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Legumes include many very important crop plants that contribute critical protein to the diets of many around the world. Many important forages and green manure crops are legumes. Legumes are also large contributors to the vegetable oil and animal feed protein sectors. One characteristic of legumes that could become even more important as world energy sources decline and nitrogen fertilizer prices increase is nitrogen fixation, something few other plants can do. Thus legumes have a unique and important niche in agriculture. While some of the small seeded forage legumes have been relatively easy to work with in tissue culture as far as culture initiation, plant regeneration and transformation are concerned, most large seeded legumes, like soybean, have been recalcitrant. Today, however, many laboratories are inserting genes into soybean and producing unique plants for both commercial and scientific uses. These advancements have taken a large amount of research effort and still require time and labour.
List of contents
I: Technologies.- Breeding Methodologies for the Improvement of Grain Legumes.- In Vitro Morphogenesis in Grain Legumes: An Overview.- In Vitro Organogenesis.- Somatic Embryogenesis.- Protoplasts of Grain and Forage Legumes: Their Exploitation in Genetic Manipulation, Physiological Investigations and Plant-Pathogen Interactions.- Wide Hybridization in Important Food Legumes.- II: Nitrogen Metabolism.- Perception and Processing of Nod Factor Signals.- Nitrate Assimilation.- Improvement of Nitrogen Utilization.- III: Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance.- Genetic Engineering for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance.- Genetic Engineering for Insect Resistance.- Genetic Engineering for Virus Resistance.- Molecular Strategies for Fungal and Nematode Resistance.- IV: Product Quality Improvement.- Improvement of Methionine-Deficient Legumes through Genetic Engineering.- Development of Regeneration Protocols to Exploit Somaclonal Variations in Lathyrus Sativus for Developing Toxin Free Cultivar.- V: Biodiversity.- Organisation and Genetic Mapping of the Chickpea Genome.- Biodiversity in Indian Underexploited/Tribal Pulses.
Summary
Legumes include many very important crop plants that contribute critical protein to the diets of many around the world. Many important forages and green manure crops are legumes. Legumes are also large contributors to the vegetable oil and animal feed protein sectors. One characteristic of legumes that could become even more important as world energy sources decline and nitrogen fertilizer prices increase is nitrogen fixation, something few other plants can do. Thus legumes have a unique and important niche in agriculture. While some of the small seeded forage legumes have been relatively easy to work with in tissue culture as far as culture initiation, plant regeneration and transformation are concerned, most large seeded legumes, like soybean, have been recalcitrant. Today, however, many laboratories are inserting genes into soybean and producing unique plants for both commercial and scientific uses. These advancements have taken a large amount of research effort and still require time and labour.
