Heat Stress Tolerance in Plants - by Shabir H Wani & Vinay Kumar (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A world population is 7.3 billion and by 2050 it is expected to reach 9.7 billion while as at the same time agricultural productivity is poorly exaggerated due to the mounting environmental constraints as a result of climate change. One of prevalent environmental stress encountered by plants during their important growth stages is the heat stress. Heat stress is defined as a period in which temperatures are hot enough for a sufficient period of time to cause irreversible damage to plant function or development. Exposure to heat stress for prolonged periods can even result in plant death. Plants can be damaged by either high day or high night temperatures and by either high air or soil temperatures. Predictions indicate that temperatures will intensify by another 2-6ÀC by the climax of this century and likelihood to induce heat stress more frequently and severely, begetting to serious reduction of crops yield. The genetic basis of heat adaptation is poorly understood. Conventional breeding methods have met with limited success in improving the heat stress tolerance of important crop plants through inter-specific or inter-generic hybridization. Therefore, it is imperative to accelerate the efforts for unravelling the biochemical, physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying heat stress tolerance in plants"--

Book Synopsis

Demystifies the genetic, biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underlying heat stress tolerance in plants

Heat stress--when high temperatures cause irreversible damage to plant function or development--severely impairs the growth and yield of agriculturally important crops. As the global population mounts and temperatures continue to rise, it is crucial to understand the biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms of thermotolerance to develop 'climate-smart' crops. Heat Stress Tolerance in Plants provides a holistic, cross-disciplinary survey of the latest science in this important field.

Presenting contributions from an international team of plant scientists and researchers, this text examines heat stress, its impact on crop plants, and various mechanisms to modulate tolerance levels. Topics include recent advances in molecular genetic approaches to increasing heat tolerance, the potential role of biochemical and molecular markers in screening germplasm for thermotolerance, and the use of next-generation sequencing to unravel the novel genes associated with defense and metabolite pathways. This insightful book:

• Places contemporary research on heat stress in plants within the context of global climate change and population growth
• Includes diverse analyses from physiological, biochemical, molecular, and genetic perspectives
• Explores various approaches to increasing heat tolerance in crops of high commercial value, such as cotton
• Discusses the applications of plant genomics in the development of thermotolerant 'designer crops'

An important contribution to the field, Heat Stress Tolerance in Plants is an invaluable resource for scientists, academics, students, and researchers working in fields of pulse crop biochemistry, physiology, genetics, breeding, and biotechnology.

From the Back Cover

Demystifies the genetic, biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underlying heat stress tolerance in plants

Heat stress--when high temperatures cause irreversible damage to plant function or development--severely impairs the growth and yield of agriculturally important crops. As the global population mounts and temperatures continue to rise, it is crucial to understand the biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms of thermotolerance to develop 'climate-smart' crops. Heat Stress Tolerance in Plants provides a holistic, cross-disciplinary survey of the latest science in this important field.

Presenting contributions from an international team of plant scientists and researchers, this text examines heat stress, its impact on crop plants, and various mechanisms to modulate tolerance levels. Topics include recent advances in molecular genetic approaches to increasing heat tolerance, the potential role of biochemical and molecular markers in screening germplasm for thermotolerance, and the use of next-generation sequencing to unravel the novel genes associated with defense and metabolite pathways. This insightful book:

• Places contemporary research on heat stress in plants within the context of global climate change and population growth
• Includes diverse analyses from physiological, biochemical, molecular, and genetic perspectives
• Explores various approaches to increasing heat tolerance in crops of high commercial value, such as cotton
• Discusses the applications of plant genomics in the development of thermotolerant 'designer crops'

An important contribution to the field, Heat Stress Tolerance in Plants is an invaluable resource for scientists, academics, students, and researchers working in fields of pulse crop biochemistry, physiology, genetics, breeding, and biotechnology.

About the Author

DR. SHABIR HUSSAIN WANI is Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

DR. VINAY KUMAR is Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Ganeshkhind, Pune, India, and a Visiting Faculty, Department of Environmental Sciences, Savitribai Phule University, Pune, India.