Amino acids play a role in the defence mechanisms and stress responses of plants, as well as in food quality and safety for humans and animals. Recent advances in the field make a comprehensive overview of the information a necessity; this book collates chapters on plant enzymes and metabolism, modulation, molecular aspects and secondary products. Also including information on ecology, the environment and mammalian nutrition and toxicology, it provides an authoritative resource.

This proceedings volume contains the invited and a selection of the contributed papers of the 8th International Workshop on Sulfur Metabolism in Higher Plants, which was held at Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia from November 22-27, 2010. Content of the volume shows that the understanding of sulfur metabolism in plants and the interaction of the environment are rapidly progressing.This volume covers...

An understanding of the mineral nutrition of plants is of fundamental importance in both basic and applied plant sciences. The Third Edition of this book retains the aim of the first in presenting the principles of mineral nutrition in the light of current advances. This volume retains the structure of the first edition, being divided into two parts: Nutritional Physiology and Soil-Plant Relationships. In Part I, more emphasis has been placed on root-shoot interactions, stress physiology, ...

Herbicides make a spectacular contribution to modern crop production. Yet, for the development of more effective and safer agrochemicals, it is essential to understand how these compounds work in plants and their surroundings.This expanded and fully revised second edition of Herbicides and Plant Physiology provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of how modern herbicides interact with target plants, and how they are used to manage crop production. In addition, the t...

Plant polyphenols are secondary metabolites that constitute one of the most common and widespread groups of natural products. They express a large and diverse panel of biological activities including beneficial effects on both plants and humans. Many polyphenols, from their structurally simplest representatives to their oligo/polymeric versions (also referred to as vegetable tannins) are notably known as phytoestrogens, plant pigments, potent antioxidants, and protein interacting agents.

Materials from renewable resources are receiving increased attention, as leading industries and manufacturers attempt to replace declining petrochemical-based feedstocks with products derived from natural biomass, such as cereal straws. Cereal straws are expected to play an important role in the shift toward a sustainable economy, and a basic knowledge of the composition and structure of cereal straw is the key to using it wisely. Cereal Straw as a Resource for Sustainable Biomaterials and...

This second edition of a bestselling textbook offers an instructive and comprehensive overview of our current knowledge of biocatalysis and enzyme technology.The book now contains about 40% more printed content. Three chapters are completely new, while the others have been thoroughly updated, and a section with problems and solutions as well as new case studies have been added.Following an introduction to the history of enzyme applications, the text goes on to cover in depth ...

The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance."Bacteria in Agrobiology: Stress Management" covers the major aspe...

This book describes recent progress in enzyme-driven green syntheses of industrially important molecules. The first three introductory chapters overview recent technological advances in enzymes and cell-based transformations, and green chemistry metrics for synthetic efficiency. The remaining chapters are directed to case studies in biotechnological production of pharmaceuticals (small molecules, natural products and biologics), flavors, fragrance and cosmetics, fine chemicals, value-added...

The aim of this volume is to merge classical concepts of plant cell biology with the recent findings of molecular studies and real-world applications in a form attractive not only to specialists in the realm of fundamental research, but also to breeders and plant producers. Four sections deal with the control of development, the control of stress tolerance, the control of metabolic activity, and novel additions to the toolbox of modern plant cell biology in an exemplary and comprehensive m...

The book describes the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for biomass-to-biofuel conversion processes, which is an important step in increasing ethanol production for biofuels. It also highlights the main challenges and suggests possible ways to make these technologies feasible for the biofuel industry. The biological conversion of cellulosic biomass into bioethanol is based on the chemical and biological breakdown of biomass into aqueous sugars, for example using hydrolytic enzymes. ...

Recent Advances in Polyphenol ResearchVolume 2Edited by Santos-Buelga, Escribano-Bailon and LattanzioPlant phenolics are secondary metabolites that constitute one of the most common and widespread groups of substances in plants. Polyphenols have a large and diverse array of beneficial effects on both plants and animals. For example they are famous as antioxidants, hormones, constituents of essential oils and natural neurotransmitter...