Plant Diversity and Evolution: Genotypic and Phenotypic Variation in Higher Plants
Edited by R J Henry, Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics, Southern Cross University, Australia
Pub Date: December 2004
Hardback
352 pages
Readership
Plant genetics, evolution, biodiversity and ecology
Key Features
• Provides a contemporary view of diversity and evolution of plant genotypes and phenotypes
• Brings together the views of leading scientists working on different aspects of plant diversity and evolution
Main Description
An understanding of plant diversity at both the genome and phenome level is important for both biodiversity conservation and plant breeding. Recent advances in genomics have also resulted in a growth of the subject of plant functional genomics. This book brings these areas together, by reviewing aspects of plant evolution as it relates to variation in plant genomes and associated variations in plant phenomes. Topics covered include chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes, reticulate evolution, polyploidy, population genetics within a species, the evolution of the flower, diversity in plant cell walls and in secondary metabolism, and the importance of plant diversity in ecology and agriculture.
Reviews
• "Whoever reads this book will learn a great deal."
Daphne Osborne, Oxford Research Unit
• "The chapters of this book are written by excellent researchers and cannot be faulted. This is the type of volume that can inspire a new avenue of thought in research, and I thoroughly recommend it to research botanists as well as undergraduate students considering postgraduates studies".
David Tabah, Biologist, 53(1), Feb 2006
• "This book is an excellent and comprehensive review and summarises all recent information about plant diversity and evolution at the various levels of the biological hierarchy. Its contents are well arranged and easy to read and understand. The book will be of benefit to advanced students and postgraduates as well as to scientists and practical plant biologists engaged in plant biodiversity, evolution, genetics, plant sciences and agriculture."
A Lebeda, Plant Protection Science, September 2005
• "The authors give an animated overview of the latest developments in the study of plant evolution and I think that both beginning botanists and more professional readers will find useful new information in this book."
Barbara Gravendeel, Blumea, 50(1), 2005
Main Contents
• Importance of plant diversity, R Henry
• Relationships between the families of flowering plants, M Chase, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK
• Diversity and evolution of gymnosperms, K Hill, Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney, Australia
• Chloroplast genomes of plants, L Raubeson, Central Washington University, USA, and R Jansen, University of Texas, USA
• The mitochondrial genome of higher plants: A target for natural adaptation, S MacKenzie, University of Nebraska, USA
• Reticulate evolution in higher plants, G McKinnon, University of Tasmania, Australia
• Polyploidy and evolution in plants, J Wendel and J Doyle, Iowa State University, USA
• Crucifer evolution in the post-genomic era, T Mitchell-Olds, Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Germany, I Al-Shehbaz, Missouri Botanical Gardens, USA, M Koch, Heidelberg Institute of Plant Sciences, Germany, and T Sharbel, Laboratoire IFREMER de Genetique et Pathologie, France
• Genetic variation in plant populations: Assessing cause and pattern, D Coates and M Byrne, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Australia
• Evolution of the flower, D Soltis, University of Florida, USA, V Albert, University of Oslo, Norway, S Kim, M Yoo and P Soltis, University of Florida, USA, M Frolhlich, Natural History Museum, UK, J Leebens-Mack, Pennsylvania State University, USA, H Kong, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, K Wall, H Ma and C dePamhpilis, Pennsylvania State University, USA
• Diversity in plant cell walls, P Harris, University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Diversity in secondary metabolism in plants, P Waterman, Southern Cross University, Australia
• Ecological importance of species diversity, C Beierkuhnlein, University Bayreuth, Germany, and A Jentsch, Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
• Genomic diversity in nature and domestication, E Nevo, University of Haifa, Israel
• Conserving genetic diversity in plants of environmental, social or economic importance, R Henry
