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Emphasizing the unpredictable nature of plant behaviour under stress and in relation to complex interactions of biological pathways, this work covers the versatility of plants in adapting to environmental change. It analyzes environmentally triggered adaptions in developmental programmes of plants that lead to permanent, heritable DNA modifications.
List of contents
General concepts: introduction to the response of plants to environmental stresses; the importance of individuality; plant cell wall modifications induced by adaptation to growth on the herbicide 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile; gene switches and stress management -modulation of gene expression by transcription factors; stressful lifestyle-associated mutation in microorganisms; differentiation of vegetative anabaena cells into nitrogen-fixing heterocysts; genetic and epigenetic instability in tissue culture and regenerated progenies; the environment as an active generator of adaptive genomic variation; the effects of environmental stress on repetitive DNA behaviour in plants; plant evolution - towards an adaptive theory; oxidative stress as a regulator of environmental responses in plants; the alternative oxidase - is it a respiratory pathway allowing a plant to cope with stress? role of phytohormones in plant responses to stresses; regulation of gene expression by abscisic acid during environmental stress; abscisic acid - a long distance stress signal in salt-stressed plants. Plant responses to particular stresses or interactions with other organisms or viruses: metabolic aspects of phosphate starvation response in plants; the response of plants to oxygen deprivation - role of enzyme induction in the improvement of tolerance to anoxia; some effects of environmental factors on the acquisition of inorganic ions by higher plants; involvement of the cell wall in response to water deficit and flooding; stimulated shoot elongation - a mechanism of semiaquatic plants to avoid submergence stress; adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus to stress conditions; root impedance - sensing, signalling, and physiological effects; the influence of temperature extremes on gene expression, genomic structure, and the evolution of induced tolerance in plants; regulation of g-aminobutyrate-synthesizing enzyme, glutamate decarboxylase, by calcium/calmodulin - a mechanism for rapid activation in response to stress; plant desiccation; evolutionary consequences of transition to a lichen symbolic state and physiological adaptation of oxidative damage associated with poikilohydry; the involvement of flavonoids, nod factors, and phytohormones in nodulation; conifer chemical defenses against bark beetles - the modulation of monoterpene biosynthesis by wounding, environmental stress and ethylene; plant responses to pathogens; viral pathogens and host plants interactions - mutual survival.
About the author
H.R. Lerner
