JIC and Sainsbury Lab scientists write new Plant Biology textbook
June 2009
The John Innes Centre’s excellence in plant science has helped in the production of a new textbook for students. ‘Plant Biology’, published by Garland Science, is an account of modern plant science, reflecting recent advances in genetics and genomics and the excitement they have created.
The textbook, for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, was written by Alison Smith, Liam Dolan, Cathie Martin and Robert Sablowski from the John Innes Centre, Jonathan Jones from the Sainsbury Lab, along with JIC alumni Nick Harberd and George Coupland and science writer Abigail Amey.
“We’re very happy to see the publication of our book, and we hope it will encourage interest in plant biology”, said Alison Smith. “We are working at the leading edge of this field, so it is good that we are able to get the latest information and ideas into a modern textbook. It provides us with a new avenue to help educate the next generation of plant biologists. It’s also extremely timely: well-trained and enthusiastic plant biologists are urgently needed if we are to solve the problems of food security, environmental degradation and climate change that face us over the next decades”.
The book begins with a review of what is known about the origins of modern-day plants. Next, the special features of plant genomes and genetics are explored. Subsequent chapters provide information on our current understanding of plant cell biology, plant metabolism, and plant developmental biology, with the remaining three chapters outlining the interactions of plants with their environments. The final chapter discusses the relationship of plants with humans: domestication, agriculture and crop breeding. Plant Biology contains over 1,000 full colour illustrations, and each chapter begins with Learning Objectives and concludes with a Summary.
http://www.garlandscience.com/textbooks/0815340257.asp
