Genetic Resources, Chromosome Engineering, and Crop Improvement

Summarizing landmark research, Volume 3 of this essential series furnishes information on the availability of germplasm resources that breeders can exploit for producing high-yielding vegetable crop varieties. Written by leading international experts, this volume offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on employing genetic resources to increase the yield of those vegetable crops that provide a main source of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. In eleven succinct chapters, Genetic Resources, Chromosome Engineering, and Crop Improvement: Vegetable Crops, Volume 3 focuses on potato, tomato, brassicas, okra, capsicum, alliums, cucurbits, lettuce, eggplant, and carrot. An introductory chapter outlines the cytogenetic architecture of vegetable crops, describes the principles and strategies of cytogenetics and breeding, and summarizes landmarks in current research. This sets the stage for the ensuing crop-specific chapters. Each chapter generally provides a comprehensive account of the crop, its origin and taxonomy, wild relatives, exploitation of genetic resources diversity in the primary, secondary, and tertiary gene pools through breeding and cytogenetic manipulation, and genetic enrichment using the tools of molecular genetics and biotechnology. Certain to become the standard reference for improving the yields of these critical vegetable crops, this book is the definitive source of information for plant breeders, gene-bankers, cytogeneticists, taxonomists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, and graduate students, researchers, agronomists, horticulturists, farmers and consumers in these fields.