ISHS Acta Horticulturae 392: Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops by Biotechnology
PREFACE |
| Authors: | T. NISHIO, C. DORÉ |
| Abstract:
Recent development of biotechnology enabled us to create plants which have never been obtained by classical plant breeding techniques. Protoplast fusion makes it possible to produce plant cells having new combinations of cytoplasmic genes. Bacterial and animal genes can be introduced to and expressed in plant cells by genetic engineering. In order to apply these cell manipulation techniques to genetic improvement of plants, a method for regenerating plants from single cells is essential. The ease with which plants can be regenerated from single cells highly depends on plant species. Among many species of horticultural crops, some are suitable for regeneration of plants from single cells. They have been successfully used as model plants for the application of biotechnology. The topics of the symposium 'Genetic improvement of horticultural crops by biotechnology' in the XXIV International Horticultural Congress (IHC) were designed to cover various aspects of biotechnology from classical to up-to date. Anther culture techniques are used in practical breeding of some vegetables. Disease resistant lines have been obtained by somaclonal variation and in vitro selection techniques for fruit trees and vegetables. Cytoplasmic male sterile lines in some vegetable species have been improved by the protoplast fusion techniques. Since genetic transformation techniques have been developed in many crop species, the importance of isolated genes which provide crops with favorable characters is rising. Therefore, topics of recent molecular genetic studies in horticultural crops were also included in this symposium. Presentations in this symposium are published in this volume. In the XXIV IHC, there were several interesting oral and poster presentations relating to this symposium. Papers of these presentations are also published here. We express our sincere thanks to the members of editorial board for their perusal of the manuscripts.
We also thank to the organizing committee of IHC, Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution, France-Japan Agricultural Society, and Japan International Cooperation Agency for their support of this symposium. | |
