A stunning landmark co-publication between theAmerican Society of Plant Biologists and Wiley-Blackwell.

The Molecular Life of Plants presents students with an innovative, integrated approach to plant science. It looks at the processes and mechanisms that underlie each stage of plant life and describes the intricate network of cellular, molecular, biochemical and physiological events through which plants make life on land possible. Richly illustrated, this book follows the life of the plant, starting with the seed, progressing through germination to the seedling and mature plant, and ending with reproduction and senescence. This "seed-to-seed" approach will provide students with a logical framework for acquiring the knowledge needed to fully understand plant growth and development.

Written by a highly respected and experienced author teamThe Molecular Life of Plants will prove invaluable to students needing a comprehensive, integrated introduction to the subject across a variety of disciplines including plant science, biological science, horticulture and agriculture.

Helen Ougham has a B.A. in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She has carried out research in plant science for over 25 years at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research and Aberystwyth University, and she teaches regularly on graduate courses in genetics and genomics at the University of Birmingham and in crop science at the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Zaragoza.

Howard Thomas studied at Aberystwyth University and is a DSc in the University of Wales. He was head of cell and molecular biology research and member of the management board at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research. He has held visiting professorships at the Universities of California, Bern and Zurich and is currently Emeritus Professor of Biology at Aberystwyth University.

Susan Waaland earned a B.A. in Biology at Earlham College in Indiana and a Ph.D. in Botany at the University of California at Berkeley. She was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington and continued there as a faculty member in Botany and Biology. She spent a year in the Botany Department at the University of California at Davis through the NSF Visiting Professorships for Women Program. She is now an Emeritus Lecturer in Biology at the University of Washington.

Preface xxiii

Part I Origins

1 Plant life: a primer 3

2 Molecules, metabolism and energy 42

3 Genome organization and expression 74

4 Cell architecture 114

Part II Germination

5 Membrane transport and intracellular protein trafficking 149

6 Seed to seedling: germination and mobilization of food reserves 181

7 Metabolism of reserves: respiration and gluconeogenesis 218

Part III Emergence

8 Light perception and transduction 251

9 Photosynthesis and photorespiration 284

Part IV Growth

10 Hormones and other signals 329

11 The cell cycle and meristems 371

12 Growth and development 405

Part V Maturation

13 Mineral nutrient acquisition and assimilation 455

14 Intercellular and long-distance transport 504

15 Environmental interactions 534

Part VI Renewal

16 Flowering and sexual reproduction 585

17 Development and dormancy of resting structures 629

18 Senescence, ripening and cell death 664

Acknowledgments, credits and sources 707

Index 713