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Jatropha curcas, or physic nut, is a small tree that, in tropical climates, produces fruits with seeds containing ~38% oil. The physic nut has the potential to be highly productive and is amenable to subculture in vitro and to genetic modification. It also displays remarkable diversity and is relatively easy to cross hybridize within the genus. Thanks to these promising features, J. curcas is emerging as a promising oil crop and is gaining commercial interest among the biofuel research communities. However, as a crop, physic nut has been an economic flop since 2012, because the species was not fully domesticated and the average productivity was less than 2 t/ha, which is below the threshold ...
The use of fossil fuels results in rising CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing global temperature rise and climate change that will negatively impact human health, the food supply, and eventually worsen hunger and misery. Presently, fossil fuels meet 88% of the energy demand, resulting in rising CO2/GHG emissions at alarming rates. The increased use of biofuels would help to mitigate climate change. Efficiently designing methods for the production of biofuels and plant-derived high-value products requires a deeper understanding of photosynthetic processes as a prerequisite for applying novel biotechnologies. Accordingly, this book provides ample information and a wealth of i...
Wild crop relatives are now playing a significant part in the elucidation and improvement of the genomes of their cultivated counterparts. This work includes comprehensive examinations of the status, origin, distribution, morphology, cytology, genetic diversity and available genetic and genomic resources of numerous wild crop relatives, as well as of their evolution and phylogenetic relationship. Further topics include their role as model plants, genetic erosion and conservation efforts, and their domestication for the purposes of bioenergy, phytomedicines, nutraceuticals and phytoremediation. Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources comprises 10 volumes on Cereals, Millets and Grasses, Oilseeds, Legume Crops and Forages, Vegetables, Temperate Fruits, Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, Industrial Crops, Plantation and Ornamental Crops, and Forest Trees. It contains 125 chapters written by nearly 400 well-known authors from about 40 countries.
Genetic transformation is a key technology, in which genes are transferred from one organism to another in order to improve agronomic traits and ultimately help humans. However, there is apprehension in some quarters that genetically modified crops may disturb the ecosystem. A number of non-governmental organizations continue to protest against GM crops and foods, despite the fact that many organisms are genetically modified naturally in the course of evolution. In this context, there is a need to educate the public about the importance of GM crops in terms of food and nutritional security. This book provides an overview of various crop plants where genetic transformation has been successful...
Jatropha curcas or Physic Nut is a small tree (bush plant) that produces fruits under tropical climate. The fruits contained seed that are ~40% oil rich. This oil is excellent for biodiesel. The bush is a now new coming crop because it may cope with harsh environmental conditions such as semi-aridity and poor land. It is considered as one alternative for climate mitigation that does not compete with arable land normally dedicated to food crop and can be used to regain degraded land or fight desertification. This bush has been considered seriously by the international community only recently (~2006-2008), but worldwide scientists did an outstanding job to drawn Jatropha out of its semi-wild s...
The book will be a broad and comprehensive look on Jatropha until the details since the book is being contributed by international experts worldwide that have already published works in the international press of Science. Illustrations, tables geographic maps, GPS location, etc are added by each contributors according to the feeling they have concerning what they think their contribution should be. This book will benefit the scientific community immensely. Being aware of any challenges related to Jatropha, i.e. (i) its economy in Asia (India, China) and South America (Brazil), (ii) basics of biofuel technology, (iii) physiology, (iv) farming, (v) byproducts, (vi) biotechnology, (vii) genetic resource (germplasm) and their benefit for the crop by genetic transfer, (viii) genetic map, (ix) comparative genetics, (x) genomics. Breeders and technologist will have access to a complete digested view on Jatropha to decide where and how they should move on with their investigations.
Plant Sciences Reviews 2012 provides scientists and students with analysis on key topics in current research, including plant diseases, genetics, climate impacts, biofuels and postharvest. Experts such as Frances Seymour, Roger Jones, Paul Christou and Errol Hewitt provide incisive reviews of their fields. Originally published online in CAB Reviews, this volume makes available in printed form the reviews in plant science published during 2012.
This book addresses various aspects of the current castor bean research, including genetics, biotechnology, comparative genomics, and more specific topics such as oil metabolism and the ricin toxin. It also presents the whole genome sequencing of the castor bean and its impact on the mining of gene families and future plant breeding. Castor bean (Ricinus communis), an oilseed plant, belongs to the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family. It is a tropical and subtropical crop valued for the high quality and uniform nature of its oil, which is mostly composed of the uncommon fatty acid ricinoleate. Castor bean oil has important industrial applications for the production of lubricants, cosmetics, medicines, and specialty chemicals, and castor bean has also been proposed as a biodiesel crop that does not pose concerns regarding the “food versus fuel” debate. However, it accumulates the type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein ricin in its seeds, and health concerns posed by ricin’s high toxicity have prevented broader cultivation. Recently, there has been renewed interest in castor bean due to potential biosecurity issues.
This book deliberates on the concept, strategies, tools, and techniques of allele mining in oilseed crops and its application potential in genome elucidation and improvement, including studying allele evolution, discovery of superior alleles, discerning new haplotypes, assessment of intra- and interspecific similarity, and studies of gene expression and gene prediction. Available gene pools in global germplasm collections, specifically consisting of wild allied species and local landraces for almost all major crops, have facilitated allele mining. The development of advanced genomic techniques, including PCR-based allele priming and Eco-TILLING-based allele mining, is now widely used for min...