Crop Genetic Resources for Today and Tomorrow

This 1975 book examines one of the world's fastest disappearing natural resources - the invaluable reservoir of genetic variability in cultivated plants.

O. H. Frankel (Edited by), J. G. Hawkes (Edited by)

9780521179706, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2011

514 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.75 kg

This 1975 book deals with one of the world's fastest disappearing natural resources - the invaluable reservoir of genetic variability in our cultivated plants which have evolved since our forebears began to domesticate them some 10,000 years ago. The preservation of these 'genetic resources', as they have come to be called, is vital to mankind. Without them the geneticists and plant breeders cannot breed the new varieties needed to feed the world's population by providing more disease-resistant strains of our food plants. This volume explores topics such as how to collect and preserve this variation. It ends with a section on how these activities are planned on a world scale through the medium of FAO and other international agencies, and with the participation of scientists from developed and developing countries. This book will be of use as an intelligently written work of much historic value.

List of contributors
1. Genetic resources - the past ten years and the next O. H. Frankel and J. G. Hawkes
Part I. Genetic Variation in Plant Populations: 2. Population structure and the effects of breeding system S. K. Jain
3. Population structure and the effects of isolation and selection A. D. Bradshaw
4. Optimum sampling strategies in genetic conservation D. R. Marshall and A. H. D. Brown
5. Sampling germplasm in a center of diversity: an example of disease resistance in Ethiopian barley C. O. Qualset
Part II. Exploration
Section 1. Exploration Targets: 6. Genetic resources survey as a basis for exploration O. H. Frankel
Section 2. Practical Problems in Exploration: 7. Seed crops J. R. Harlan
8. Vegetatively propagated crops J. G. Hawkes
9. Tree crops J. T. Sykes
Section 3. National and Regional Exploration Activities: 10. Recent plant exploration in the USA H. L. Hyland
11. Plant exploration in the USSR D. D. Brezhnev
12. Recent and proposed exploration activities of the Izmir Centre, Turkey H. A. Sencer
13. Exploration and survey in rice T. T. Chang
14. Potato collecting expeditions in Chile, Bolivia and Peru, and the genetic erosion of indigenous cultivars C. Ochoa
15. Recent cocoa collecting expeditions J. Soria
Part III. Evaluation Problems: 16. The search for disease and insect resistance in rice germplasm T. T. Chang, S. H. Ou, M. D. Pathak, K. C. Ling and H. E. Kauffman
17. Evaluation of sources of disease resistance A. Dinoor
18. Evaluation of material for frost and drought resistance in wheat breeding V. F. Dorofeev
19. The identification of high-quality protein variants and their use in crop plant improvement D. E. Alexander
20. Screening for oils and fats in plants G. Röbbelen
21. Secondary metabolites and crop plants R. Henauer
Part IV. Conservation and Storage: 22. Problems of long-term storage of seed and pollen for genetic resources conservation E. H. Roberts
23. Genetic maintenance of seeds in imbibed storage T. A. Villiers
24. Some factors contributing to the survival of crop seeds cooled to the temperature of liquid nitrogen A. Sakai and M. Noshiro
25. Meristem culture techniques for the long-term storage of cultivated plants G. Morel
26. The problem of genetic stability in plant tissue and cell cultures F. D'Amato
27. Technical aspects of tissue culture storage for genetic conservation G. G. Henshaw
28. Possible long-term cold storage of woody plant material B. H. Howard
29. The storage of germplasm of tropical roots and tubers in the vegetative form F. W. Martin
30. Genetic reserves S. K. Jain
Part V. Documentation and Information Management: 31. Documentation for genetic resources centers D. J. Rogers, B. Snoad and L. Seidewitz
32. Documentation and information requirements for genetic resources application G. N. Hersh and D. J. Rogers
Part VI. Genetic Resources Centres: 33. Crop germplasm diversity and resources in Ethiopia M. H. Mengesha
34. A regional plan for the collection, conservation and evaluation of genetic resources E. Kjellqvist
35. IRRI's role as a genetic resources center T. T. Chang, R. L. Villareal, G. Loresto and A. T. Perez
36. Maize germplasm banks in the Western Hemisphere W. L. Brown
37. Genetic resources centres - a co-operative global network O. H. Frankel
Index.

Subject Areas: Agriculture & farming [TV]