The broad host range pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been widely studied as a model system to understand horizontal gene flow, secretion of effector proteins into host cells, and plant-pathogen interactions. Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation also is the major method for generating transgenic plants for research and biotechnology purposes. Agrobacterium species have the natural ability to conduct interkingdom genetic transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes, including most plant species, yeast, fungi, and even animal cells. In nature, A. tumefaciens causes crown gall disease resulting from expression in plants of auxin and cytokinin biosynthesis genes encoded by the transferred (T-) DNA. Gene transfer from A. tumefaciens to host cells requires virulence (vir) genes that reside on the resident tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid. In addition to T-DNA, several Virulence (Vir) effector proteins are also translocated to host cells through a bacterial type IV secretion system. These proteins aid in T-DNA trafficking through the host cell cytoplasm, nuclear targeting, and T-DNA integration. Genes within native T-DNAs can be replaced by any gene of interest, making Agrobacterium species important tools for plant research and genetic engineering. In this research topic, we provided updated information on several important areas of Agrobacterium biology and its use for biotechnology purposes.

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Vols 1 and 2 contain 57 papers in the Special Issue of ‘Plant Genomics 2009’ and cover a wide range of topics, highlighting the significant progress that has been made in recent years in our understanding of the genetics and genomics of plants’ growth, development, and stress responses. These studies provide valuable insights into the potential applications of genomic tools and technologies for crop improvement and sustainable agriculture, as well as fundamental questions about the evolution and function of plant genes and genomes.

Listed by Unglue.it.

Vols 1 and 2 contain 57 papers in the Special Issue of ‘Plant Genomics 2009’ and cover a wide range of topics, highlighting the significant progress that has been made in recent years in our understanding of the genetics and genomics of plants’ growth, development, and stress responses. These studies provide valuable insights into the potential applications of genomic tools and technologies for crop improvement and sustainable agriculture, as well as fundamental questions about the evolution and function of plant genes and genomes.

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Plants possess a rather complex and efficient immune system. During their evolutionary history, plants have developed various defense strategies in order to recognize and distinguishing between self and non-self, and face pathogens and animal pests. Accordingly, to study the plant innate immunity represents a new frontier in the plant pathology and crop protection fields. This book is structured in 6 sections. The first part introduces some basic and general aspects of the plant innate immunity and crop protection. Sections 2–5 focus on fungal and oomycete diseases (section 2), bacterial and phytoplasma diseases (section 3), virus diseases (section 4), and insect pests (section 5), with a number of case studies and plant–pathogen/pest interactions. The last section deals with plant disease detection and control. The book aims to highlight new trends in these relevant areas of plant sciences, providing a global perspective that is useful for future and innovative ideas.

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