The Impact of Plant Molecular Genetics

Abstract

This multiauthor book contains the following sections (and chapters): (1) Genetics and breeding (genetics of polyploids, validation strategies for QTL mapping, complex trait dissection in forest trees using molecular markers, the use of comparative genome mapping in the identification, cloning and manipulation of important plant genes; the potential impacts of apomixis: a molecular genetics approach ; and the role of meiotic recombination in generating novel genetic variability); (2) Evolution and phylogenetics (molecular markers in plant conservation genetics, identifying links between genotype and phenotype using marker loci and candidate genes; integrating genetics, phylogenetics and developmental biology; molecular variation and the delimitation of species); (3) Microorganisms in agriculture: two examples (application of the polymerase chain reaction to the detection of plant pathogens; molecular approaches to understanding and manipulating field ecology of microorganisms in agriculture); (4) Tools: software and hardware (informatics and genomic research; instrumentation for automated molecular marker acquisition and analysis); (5) The experience of molecular marker assisted breeding (molecular marker-assisted breeding in a cop many environment; molecular biology and traditional breeding applied to the improvement of maize nutritional quality) and (6) Examples of social and economic impact of new technologies (economic impact of molecular genetics on international forestry, molecular anthropology of cassava cyanogenesis, structural adjustment and biotechnological demand in South America; the case of Brazil).