickpea, cowpea, common bean, groundnut, lentil, pigeonpea, and soybean. Predominantly, the legume crops are grown under a subsistence level and, therefore, in comparison to cereals and horticultural crops their productivity is low and highly variable. The crop breeders around the globe are engaged in breeding suitable cultivars for harsh and changing environments but success has been limited and not up to needs.With the recent development of new technologies in plant sciences, efforts are being made to help under-privileged farmers through breeding new cultivars which will produce more protein per unit of land area. In this book, the contributors analyze the constraints, review new technologies, and propose a future course of crop breeding programs in seven cold and warm season legume crops.

This book entitled, The Pearl Millet Genome, is the first comprehensive compilation of deliberations on history, domestication, genetic and genomic resources, traditional breeding, genetic diversity, molecular maps and mapping of important biotic stress as well as nutritional quality traits, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics, functional genomics, genetic transformation. The economic, nutritional, and health importance of the pearl millet is also discussed. It also presents the input use efficiency and wide adaptation of the crop. Altogether, the book will contain about 200 pages over 10 chapters authored by globally reputed experts on the relevant field in this crop. This book will be useful to the students, teachers, and scientists in the academia and relevant private companies interested in genetics, pathology, molecular genetics and breeding, genetic engineering, structural and functional genomics, and nutritional quality aspects of the crop. This book will also be also useful to seed and pharmaceutical industries.

This book entitled, The Pearl Millet Genome, is the first comprehensive compilation of deliberations on history, domestication, genetic and genomic resources, traditional breeding, genetic diversity, molecular maps and mapping of important biotic stress as well as nutritional quality traits, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics, functional genomics, genetic transformation. The economic, nutritional, and health importance of the pearl millet is also discussed. It also presents the input use efficiency and wide adaptation of the crop. Altogether, the book will contain about 200 pages over 10 chapters authored by globally reputed experts on the relevant field in this crop. This book will be useful to the students, teachers, and scientists in the academia and relevant private companies interested in genetics, pathology, molecular genetics and breeding, genetic engineering, structural and functional genomics, and nutritional quality aspects of the crop. This book will also be also useful to seed and pharmaceutical industries.

Genomic Selection for Crop Improvement serves as handbook for users by providing basic as well as advanced understandings of genomic selection. It also includes examples of ongoing activities of genomic selection for crop improvement and efforts initiated to deploy the genomic selection in some important crops.

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is a crop of small land holding farmers in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. It has a number of usages starting from protein rich food to vegetarian families; fuel wood; nitrogen supplier to soil; recycling minerals in soil to animal feed etc. Pigeonpea has been considered to be originated and domesticated in central India from where it travelled to different parts of the world such as Africa and Latin America. In ongoing scenario of climate change, biotic and especially abiotic stresses will make the conditions more challenging for entire agriculture. This volume focusing on the pigeonpea genome will collate the information on the genome sequencing and its utilization in genomics activities, with a focus on the current findings, advanced tools and strategies deployed in pigeonpea genome sequencing and analysis, and how this information is leading to direct outcomes for plant breeders and subsequently to farmers.

This book presents the current state of the art in peanut genomics, focusing particularly on the latest genomic findings, tools and strategies employed in genome sequencing, transcriptomes and analysis, availability of public and private genomic resources, and ways to maximize the use of this information in peanut breeding programs.

This book sheds new light on the chickpea genome sequencing and resequencing of chickpea germplasm lines and provides insights into classical genetics, cytogenetics, and trait mapping. It also offers an overview of the latest advances in genome sequencing and analysis. The growing human population, rapid climate changes and limited amounts of arable land are creating substantial challenges in connection with the availability and affordability of nutritious food for smallholder farmers in developing countries. In this context, climate smart crops are essential to alleviating the hunger of the millions of poor and undernourished people living in developing countries. In addition to cereals, grain legumes are an integral part of the human diet and provide sustainable income for smallholder farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Among grain legumes, the chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is the second most important in terms of production and productivity. Besidesbeing a rich source of proteins, it can fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiosis with rhizobia and increase the input of combined nitrogen. Several abiotic stresses like drought, heat, salinity, together with biotic stresses like Fusarium wilt, Ascochyta blight, and Botrytis grey mould have led to production losses, as the chickpeas is typically grown in the harsh climates of our planet’s semi-arid regions.

Genomic Selection for Crop Improvement serves as handbook for users by providing basic as well as advanced understandings of genomic selection. It also includes examples of ongoing activities of genomic selection for crop improvement and efforts initiated to deploy the genomic selection in some important crops.

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is a crop of small land holding farmers in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. It has a number of usages starting from protein rich food to vegetarian families; fuel wood; nitrogen supplier to soil; recycling minerals in soil to animal feed etc. Pigeonpea has been considered to be originated and domesticated in central India from where it travelled to different parts of the world such as Africa and Latin America. In ongoing scenario of climate change, biotic and especially abiotic stresses will make the conditions more challenging for entire agriculture. This volume focusing on the pigeonpea genome will collate the information on the genome sequencing and its utilization in genomics activities, with a focus on the current findings, advanced tools and strategies deployed in pigeonpea genome sequencing and analysis, and how this information is leading to direct outcomes for plant breeders and subsequently to farmers.

This book presents the current state of the art in peanut genomics, focusing particularly on the latest genomic findings, tools and strategies employed in genome sequencing, transcriptomes and analysis, availability of public and private genomic resources, and ways to maximize the use of this information in peanut breeding programs.

This book sheds new light on the chickpea genome sequencing and resequencing of chickpea germplasm lines and provides insights into classical genetics, cytogenetics, and trait mapping.

This book reviews the latest advances in multiple fields of plant biotechnology and the opportunities that plant genetics, genomics and molecular biology have offered for agriculture improvement.

Genomics research has great potential to revolutionize the discipline of plant breeding. This two-volume set provides a critical assessment of genomics tools and approaches for crop breeding. Volume 1, entitled "Genomics Approaches and Platforms", illustrates state-of-the-art genomics approaches and platforms presently available for crop improvement. Volume 2, entitled "Genomics Applications in Crops", compiles crop-specific studies that summarize both the achievements and limitations of genomics research for crop improvement. We hope that these two volumes, while providing new ideas and opportunities to those working in crop breeding, will help graduate students and teachers to develop a better understanding of the applications of crop genomics to plant research and breeding

This open access book shares impact stories – testimonies from various value chain actors who have been part of the Tropical Legumes (TL) projects, over the past twelve years. The Tropical Legumes projects led by ICRISAT in three parts (TLI, TLII and TLIII), constitute a major international initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and jointly implemented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) partners from Sub-Saharan Africa and India. The project developed improved cultivars of common bean, cowpea, chickpea and groundnut (but also soya bean and pigeon pea cultivars in its initial phases) and delivers their seed to smallholders in BMGF-focus areas.  It also strengthens the NARS and CGIAR's breeding programs and seed platforms to enhance their ability to deliver high and sustained outputs to smallholder farmers. The book compiles the experiences of a diversity of actors within the grain legume value chains, with a focus on groundnut and common beans in Tanzania and Uganda, groundnut and cowpea in Nigeria, and groundnut in Ghana. All stakeholders involved share their thoughts on being part of a decade-long development project family. National agricultural research institutes, knowledge brokering organizations, NGOs, public and private seed companies, agro-dealers, individual seed entrepreneurs, farm-implement makers, farmer cooperatives, farmer groups, individual men and women farmers, middlemen, processors, traders and consumers were all involved in this project, and as such this book provides valuable insights for development workers, technical staff, and project managers.

This open access book shares impact stories – testimonies from various value chain actors who have been part of the Tropical Legumes (TL) projects, over the past twelve years. The Tropical Legumes projects led by ICRISAT in three parts (TLI, TLII and TLIII), constitute a major international initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and jointly implemented by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) partners from Sub-Saharan Africa and India. The project developed improved cultivars of common bean, cowpea, chickpea and groundnut (but also soya bean and pigeon pea cultivars in its initial phases) and delivers their seed to smallholders in BMGF-focus areas.  It also strengthens the NARS and CGIAR's breeding programs and seed platforms to enhance their ability to deliver high and sustained outputs to smallholder farmers. The book compiles the experiences of a diversity of actors within the grain legume value chains, with a focus on groundnut and common beans in Tanzania and Uganda, groundnut and cowpea in Nigeria, and groundnut in Ghana. All stakeholders involved share their thoughts on being part of a decade-long development project family. National agricultural research institutes, knowledge brokering organizations, NGOs, public and private seed companies, agro-dealers, individual seed entrepreneurs, farm-implement makers, farmer cooperatives, farmer groups, individual men and women farmers, middlemen, processors, traders and consumers were all involved in this project, and as such this book provides valuable insights for development workers, technical staff, and project managers.

This open access book shares the experiences of Tropical Legumes III (TLIII) project in facilitating access to seed of improved legume varieties to smallholder farmers through innovation platforms.

This book highlights emerging perspectives in plant science research that promise innovative solutions for sustainable food production. It also identifies the vexing bottlenecks that hinder the translation of new knowledge into crop improvement by way of a unique thematic compilation. This book is organized into seven sections, comprising chapters that span diverse areas ranging from remodeling plant development, enhancing photosynthetic efficiency, environmental stress perception, response and building tolerance, priming plant defense, plant-microbe interactions, engineering male sterility and apomixis for seed production, and the futuristic theme of astrobiology. Contributions from leading authorities in respective fields provide a holistic view of current advancements and opportunities, while also addressing the challenges that orient the readers to road ahead. The chapters emphasize biological and conceptual foundations, with technologies and strategies implicitly integrated. The book is intended for agricultural scientists, plant breeders, research scholars, academicians in universities and research institutes, and students of plant and agricultural sciences. It also aims to support policy makers and regulators in framing science-based policies relevant to crop improvement and sustainable agricultural practices.Chapter "Bioengineering photosynthesis to drive crop improvement: Engineering carbon-concentrating mechanisms, Kranz anatomy, chloroplast mimics, and new cellular compartments" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This contributed volume explores the latest breakthroughs in genetic and genomic resources for enhancing biotic stress responses in grain legumes – including minor ones.

This edited book is a compilation of information on existing frontier technologies in agriculture, such as driving modernized crop improvement programs via digitalization, mechanization and automation, artificial intelligence, speed breeding.