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Plant breeding reviews
228
Book reviews~Plant Sci. 97 (1994) 227-228
and shrubs. The alphabetical listing of the genera ensures that information can be quickly found without referring to the index; moreover, information on the symptoms, distribution, transmission and cause of each disease are presented in a standard format, and is accompanied by relevant references and, where appropriate, comments by the author. The concluding chapter contains a balanced discussion of the possible association of viruses with tree dieback or decline diseases in North America and Europe, reviews the transmission of some viruses in seed and pollen and discusses the relative importance of graft transmissible agents in tree pathology. Of the two appendices, the first is a simple glossary of terms, and the second a list of twenty-nine diseases of unknown or untested etiology. The book is well illustrated but, unfortunately, the legends to Plates 3 and 4 have been transposed. The main part of the book contains much information on at least 35 diseases which are stated to have no known cause and should, perhaps, have been listed in Appendix B rather than in the main part of the text. It also contains information on eight diseases caused by Mycoplasma-like organisms and one induced by a rickettsia-like bacterium. The author has thus presented much more information than indicated by the book's title which, perhaps, should have been 'Virus and Virus-like Diseases of Trees and Shrubs'. However, these are minor criticisms of a very useful collation of information which should be of use to horticulturalists, foresters, arboriculturalists and plant pathologists. Prof. A.A. Brunt
(Horticulture Research International, Littlehampton, UK) SSDI 0168-9452(94)03814-P
Plant breeding reviews Volume 11, edited by Jules Janick, £87. This volume dedicated to the memory of John Weinberg, is devoted to several important topics in
the field of breeding. A large first chapter, presented by Barbara Lied and Neil Anderson summarizes the basis of reproductive barriers in higher plants, a key topic in the field of plant breeding. The genetic control of gene fluxes within and between species is of critical importance in terms of evolution, speciation and breeding. Emphasis has been put on self incompatibilities, heterostyly, and their interactions. It would have been useful to explore in more detail the different facets of male sterilities, which are extensively used for the production of hybrid seeds. The analysis of the molecular studies performed recently on reproductive barriers is however limited. An interesting chapter is devoted to the practical approaches allowing the characterization of reproductive barriers in a given species, based on the statistical analysis of the data issued from diallel tests of seed sets. It is a difficult task to summarize such a topic oven in 120 pages, but this represents a nice introduction for someone who is not familiar to fertility problems. Related to this topic, an interesting introduction to breeding systems for cross pollinated perennial grasses is presented by K. Vogel and J. Pedersen. Several short chapters have been presented on more specialized topics by experts in the field. A well documented review on anther culture is presented by Y. Wang and J. Widholm, and a review on nodulation genes and the agronomic potential of nodulation mutants in soybean has been prepared by P. Gresshoff. Two chapters are presented by J. Gustafson and E. Sears on wheat gene manipulation and by L. Tolbert on the potential use of molecular biology (mainly RFLP) for wheat breeding. Finally an excellent and non-orthodox discussion on the potential and limits of biotechnologically-derived herbicide-resistant crops, in view of the problems raised by spontaneous herbicide resistances occuring in tile environment is presented by J. Gressel. Michel Caboche
(INRA, 78026 Versailles, France) SSDI 0168-9452(94)03283-R
Book reviews~Plant Sci. 97 (1994) 227-228
and shrubs. The alphabetical listing of the genera ensures that information can be quickly found without referring to the index; moreover, information on the symptoms, distribution, transmission and cause of each disease are presented in a standard format, and is accompanied by relevant references and, where appropriate, comments by the author. The concluding chapter contains a balanced discussion of the possible association of viruses with tree dieback or decline diseases in North America and Europe, reviews the transmission of some viruses in seed and pollen and discusses the relative importance of graft transmissible agents in tree pathology. Of the two appendices, the first is a simple glossary of terms, and the second a list of twenty-nine diseases of unknown or untested etiology. The book is well illustrated but, unfortunately, the legends to Plates 3 and 4 have been transposed. The main part of the book contains much information on at least 35 diseases which are stated to have no known cause and should, perhaps, have been listed in Appendix B rather than in the main part of the text. It also contains information on eight diseases caused by Mycoplasma-like organisms and one induced by a rickettsia-like bacterium. The author has thus presented much more information than indicated by the book's title which, perhaps, should have been 'Virus and Virus-like Diseases of Trees and Shrubs'. However, these are minor criticisms of a very useful collation of information which should be of use to horticulturalists, foresters, arboriculturalists and plant pathologists. Prof. A.A. Brunt
(Horticulture Research International, Littlehampton, UK) SSDI 0168-9452(94)03814-P
Plant breeding reviews Volume 11, edited by Jules Janick, £87. This volume dedicated to the memory of John Weinberg, is devoted to several important topics in
the field of breeding. A large first chapter, presented by Barbara Lied and Neil Anderson summarizes the basis of reproductive barriers in higher plants, a key topic in the field of plant breeding. The genetic control of gene fluxes within and between species is of critical importance in terms of evolution, speciation and breeding. Emphasis has been put on self incompatibilities, heterostyly, and their interactions. It would have been useful to explore in more detail the different facets of male sterilities, which are extensively used for the production of hybrid seeds. The analysis of the molecular studies performed recently on reproductive barriers is however limited. An interesting chapter is devoted to the practical approaches allowing the characterization of reproductive barriers in a given species, based on the statistical analysis of the data issued from diallel tests of seed sets. It is a difficult task to summarize such a topic oven in 120 pages, but this represents a nice introduction for someone who is not familiar to fertility problems. Related to this topic, an interesting introduction to breeding systems for cross pollinated perennial grasses is presented by K. Vogel and J. Pedersen. Several short chapters have been presented on more specialized topics by experts in the field. A well documented review on anther culture is presented by Y. Wang and J. Widholm, and a review on nodulation genes and the agronomic potential of nodulation mutants in soybean has been prepared by P. Gresshoff. Two chapters are presented by J. Gustafson and E. Sears on wheat gene manipulation and by L. Tolbert on the potential use of molecular biology (mainly RFLP) for wheat breeding. Finally an excellent and non-orthodox discussion on the potential and limits of biotechnologically-derived herbicide-resistant crops, in view of the problems raised by spontaneous herbicide resistances occuring in tile environment is presented by J. Gressel. Michel Caboche
(INRA, 78026 Versailles, France) SSDI 0168-9452(94)03283-R