This edited book highlights the gravity and efficacy of next-generation breeding tools for the enhancement of stress-resilience in cereals, especially in the context of climate change, pests, diseases, and abiotic stresses. The content of the book helps in understanding the application of emerging genetic concepts and neoteric genomic approaches in cereal breeding. It collates all the latest information about enhancing the stress resilience in cereal crops for overcoming food security issues. Cereals have predominantly been used as a staple food since time immemorial and contribute more than 50% of the caloric requirement of the global population. However, in cereals, the yield losses due to various stresses are very high, considering the crop growth stage and stress sensitivity. Therefore, to feed and nourish the generations in the era of climate change, it is imperative to develop stress-resilient cereal cultivars. This book explores newly developed next-generation breeding tools, viz., genome-wide association studies, genomic prediction, genome editing, and accelerated generation advancement methodologies, which revealed promising outcomes by enhancing the stress resilience in cereals with yield potential. This book is useful for postgraduate students specializing in plant breeding, plant stress physiology, plant genomics, agriculture, and agronomy. It is of immense value to scientific community involved in teaching, research, and extension activities related to cereal cultivation.

Zusammenfassung: The book "Plant Adaptation to Abiotic Stress: From Signaling Pathways and Microbiomes to Molecular Mechanisms" comprehensively examines abiotic stressors--cold, heat, light, salinity, and water scarcity--across its 18 chapters. Focusing particularly on Arabidopsis thaliana, it investigates abiotic stresses, adaptation strategies, and molecular pathways. Furthermore, it addresses broader issues, including climate challenges, food security, water scarcity, and agricultural concerns such as soil acidity and aluminum stress. It proposes adaptive measures for cultivating stress-resistant crops and sheds light on genetic modification methods such as CRISPR-Cas9, integrating nanotechnology in plant breeding. Emphasizing transcription factors, post-translational protein modifications, and diverse noncoding RNAs (long noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs, microRNAs, and small interfering RNAs), the book highlights their role in regulating gene expression during stress responses. It specifically underscores secondary messengers, plant hormones, and MAPK cascades within intracellular signaling pathways. Additionally, it discusses the roles of endophytic bacteria and microbial interactions in bolstering stress resilience. The book explores state-of-the-art research methodologies in plant breeding, omics approaches, and nanotechnology integration for developing stress-resistant crop varieties, advocating for agricultural sustainability. Tailored for plant physiology scientists, academics, and postgraduate students, it amalgamates diverse research findings, serving as a pivotal resource to comprehend intricate plant responses to environmental challenges

Gene expression in cells follows a prescribed pathway that conforms to the Central Dogma; where the genetic information stored in DNA is transcribed into RNA and then expressed into proteins, which influences most plant traits. Plant salt tolerance research is directed towards identifying nucleotide variants that could contribute to tolerant phenotypes. This book comprehensively presents the current state of knowledge on plant salt tolerance through meticulous analysis of the processes operating across the Central Dogma. It provides a detailed account of modulation of gene expression through genome editing systems to achieve crop improvement against salt stress. It also provides state-of-the-art information on advances in breeding technologies of genome selection and accelerated de novo domestication for rapidly improving the salt tolerance of plants for global food security. The book will be of particular value to students and researchers of plant genetics, molecular biology and physiology and those with an interest in salinity and salt tolerance.

Under ongoing climate change, natural and cultivated habitats of major food crops are being continuously disturbed. Such condition accelerates to impose stress effects like abiotic and biotic stressors. Drought, salinity, flood, cold, heat, heavy metals, metalloids, oxidants, irradiation etc. are important abiotic stresses; and diseases and infections caused by plant pathogens viz. fungal agents, bacteria and viruses are major biotic stresses. As a result, these harsh environments affect crop productivity and its biology in multiple complex paradigms. As stresses become the limiting factors for agricultural productivity and exert detrimental role on growth and yield of the crops, scientists and researchers are challenged to maintain global food security for a rising world population. This two-volume work highlights the fast-moving agricultural research on crop improvement through the stress mitigation strategies, with specific focuses on crop biology and their response to climatic instabilities. Together with "Climate Resilient Agriculture, Vol 2: Agro-Biotechnological Advancement for Crop Production", it covers a wide range of topics under environmental challenges, agronomy and agriculture processes, and biotechnological approaches, uniquely suitable for scientists, researchers and students working in the fields of agriculture, plant science, environmental biology and biotechnology.

This book deliberates on the concept, strategies, tools, and techniques of allele mining in cereal crops and its application potential in genome elucidation and improvement, including studying allele evolution, discovery of superior alleles, discerning new haplotypes, assessment of intra- and interspecific similarity, and studies of gene expression and gene prediction. Available gene pools in global germplasm collections specifically consisting of wild allied species and local landraces for almost all major crops have facilitated allele mining. Development of advanced genomic techniques including PCR-based allele priming and Eco-TILLING-based allele mining are being widely used now for mining superior alleles. Allele's discovery has become more relevant now for employing molecular breeding to develop designed crop varieties matching consumer needs and with genome plasticity to adapt the climate change scenarios. All these concepts and strategies along with precise success stories are presented in the chapters dedicated to the major cereal crops. The first book on the novel strategy of allele mining in cereal crops for precise breeding Presents genomic strategies for mining superior alleles underlying agronomic traits from genomic resources Depicts case studies of PCR-based allele priming and Eco-Tilling-based allele mining Elaborates on gene discovery and gene prediction in major cereal crops This book will be useful to the students and faculties in various plant science disciplines including genetics, genomics, molecular breeding, agronomy, and bioinformatics; the scientists in seed industries; and the policymakers and funding agencies interested in crop improvement.

This edited book is a collection of essays addressing emerging concerns and pivotal problems about our planet’s environment and ecology. The contributions gathered here highlight the inter-relation of topics and expertise, connecting resilience with ecology, health, biotechnology and generational challenges. The book concludes with an ethical analysis of the multiple and over-lapping challenges that require urgent attention and long-term resolution. The book is written for scholars and students in a variety of disciplines and fields that deal with sustainability.

Crop plants are constantly exposed to multiple abiotic (such as drought, salinity, cold, flooding, heavy metal, and heat) and/or biotic (bacterial/fungal/viral) stress factors that hinder their growth and development, subsequently leading to decreases in quality and yield. During the last two decades, many classical genetic and breeding approaches have been used to develop stress-tolerant and climate-adaptable plants that can provide a better yield to meet food demands. Climate change poses a major risk to food security as the world faces frequent floods, droughts, heat waves, and the emergence of new invasive pests and diseases. Novel genomic and genetic approaches look promising to improve plant resilience under stress conditions and achieve sustainable crop improvements. Recent advances in sequencing technologies have facilitated the generation of a plethora of genomic resources in a variety of crop and plant species. With the increased availability of genomic and transcriptomic data, an increasing number of quantitative trait loci and candidate genes are being identified for their application in improving plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. New approaches such as genomic selection and genomic-assisted breeding have been utilized to develop stress-tolerant cultivars in a variety of plant species. Furthermore, transgenics and rapidly evolving CRISPR technology offer great potential for plant improvement. This Research Topic aims to provide insights into the molecular and genetic factors involved in imparting abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in plants and their application in enhancing plant adaptation to these stress conditions. To review the progress in this research category, we invite manuscripts related to the plant responses to abiotic/biotic stresses and trait improvement through genomic selection, and transgenic or gene-editing approaches. Studies including physiological, biochemical, and molecular genetic analyses revealing the mechanisms involved in plant response to abiotic/biotic stresses are welcome. Topic editor Dr. Balaji Aravindhan Pandian is employed by Enko Chem Inc. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.

CRISPR genome-editing technology presents opportunities to engineer disease resistance traits in plants and improve crop quality. Engineering Disease Resistance in Plants using CRISPR-Cas introduces readers to the basics of CRISPR-Cas and discusses its potential uses in various fields. The book focuses on methods of developing disease-resistant crops using CRISPR-Cas–mediated plant disease resistance modification. Comprehensively written, the author details all types and variants of the CRISPR toolkit. The book opens with information on the evolution of the CRISPR technology and follows a chronology of its development. Although the book concentrates on the use of CRISPR-Cas for disease resistance in plants, it also covers the technology's broader potential examining the history and development of other genome-editing tools. Key Features: Investigates the regulatory, ethical, and societal considerations while designing experiments. Discusses topics on disease development, control, and plant defense mechanisms. Examines genome-editing tools including Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs). Examines production technology to reduce bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases. Provides information for users to discover ways to overcome the challenges associated with food security. This book is a valuable resource for researchers, scientists, and undergraduate and graduate students who wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of genome-editing methods.

This book explores the intricate world of plant signaling by unraveling the synergistic roles of salicylic acid and nitric oxide in plant adaptation. This captivating exploration illuminates the pivotal roles of salicylic acid (SA) and nitric oxide (NO) as master regulators of plant responses to changing environmental dynamics. SA, a phenolic maestro, wields its mastery in steering metabolic pathways, stimulating plants’ tolerance against abiotic stresses. Meanwhile, the enigmatic nitrogen monoxide (NO) emerges as a redox regulator, modulating growth and physiology amid high temperature stress. NO's role as a second messenger resonates through physiological processes, igniting antioxidant defenses, modulating osmolyte levels, and harmonizing stress-responsive genes. This volume seeks to highlight the covert alliance between SA and NO, more specifically their potential collaboration in alleviating high temperature-induced oxidative stress. The book offers basic yet enchanting voyage into the nexus of plant adaptation.