Plant Diversity and Evolution: Genotypic and Phenotypic Variation in Higher Plants

An understanding of plant diversity at both the genome and phenome level is important for both biodiversity conservation and plant breeding. Recent advances in genomics have also resulted in a growth of the subject of plant functional genomics. This book brings these areas together, by reviewing aspects of plant evolution as it relates to variation in plant genomes and associated variations in plant phenomes. Topics covered include chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes, reticulate evolution, polyploidy, population genetics within a species, the evolution of the flower, diversity in plant cell walls and in secondary metabolism, and the importance of plant diversity in ecology and agriculture.

Botanists working at gardens and in academies around the world look at diversity among seed plants, among which are flowering plants but not ferns or mosses, at the level of genes and expressed traits. They begin by summarizing the diversity and evolution of angiosperms and gymnosperms, then focus on specific aspects of one or both groups. Among the topics are chloroplast genomes, reticulate evolution, crucifer evolution in the post-genomic era, the evolution of the flower, diversity in secondary metabolism, the ecological importance of species diversity, and genomic diversity in nature and domestication. A final chapter looks at conserving genetic diversity in plants of environmental, social, or economic importance. Distributed in the US by Oxford University Press. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR