The Molecular Basis of Nutrient Use Efficiency in Crops

Malcolm J. Hawkesford is Deputy Head of the Plant Sciences Department and Project Leader of the Nutrition Group at Rothamsted Research, UK.
 
Peter Barraclough formerly a Group Leader in Crop Nutrition at Rothamsted Research, UK, now retired.

Efforts to increase efficient nutrient use by crops are of growing importance as the global demand for food, fibre and fuel increases and competition for resources intensifies. The Molecular and Physiological Basis of Nutrient Use Efficiency in Crops provides both a timely summary of the latest advances in the field as well as anticipating directions for future research.
 
The Molecular and Physiological Basis of Nutrient Use Efficiency in Crops bridges the gap between agronomic practice and molecular biology by linking underpinning molecular mechanisms to the physiological and agronomic aspects of crop yield. These chapters provide an understanding of molecular and physiological mechanisms that will allow researchers to continue to target and improve complex traits for crop improvement.
 
Written by leading international researchers, The Molecular and Physiological Basis of Nutrient Use Efficiency in Crops will be an essential resource for the crop science community for years to come.
 
Special Features:
* coalesces current knowledge in the areas of efficient acquisition and utilization of nutrients by crop plants with emphasis on modern developments
* addresses future directions in crop nutrition in the light of changing climate patterns including temperature and water availability
* bridges the gap between traditional agronomy and molecular biology with focus on underpinning molecular mechanisms and their effects on crop yield
* includes contributions from a leading team of global experts in both research and practical settings

Preface
 

Part I: Generic aspects of crop nutrition
 

1. Strategies for improving crop nutrient use efficiency -- Malcolm J. Hawkesford
 
2. Crop root systems and nutrient uptake from soils -- Peter Gregory
 
3. The role of the rhizosphere in nutrient use efficiency in crops -- Petra Marschner
 
4. Optimising canopy physiology traits to improve the nutrient-utilization efficiency of crops -- M. John Foulkes and Erik H. Murchie
 
5. Senescence and nutrient remobilization in crop plants -- Per Gregersen
 
6. Effects of nitrogen and sulphur nutrition on grain composition and properties of wheat and related cereals -- Peter R. Shewry
 
Part II: Nitrogen as a key driver of production
 
7. Overview of genetic improvement in wheat -- Jacques Le Gouis -
 
8. The molecular genetics of nitrogen use efficiency in crops -- Bertrand Hirel and Peter J. Lea
 
9. Biotechnological approaches to improving NUE in plants: alanine aminotransferase as a case study -- Allen G. Good and Perrin H. Beatty
 
10. Transporters involved in nitrogen uptake and movement -- Anthony Miller and Nick Chapman
 
11. Crop improvement for nitrogen use efficiency in irrigated lowland rice --Shaobing Peng
 
Part III: Other critical macro- and micro-nutrients
 
12. Phosphorus as a critical macronutrient -- Carroll Vance
 
13. Uptake, distribution and physiological functions of potassium, calcium and magnesium -- Frans Maathuis and Dorina Podar -
 
14. Sulfur nutrition in crops -- Luit De Kok, Ineke Stulen and Malcolm J. Hawkesford
 
15. Iron nutrition and implications for biomass production and the nutritional quality of plant products -- Jean-François Briat
 
16. Zinc in soils and crop nutrition -- Behzad Sadeghzadeh and Zdenko Rengel
 
17. Overview of the acquisition and utilization of boron, chlorine, copper, manganese, molybdenum, and nickel by plants and prospects for improvement of micronutrient use efficiency -- Patrick Brown and Elias Bassil
 

Part IV: Specialised case studies
 

18 Eric Ober and Martin A. J. Parry - Drought and implications for nutrition
 
19 Sven Schubert - Salt resistance of crop plants - physiological characterization of a multigenic character
 
20 Muthusubramanian Venkateshwaran and Jean-Michel Ané - Legumes and nitrogen fixation: physiological, molecular, evolutionary perspectives and applications
 

Subject index