In many parts of the world, soil and water are slightly to moderately contaminated with metals and metalloids such as Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Cr, Pb, Si, B and As. This could be due to long-term use of phosphatic fertilizers, sewage sludge application, dust from smelters, industrial waste and bad watering practices in agricultural lands. Beside natural factors, human activities have contributed to the enormous increase in heavy metal and/or metalloid pollution in the environment. Metal and metalloid stress are major abiotic stress factors that limit crop production and reduce agricultural yield. The primary response of plants is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon exposure to high levels of metals/metalloids. They either generate ROS directly through Haber-Weiss reactions or overproduction of ROS and occurrence of oxidative stress in plants could be the indirect consequence of metals/metalloids toxicity. The indirect mechanisms include their interaction with the antioxidant system, disrupting the electron transport chain or disturbing the metabolism of essential elements. One of the most deleterious effects induced by heavy metals exposure in plants is lipid peroxidation, which can directly cause biomembrane deterioration.

Almond and peach species have global importance as food crops as well as use in landscaping including restoration and reforestation. Because currently available breeding germplasm has a very narrow genetic base, genetic improvement programs are turning to wild germplasm as sources of improved quality, productivity and resistance traits. This germplasm is also enabling the dramatic modification of traditional cropping systems as with the transfer of self-fruitfulness from related wild almond and peach species to normally self-sterile cultivated almond. While presence of an extensive wild almond and related germplasm has been documented in the literature over the past century, most information remains dispersed and often not generally accessible owing to its publication in treatises and journals of limited distribution.

This book explores two Rubus species from South America. It will address the species Rubus bogotensis Kunth and Rubus acanthophyllos Focke. It addresses aspects, such as origin, phenology, propagation, floral and fruit morphology, arthropod visitors, pollination, breeding, morphological diversity, and genetic diversity. It includes new unpublished data and results about plant phenology, flowering, insect visitors, fruit length-weight relationships, and fruit and pyrene morphology. This work includes an in-depth review of the most recently published information on the topic. The Rubus species studies are underutilized crops from Latin America. Furthermore, these species could be used in breeding programs for improvement. They can also be hybridized with other Rubus species to obtain better-quality hybrids. This book contains numerous photographs selected by the author to provide the reader with detailed information about the plant´s morphological features and arthropod visitors.

This book discusses the importance of plants in terms of their natural bioactive products and medicinal, nutraceutical and health benefits. Plants are natural sources of many pharmaceutical compounds used in traditional and modern medicine, and their mass production and efficient use is imperative in view of the new emerging diseases. This book covers breakthroughs in the research of plant natural products by focusing on how different state-of-the-art biotechnologies facilitate their discovery, the molecular basis of their biosynthesis, as well as synthetic biology. Research on plant's natural products in the pre-genomic era was focused on discovering bioactive molecules with pharmaceutical activities, and identifying individual genes responsible for biosynthesis. In the post-genomics era, however, integration of inter-disciplinary approaches and detailed analysis of all accessible data from multi-informatics is necessary. This would accelerate the full characterization of biosynthetic and regulatory circuit for producing plant natural products.

This book uncovers the basic principles of microbial photosynthesis and the latest technological interventions of this crucial phenomenon. In the recent past, the basic principles of microbial photosynthesis were technologically articulated to engineer several cell factories that can utilize waste resources and generate different groups of industrially valuable products. Also, the list of model organisms for specific usage have been increasing enormously. This volume covers the material in four sections; each of the part dealing with the basic principles of microbial photosynthesis in an applied orientation focusing on waste valorization and circular bioeconomy. Furthermore, the following chapters deal with the very recent advancements in metabolic engineering and artificial photosynthesis with respect to value addition. Not only will this book be available for graduate and postgraduate students in microbiology, biotechnology, plant sciences, environmental sciences, energy engineering, and renewable energy, it is also an excellent material for researchers needing a multidisciplinary approach.

This book covers correlation and combined disciplinary aspects implying the use of secondary metabolites (SMs) of different plant species for control and monitoring of environment states. Phytochemical management of ecological systems represents an integrative field aiming for determination/evaluation of environment conditions from qualitative and quantitative analysis of plant metabolites. Plants respond to environmental conditions through productions of secondary metabolites. SMs represent highly variable and sensitive phytocompounds because of their small produced amounts, high structural variability and diversified activities. These characteristics make variations of SMs in plants to be highly informative on environmental conditions, physiological states and biological interactions. Qualitative and quantitative variations of SMs in plants are subject to correlation analyses to highlight links between biotic/abiotic conditions and plant chemical patterns.

This book is the first volume of a compendium of the global distribution some 3500 aquatic macrophyte species occurring in inland freshwater and brackish waterbodies worldwide, highlighting aspects of their ecology including endemism, world rarity, ecozone/ macroregional occurrence, ploidy state, species age, uses, and endangered status. Although similar books exist for local regions (e.g., the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil) none provides complete and detailed information for macrophytes at global scale, so this book provides a novel resource on the distribution and ecology of macrophytes around the world.

This book provides new insight and a better understanding of nanotechnology in mitigating crop biotic stresses.It covers crop diseases and different nano-based management strategies used to manage pathogens and plant-parasitic nematodes damaging crops. Nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize crop yield and can control plant biotic stress. Nanotechnology in plant pathology is a new frontier among various nanotechnological applications. Nanotechnology applications include the development of nano-based pesticides and nanoformulations of chemicals for crop improvement by reducing biotic stress. Different nanomaterials like ZnONPs, SiO2NPs, CuONPs, AgNPs, and TiO2NPs have been examined for their impacts on plant growth and biotic stress management. This book deals with the advanced use of nanotechnology in managing the biotic stress of crops and improving crop production. It covers these issues and many more. Each chapter focus on one particular topic. Incorporate chapters provide detailed information on nanotechnology and may help in future research. This book will be useful for researchers, professors, and postgraduate and undergraduate students, especially concerning agriculture and plant pathology.

Fruit and Nut Crops: A Treasure Trove of Diversity and Resilience
Dive into the fascinating world of fruit and nut crops in this comprehensive volume. Explore their origins, evolution, and global journey, from wild ancestors to diverse cultivars nourishing us today. Uncover their crucial role in food security, providing vital nutrients and supporting livelihoods.

In this book, leading researchers from this field systematically explain the latest research results on anaerobic responses in plants. The book is characterized by its in-depth coverage of the tolerance functions of plants under hypoxic conditions from a variety of perspectives, with a particular focus on research areas related to molecular biology and genetics. Although drought responses have dominated water stress research in the past, recent floods and attempts to introduce new cropping systems have made it necessary to take measures against excessive water stress injury, and systematic research is needed for this purpose. From this point of view, the approach taken in this book is new and interesting in that it covers basic research and adaptation technologies in the field, and can be applied to various different situations. The focus of this book is how plants can adapt to poor environments and improve productivity under the conditions of soil hypoxia caused by excess water, such as heavy rains and typhoons. From this point of view, the reader will be able to understand the various adaptations of plants to climate change, which will clarify the future directions of research and show the possibility of applying the knowledge and techniques gained in this book to the field.

This book provides a comprehensive, detailed, and coherent spatio-temporal account of Caribbean mangrove evolution from its evolutionary origins to the present that is not available for any mangrove region in the world. Mangroves are intertidal wetland forests that play a crucial role in the maintenance of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, and in the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles (especially the carbon cycle). These ecosystems dominate the tropical/subtropical coasts of all continents and are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. This book combines all temporal scales, from the geological to the ecological, to provide an integrated picture of mangrove history and the natural and anthropogenic drivers of ecological and evolutionary change. This may be useful not only for understanding the current ecological status of these emblematic ecosystems, but also for informing their conservation in the face of ongoing global change.

The high-resolution palynological study of the varved sediments of Lake Montcortès has provided a unique record of the regional vegetation shifts over the last 3000 years and of the natural and anthropogenic drivers of ecological change, unparalleled in the Mediterranean.

The effects of climate change on food safety and plant health represent a relatively new area of study. However, evidence from recent studies is clear: climate change contributes to increased and new food safety & plant health risks as one of several global change factors. This volume analyzes the scientific understanding of the relationship between climate change, food safety, plant pests, plant diseases, and trade. It identifies and discusses four key areas for future policy consideration: risk assessment, SPS capacity in developing countries, climate change resilience, and basic research challenges. We must effectively communicate the impacts of climate change on plant health and build the capacity of national plant protection organizations. More importantly, we need to mobilize resources that will help build stronger national phytosanitary systems that can prevent the spread of plant pests, thereby protecting our food sources and environment, and facilitating safe trade.

This book discusses how plant functional trait selection can help researchers to understand the plant-environment relationship, identify desirable traits, modulate plant resilience according to the changing climate, optimize resource use efficiency, and enhance genetic improvement. The plant functional traits-based approach provides a framework for improving crop productivity in agricultural systems with high precision. It enables researchers to develop crop varieties with desirable traits by focusing on the fundamental characteristics influencing growth, development, and response. Climate change and environmental variability pose significant agricultural challenges. The plant functional traits-based approach can help address these challenges by selecting and breeding traits that enhance resilience and adaptability capacity of the plant. This approach also contributes to sustainable agriculture, by focusing on increased food production, and resilience in extreme environmental conditions.

This edited book brings out a comprehensive collection of information on capsaicinoids. Primarily, this book includes compiled knowledge on various aspects of capsaicin from ethnobotany to the most important clinical applications. This book covers topics emphasizing chemistry, biosynthesis, anticancer activities, bioavailability, currently undergoing experimental phases, and biotechnological methods, including cell cultures, and metabolic engineering in heterologous microbial and plant systems to enhance capsaicin production. Capsaicinoids are a group of important compounds that are particularly synthesized by various members of the genus Capsicum in their placenta. Capsaicin is the most abundant vanilloid compound among the different capsaicinoids in hot peppers. Other capsaicinoids include dihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin, homocapsaicin, and homodihydrocapsaicin. The capsaicin has been proven as an important bioactive molecule with several properties against many ailments, such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and diseases of the airway and urinary tract. Capsaicin interacts with TRPV1 receptors in humans. These compounds exert their functions by interacting with the TRPV receptors.