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Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition

Author(s): Maarten J. Chrispeels, University of California, San Diego, California
David E. Sadava, PhD, The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, Claremont
Details:
  • ISBN-13: 9780763715861
  • ISBN-10:0763715867
  • Hardcover    562 pages      © 2003
Price: International Sales $219.95 US List
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Overview

Jones and Bartlett and the American Society of Plant Biologists have teamed up for the second edition of Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology. This book integrates many fields to help students understand the complexity of the basic science that underlies crop and food production. It is truly an interdisciplinary text that brings together aspects of genetics and plant breeding, molecular biology and genetic engineering, plant development and reproduction, soils and plant nutrition, agro-ecology and the sustainability of agricultural practices, population increases and the difficulty of eradicating hunger, pest control practices and their environmental consequences, the role of biotechnology in modern crop production. The orientation is not strictly towards American or even "Western" agriculture, as many examples are taken from the agricultural problems in developing countries. Examples of crop genetic engineering are used throughout the book and not confined to one chapter.

Click here to view sample chapters from the text!

The book is ideally suited for a beginning course in a Department of crop sciences to show how biotechnology (genetic engineering of crops) is becoming part of agriculture and for an innovative course in plant biology where the instructor wants to deal with the societal issues that flow from agriculture (environmental concerns, GM crops, food sufficiency, etc).

ShowKey Features

Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition stands alone by:

  • bringing together so many different fields of knowledge, 
  • ability to draw the students into discussions of topics that affect society, including topics that are very current (e.g. the debate about the labeling of genetically modified foods.)
Just enough basic plant biology (photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, plant structure and development, genetics, molecular biology) so that it could be used in a basic botany course, but then it emphasizes the important of crops and society.
The text has a strong international bent, dedicating a special chapter about agriculture in the sub-Saharan region.
New to this Edition!

The second edition of Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology underwent extensive user incorporated revisions. The major changes are as follows:

  • Each chapter has been written by an expert, but the book has been heavily edited for consistency of style and readability.   
  • This version is more international,   
  • has much more biotechnology,   
  • and has a chapter on the urban myths of genetic engineering.   
  • There is more emphasis on agro-ecology,  
  • and the chapter on how to make agriculture more sustainable has been completely revised. 

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ShowTable of Contents

Plants, Genes and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition
Table of Contents 

Chapter 1. Human Population Growth: Lessons from Demography
Dr. David Sadava
The Claremont Colleges

Chapter 2. Agricultural R&D, Productivity and Global Food Prospects
Dr. Brian Wright
University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Philip G. Pardey
University of Minnesota, St. Paul

Chapter 3. Development, Productivity and Sustainability of Crop Production
Dr. Maarten Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego
Dr. David Sadava
The Claremont Colleges

Chapter 4. Food Security: Why Do Hunger and Malnutrition Persist in a World of Plenty?
Dr. Marc Cohen
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Chapter 5. Developing Food Production Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
Dr. Jesse Machuka
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Chapter 6. The Molecular Basis of Genetic Modification and Improvement of Crops
Dr. T. Erik Mirkov
The Texas A&M University Agricultural Experiment Station

Chapter 7. Plants in Human Nutrition and Animal Feed
Dr. T. J. Higgins
CSIRO Division of Plant Industry
Dr. Maarten Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego

Chapter 8. The Genetic Basis of Growth and Development
Dr. Maarten Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego

Chapter 9. Seeds: Biology, Technology and Role in Agriculture
Dr. Kent J. Bradford
University of California, Davis
Dr. Derek Bewley
University of Guelph

Chapter 10. Converting Solar Energy into Crop Production
Dr. Don Ort
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Stephen P. Long
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 11. Plant Nutrition and Crop Improvement in Adverse Soil Conditions
Dr. Idupulapati M. Rao
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Dr. Grant Cramer
University of Nevada, Reno

Chapter 12. Life Together in the Underground
Dr. Maarten Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego

Chapter 13. Ten Thousand Years of Crop Evolution
Dr. Paul Gepts
University of California, Davis

Chapter 14. From Classical Plant Breeding to Modern Crop Improvement
Dr. Todd Pfeiffer
University of Kentucky

Chapter 15. Crop Diseases and Strategies for Their Control
Dr. Andrew Bent
University of WisconsinÐMadison

Chapter 16. Strategies for Controlling Insect, Mite and Nematode Pests
Dr. John Benedict
Professor Emeritus,
Texas A&M University

Chapter 17. Weeds and Weed Control Strategies
Dr. Patrick Tranel
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 18. Toward a Greener Agriculture
Dr. Jonathan Shaver
Oklahoma State University

Chapter 19. Plants as Chemical and Pharmaceutical Factories
Dr. John Ohlrogge
Michigan State University
Dr. Maarten Chrispeels
University of California, San Diego

Chapter 20. Urban Myths and Real Concerns about Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
Dr. C. Neal Stewart, Jr.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Dr. Dwight T. Tomes
Pioneer Hi-Bred International


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ShowAbout the Author(s)

Maarten J. Chrispeels-University of California, San Diego, California

Maarten J. Chrispeels, Professor of Biology, University of California, San Diego

Maarten Chrispeels is Professor of Biology at the University of California, San Diego and the Director of the San Diego Center for Molecular Agriculture. His scientific research is in the area of plant cell and molecular biology. He has made major contributions to our understanding of intracellular protein transport and discovered the proteins that permit water to pass through plant cell membranes. His laboratory has published more than 200 research papers and 50 reviews and book chapters.

A native of Belgium, he came to the US in 1960 and obtained a doctoral degree in Agronomy from the University of Illinois. His professional service includes numerous government and industry advisory panels and former Editor in Chief of Plant Physiology from 1992 to 2000. In 1996, he received the Stephen Hales Award from the American Society of Plant Physiologists and was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. He has extensive contacts in Latin America and presently serves on advisory panels in Chile and Mexico.

In the area of crop biotechnology, Chrispeels collaborates with Dr. TJ Higgins from Australia. They used gene transfer technologies to produce the first insect resistant seeds by transferring a gene from the common bean to the garden pea. As director of the Center for Molecular Agriculture, he has become a spokesperson/educator for crop biotechnology and genetically modified crops.

David E. Sadava, PhD-The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, Claremont

David E. Sadava, The Claremont Colleges, Claremont

Professor in the Joint Science Center, The Claremont Colleges. He is an honors graduate of Carleton University in Canada, and he received a Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. He teaches and does research in cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry. Professor Sadava is the author of Cell Biology: Organelle Structure and Function.

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ShowReviews

  • "I believe you have a real winner here. It is a wonderful book, unique in its approach, wide ranging in coverage, authoritative, well written and fascinating to read! It is just what the field needs."

    -- Phil Ammirato
    Biology Department
    Barnard College

    "Chrispeels & Sadava provide the tolls necessary for my students to think critically and play an effective role in their future."
     
    -- Dr. Scott Steinmans
    California Polytechnic
    San Luis Obispo, CA

    "This book has been a valuable asset to engage students of varying interest levels. Nearly all of my students can identify with the world's food and environmental issues in the first chapters, and many sharp students are challenged to dig deeper through the thoughtful inset boxes sprinkled throughout the text. Its unique identification of genetic transformation as a central issue for plant agriculture makes it a remarkably relevant introduction to plant and soil science for students from many different academic pursuits."   

    -- Larry J. Grabau
    Director, Teaching & Learning Center
    University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY  

    “This is a unique text that combines the talents of many different authors and in the process generates a new and remarkable synthesis. Starting with the elements of population, plant physiology and nutrition it expands into crop growth, agriculture and biotechnology. It is in the treatment of different agricultural systems and developing green agriculture that this book really scores and makes enormous impacts upon the reader. The author's treatment of these difficult and often controversial questions is masterly and frankly unparalleled in my experience. Using this text as guide, the future for agriculture to all those concerned about sustaining the planet while accommodating an increasing population without vast destruction of present ecosystems looks suddenly brighter. This book is the perfect text for a responsible course in modern plant biology and agriculture, 2002." 

    -- Anthony Trewavas FRS 
    Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology
    University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

    "Chrispeels and Sadava have written another winner! The new version of Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition is a MUST for students and researchers who are interested in the impact of plant biology on agriculture and society. Chrispeels and Sadava do an outstanding job of showing how modern agricultural research can help produce enough food in the next 50 years to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and do it in an environmentally sensitive way.

    Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition  is mandatory reading for everyone who wants to separate myth from fact in the "GMO" controversy. Chrispeels and Sadava have compiled an impressive set of chapters that both educate and inform the reader on the basics of modern plant research and its impact on agriculture.

    This wonderfully illustrated book provides a conceptual background in plant biology and how modern plant research, including genetic engineering, impacts our daily lives. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in how agriculture has transformed the civilization in which we live.

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second edition of Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology." 

    -- Professor Bob Goldberg
    Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
    University of California, Los Angeles, CA

    "This edition offers updated information, new contributing authors, new chapters, new illustrations, a new organization, and a supply of discussion questions at the end of each chapter for use in the classroom.  The book has received the approval of the American Society of Plant Biologists.  On the whole it is an improvement over the first popular edition and will be a good textbook for introductory classes in plant biology and crop science."

    --Judy Harrington, Research Associate
     Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University

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ShowAppropriate Courses

Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology, Second Edition is ideally suited for a beginning course in a department of crop sciences to show how biotechnology is becoming part of agriculture and for an innovative course in plant biology where the instructor wants to deal with the societal issues that flow from agriculture (environmental concerns, GM crops, food sufficiency, etc).  
The types of courses for which this book is suitable go by many names because it is an interdisciplinary book. The course would typically be one quarter, semester or trimester and can be taught at any time during the year. Such courses can be found at 2-year and at 4-year institutions. At highly selective universities, this would be a first-or second-year course but at less selective universities it could come later in the curriculum. 

  • Biology of Plant Food Systems and the Environment    
  • Advanced Crop Production    
  • Plants, Genes, and Agriculture 
  • Environmental, Food, and Society
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ShowSamples & Additional Resources

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ShowResources

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