Pollen Biotechnology for Crop Production and Improvement

This book discusses all the ideas and techniques developed in the last two decades concerning the manipulation of pollen and pollen tubes in plant breeding and biotechnology.

K. R. Shivanna (Edited by), V. K. Sawhney (Edited by), R. Bruce Knox (Foreword by)

9780521019750, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 September 2005

468 pages, 54 b/w illus. 25 tables
23.4 x 15.5 x 2.4 cm, 0.661 kg

'The editors, Shivanna and Sawhney, are themselves among the leaders in pollen research. They have generously expended their time and expertise to bring together a case of authors of unmatched authority, and have assembled their contributions to produce a volume summing up a half-century of progress in many central aspects of research on angiosperm reproduction - showing, furthermore, how the results are steadily being integrated into the practical business of plant improvement. Congratulations to all involved, including the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, responsible for a volume of fine quality.' J. Heslop-Harrison, Annals of Botany

Our knowledge of pollen, the gold dust that carries the male germ line of flowering plants and is vital for sexual reproduction and seed formation, has 'come of age' with the publication of this book. Here, for the first time in a single volume, are all the ideas and techniques developed in the last two decades concerning the manipulation of pollen and pollen tubes in plant breeding and biotechnology. Pollen has never been an easy topic to come to grips with, with its variable and often inexplicable terminology that has made it a more difficult field in which to work. This book will remedy that, with its overview of pollen biology and pollen-pistil interactions that explains terms and concepts of the male function of pollen in a way that is readily understandable to the student and professional plant scientist and plant breeder.

1. Pollen biology and pollen biotechnology - an introduction K. R. Shivanna and V. K. Sawhney
Part A. Pollen Biology: An Overview: 2. Pollen development and pollen-pistil interaction K. R. Shivanna, M. Cresti and F. Ciampolini
3. Gene expression during pollen development D. A. Hamilton and J. P. Mascarenhas
4. Pollination biology and plant breeding systems P. G. Kevan
Part B. Pollen Biotechnology and Optimization of Crop Yield: 5. Pollination efficiency of insects A. R. Davis
6. Pollination constraints and management of pollinating insects for crop production R. W. Currie
Part C. Pollen Biotechnology and Hybrid Seed Production: 7. Cytoplasmic male sterility P. B. E. McVetty
8. Genic male sterility V. K. Sawhney
9. Self-incompatibility A. McCubbin and H. Dickinson
10. Chemical induction of male sterility J. W. Cross and P. J. Schulz
11. Male sterility through recombinant DNA technology M. E. Williams, J. Leemans and F. Michiels
Part D. Pollen Biotechnology and Plant Breeding: 12. Barriers to hybridization K. R. Shivanna
13. Methods for overcoming interspecific crossing barriers J. M. van Tuyl and M. J. de Jeu
14. Storage of pollen B. Barnabas and G. Kovacs
15. Mentor effects in pistil-mediated pollen-pollen interactions M. Villar and M. Gaget-Faurobert
16. Pollen tube growth and pollen selection M. Sari-Gorla and C. Frova
17. Isolation and manipulation of sperm cells D. D. Cass
18. Isolation and micromanipulation of embryo sac and egg cell in maize E. Matthys-Rochon et al.
19. In vitro fertilization with single isolated gametes E. Kranz
20. Pollen embryos C. E. Palmer and W. A. Keller
21. Use of pollen in gene transfer H. Morikawa and M. Nishihara
Index.

Subject Areas: Biotechnology [TCB], Plant reproduction & propagation [PSTL]