About the Book
An understanding of plant diversity at both the genome and phenome level is important for both biodiversity conservation and plant breeding. Recent advances in genomics have also resulted in a growth of the subject of plant functional genomics. This book brings these areas together, by reviewing aspects of plant evolution as it relates to variation in plant genomes and associated variations in plant phenomes. Topics covered include chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes, reticulate evolution, polyploidy, population genetics within a species, the evolution of the flower, diversity in plant cell walls and in secondary metabolism, and the importance of plant diversity in ecology and agriculture.
Table of Contents:
1: Importance of plant diversity, R Henry 2: Relationships between the families of flowering plants, M Chase, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK 3: Diversity and evolution of gymnosperms, K Hill, Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney, Australia 4: Chloroplast genomes of plants, L Raubeson, Central Washington University, USA, and R Jansen, University of Texas, USA 5: The mitochondrial genome of higher plants: A target for natural adaptation, S MacKenzie, University of Nebraska, USA 6: Reticulate evolution in higher plants, G McKinnon, University of Tasmania, Australia 7: Polyploidy and evolution in plants, J Wendel and J Doyle, Iowa State University, USA 8: Crucifer evolution in the post-genomic era, T Mitchell-Olds, I Al-Shehbaz, M Koch, & T Sharbel, 9: Genetic variation in plant populations: Assessing cause and pattern, D Coates and M Byrne, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Australia 10: Evolution of the flower, D Soltis, V Albert, S Kim, M Yoo & P Soltis, M Frolhlich, J Leebens-Mack, H Kong, K Wall, H Ma & C dePamhpilis, 11: Diversity in plant cell walls, P Harris, University of Auckland, New Zealand 12: Diversity in secondary metabolism in plants, P Waterman, Southern Cross University, Australia 13: Ecological importance of species diversity, C Beierkuhnlein, University Bayreuth, Germany, and A Jentsch, Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany 14: Genomic diversity in nature and domestication, E Nevo, University of Haifa, Israel 15: Conserving genetic diversity in plants of environmental, social or economic importance, R Henry"
