Vascular transport in plants * Holbrook NM, Zwieniecki MA. eds. 2005. * Amsterdam: Elsvier, * Academic Press. {pound}62.99 * (hardback). 564 pp.

This comprehensivecollection of 26 papers on all aspects of function and structureof vascular tissues will be of interest for anyone working inplant structure/function generally, or to specialists dealingwith physiology of water and sugar movement, leaf functions,wood anatomy and ecophysiology. The work of 52 contributors,including the two editors whose     

The Biogeochemistry of Submerged Soils. * Kirk, G. 2004. * Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. {pound}100 (hardcover). 304 pp.

One can learn a lot about thegeochemistry of submerged soils in this book by Kirk. However,it is not, as the title implies, focused on the biogeochemistryof all submerged soils. In Chapter 1 Kirk gives a very briefoverview     

Seeds handbook: biology, production, processing and storage. 2nd edn. * Desai BB. 2004. * New York: Marcel Dekker.{pound}115 (hardback). 787 pp.

This book comprisesfour parts, the first three as identified in the title, anda fourth described as newer seed biotechnologies. Almost halfof the book is devoted to seed production,     

An introduction to plant structure and development * Beck CB. 2005. * Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. {pound}30.00 (hardback). 464 pp.

This book has beenwritten primarily as a text for a senior plant anatomy course.The initial phrase ‘An introduction to’ is somewhatmisleading as a student would need to have some elementary knowledgeof botany as well as cell structure and physiology to followthe information and the ideas without difficulty. The authordoes     

Plant nutritional genomics * Broadley MR, White PJ. eds. 2005. * Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. {pound}115 (hardback). 321 pp.

Plant nutritionis ultimately an applied subject that seeks to understand theprocesses and mechanisms that underpin the uptake, assimilationand internal redistribution of nutrients by plants and thento use this information to improve the yield or quality of harvestedplant parts, be they grains, storage roots or leafy vegetables.The subject now also encompasses the understanding of the responsesof plants to nutrient toxicities (e.g. salinity) as well asnew topics such as metal ‘hyperaccumulation’ and     

Methods in molecular biology, volume 286. Transgenic plants. Methods and protocols. * Pena L, ed. 2005. * Totowa, New Jersey: Humana Press. $115 (hardback). 448 pp

This publication has much to offerin terms of valuable information for the student beginning ontheir quest for knowledge, but also for the more experiencedscientist in terms of emphasizing the problems and subsequentconsequences of the generation of transgenic crops. The bookbegins with     

The plant cytoskeleton in cell differentiation and development. Annual Plant Reviews, volume 10. * Hussey PJ, ed. 2004. * Oxford: Blackwell Publishing/Boca Raton: CRC Press. * {pound}99{middle dot}50 (hardback). 325 pp

Over 40 years ago, in what is surelyone of the most famous ‘throw-away lines’ in botany,Ledbetter and Porter (1963) suggested that the similar orientationsof cytoplasmic microtubules and structures considered to becellulose microfibrils in the cell wall was not coincidental.This notion led almost single-handedly to the present and enduringinterest amongst certain plant cell biologists in understandingthe role of microtubules in wall formation. And as a resultof this intense interest in such matters, it has become clearthat microtubules are not only ‘just one’ componentamongst an ever-expanding array of     

Photosynthetic rate and dynamic environment. * Kazutoshi Yabuki, 2004. * Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. * {euro}50 (hardback). 130 pp.

In photosynthesis, CO₂ enters theleaf from the atmosphere and moves to the active site of thecarboxylating enzyme, to be bound in an organic compound. Theprocess is largely diffusional and the pathway, although complicatedin detail, is usually split into sections related to differentanatomic structures, such as chloroplasts, cell walls, intercellularair space, stomatal pores and, finally the leaf boundary layer.Biologists have mainly been concerned with those sections thatare embedded within the leaf, considering the boundary layeras something external, not under the control by biological processes.Well, light is also not controlled     

Plant pigments and their manipulation. Annual Plant Reviews Vol 12. * Davies KM, ed. 2004. * Oxford/Boca Raton: Blackwell Publishing/CRC Press, Boca Raton. {pound}110 (hardback). 352 pp.

There are many good reasons forknowing about plant pigments (and for producing a book aboutthem). Plant pigments are important in signalling, as in attractingpollinating and dispersal agents, and repelling herbivores.Plant pigments are obviously physiologically important, andrecent research suggests novel protective mechanisms, both photo-protectiveand anti-oxidative. Plant pigments are economically important,in determining the colours and patterns of attractive flowersand valuable fruits. They are also important nutritionally,with an understanding of emerging new roles in nutrition andin aiding health. With all of this     

Ethics for life scientists. * Korthals M, Bogers RJ. eds. 2005. * Berlin: Springer. $59{middle dot}95 (paperback). 236 pp.

The motivationfor producing this book is summed up in its last chapter byone of the editors: ‘Life sciences concentrate on lifeand death; this simple statement stands for most of the urgentethical problems these sciences are confronted with ... Thelife sciences cannot escape from ethical issues, controversies,dilemmas even ... In this collection of papers we have intensivelydiscussed the new and often uncertain aspects of     

Plant-pollinator interactions: from specialization to generalization * Waser NM, Ollerton J. eds. 2006. * Chicago: Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. $45 (paperback). 488 pp.

Highly specializedpollination systems, such as figs and their wasp or orchidsthat deceive bees in trying to make them mate with their floralorgans, are intuitively appealing to most people and have, therefore,gained far more attention both in popular and scientific literaturethan the more generalized pollination systems. For a long timethe dominant view was that many, or perhaps even most, plant–pollinatorinteractions were specialized. In 1996 Waser and his colleaguestried to stir things up by writing an article in which theyargued that, in contrast to common belief, generalization waswidespread in plant–pollinator systems. Ten     

Principles of soil and plant water relations. * Kirkham, M. B. 2005. * Boston: Elsevier Academic Press. $79.95 (hardback). 500 pp.

The word order of the title isan important clue to the focus and main strength of Kirkham'sbook, which is its exploration of water movement in the soiland how it is measured. Plant water relations take a back seat,accounting for approximately one-third of the 27 chapters. Unlikethe title, the book's cover image of a savannah-like tree issomewhat misleading, for the examples, methods and instrumentationdiscussed in the text are chiefly agronomic, with an emphasison corn (maize) and wheat. The book's preface     

Systematic botany of flowering plants, 2nd edn. * Spichiger R-E, Savolainen V, Figeat M, Jeanmond D. eds. 2004. * Enfield, New Hampshire: Science Publishers, Inc. $58(softback). 413 pp. plus CD-ROM.

Spichiger et al. introduce a studentwithout too much botanical knowledge to the diversity of floweringplants in this text, which is a translation from the Frenchof the second edition, published in 2002. Five brief introductorychapters lead to the main part of the book, short and well-illustratedaccounts of 113 families. There is also a glossary and an identificationkey to tropical families; a taxon index and a CD-ROM completethe book. The CD-ROM includes 350 photographs of the familiesdescribed, separate lists of medicinal and non-medicinal usesof plants     

In the wake of the double helix: from the green revolution to the gene revolution * Tuberosa R, Phillips RL, Gale M. eds. 2005. * Bologna: Avenue Media. {euro}25 (softback). 722 pp.

This volume isthe proceedings of an international congress held at the Universityof Bologna, Italy, 27–31 May 2003. Major sections aredevoted to the architects of the green revolution: biodiversityand germplasm     

Instant notes in plant biology, 2nd edn. * Lack A, Evans D. 2005. * Oxford: Taylor and Francis. {pound}18.99 (paperback). 351 pp.

The ‘InstantNotes’ series from Bios will probably be familiar to manyreaders. The series' success is evident in the second editionsthat are appearing, e.g. the current volume—albeit nowunder the Taylor and Francis label. Content This book does what it says on the label; it provides noteson (probably) all of the topics within the compass of present-day‘plant biology’. Primarily, it deals with anatomy,growth and development, physiology, reproduction, and economicuses and ecology of flowering plants (angiosperms). However,it does cover other phyla of the Kingdom Plantae (principallyin two ‘taxonomy/evolution’ sections), and algae(along     

Abiotic stresses in plants. * Sanita di Toppi L, Pawlik-Skowronska B, eds. 2003. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. {pound}67 (hardback). 233 pp

Abiotic stress has a very highprofile in the plant sciences at the moment. The problem offeeding many more people (perhaps 4 to even 6 billion by theend of the century) may have a potential solution in the formof molecular biological manipulation. This, it is frequentlyclaimed, will give plants able to produce large amounts of biomassand edible material with minimal resources under what are, currently,very adverse conditions. Well, is it true? I looked to thisbook to find out more     

Phytohormones in Plant Biotechnology and Agriculture. Proceedings of the NATO-Russia Workshop held in Moscow, 12-16 May 2002. * Machackova I. and Romanov GA, eds. 2004. * Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. {euro}95 (hardback).280 pp

This book contains articles writtenby speakers and selected participants who attended the AdvancedResearch Workshop in 2002. The workshop was dedicated to thecentenary of the birth of the distinguished Russian plant physiologistMikhail Khristoforovich Chailakhyan who is best known for proposingthe existence of a universal flowering hormone that he namedflorigen. The opening article by N.     

Molecular ecotoxicology of plants. Ecological Studies Vol. 170. * Sandermann H. ed. 2004. * Berlin: Springer. $89{middle dot}95 (hard cover). 241 pp.

Googling the term‘molecular ecotoxicology’ results in less than 1000hits compared to more than 8·5 million for ‘moleculargenetics’. Hence, we are dealing with a rather new orless well-defined and less propagated field of science. Springer'sbook Molecular ecotoxicology of plants edited by H. Sandermannmay therefore fill a gap and it is unique in focusing on plants.A first introductory chapter sets the stage and tries to definethe term for a broad     

Plant ecology. * Schulze ED, Beck E, Muller-Hohenstein K. 2005. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. $89{middle dot}95 (hardback). 702 pp.

This book (a translation fromSchulze et al., 2002) is one of the most comprehensive textbooksof plant ecology so far. The authors aim to ‘for the firsttime bring together and clearly organize the large subdisciplinesof plant ecology’ and, to a large extent they have succeeded.The book is well written, and its more than 500 illustrationsare beautifully laid out and well chosen to help the readerunderstand the theory. It is clearly suitable not only