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During the last two decades the modern techniques of histochemistry, electron microscopy, plant physiology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, immunology, and genetics have been applied to investigate the intricacies of the processes involved in embryo formation, and considerable new information has been generated. A better understanding of these processes has enhanced our capacity to manipulate fertilization and embryo development. This has changed the face of the embryology of angiosperms from a descriptive science to an experimental and applied science. The revolutionary progress made in this fascinating field of sexual reproduction was the motivation to prepare this volume. It includes 21 chapters written by experts who have made substantial contributions to their respective fields. It covers all aspects of the embryology of angiosperms, ranging from development, isolation, and structure of male and female gametes, their fusion in vivo and in vitro, and structure, physiology, and genetics of zygotic embryogenesis, to endosperm and seed development. Advances in somatic embryogenesis, synthetic seed technology and regeneration of haploid plants from male and female gametophytes are discussed. Other important topics covered in this volume are sexual incompatibility, parthenocarpy, and apomixis. The last chapter deals with the embryological perspective of inheritance of extra-nuclear genes. All the chapters contain up-to-date information and are profusely illustrated. Graduate and postgraduate students, teachers, and scientists of botany and other areas of plant sciences will find this book extremely useful.
Introduction. 1. Male Gametogenesis; Development and Structure of Sperm; D. Southworth, S.C. Russell. 2. Sperm and Generative Cell; Isolation and Manipulation; D. Southworth. 3. Pollen Germination and Pollen Tube Growth; Tip Growth Mechanism in Sexual Plant Reproduction; A. Moscatelli, M. Cresti. 4. Female Gametogenesis; Ontogenesis of the Embryo Sac and Female Gametes; S.D. Russell. 5. Embryo Sac; Isolation and Manipulation; D.D. Cass, J.D. Laurie. 6. In Vivo Fertilization; T.B. Batygina, V.E. Vasilyeva. 7. In Vitro Fertilization; E. Kranz. 8. Sexual Incompatibility; F. Cruz-Garcia, B.A. MacClure. 9. Zygotic Embryogenesis; Structural Aspects; R. Czapik, R. Izmailow. 10. Zygotic Embryogenesis; Hormonal Control of Embryo Development; B. Fischer-Iglesias, G. Neuhaus. 11. Zygotic Embryogenesis: Developmental Genetics; The Formation of an Embryo from a Fertilized Egg; K. Schrick, T. Laux. 12. Somatic Embryogenesis; T.A. Thorpe, C. Stasolla. 13. Synthetic Seeds of Asparagus Officinalis L.; K. Mamiya, et al. 14. Endosperm Development; P.W. Becraft, et al. 15. Seed Maturation, Germination, and Dormancy; A.B. Downie. 16. Gametophytic Apomixis; A Successful Mutation of the Female Gametogenesis; Y. Savidan. 17. Parthenocarpy; State of the Art; A. Spena, G.L. Rotino. 18. Androgenesis in Brassica; A Model System to Study the Initiation of Plant Embryogenesis; J.B.M. Custers, et al. 19. Androgenesis in Cereals; S.K. Datta. 20. In Vitro Gynogenesis; S.S. Bhojwani, T.D. Thomas. 21. Inheritance of Cytoplasmic Traits -- Embryological Perspectives; T. Kuroiwa, et al. Subject Index.
'The book is highly recommendable to advanced students of Plant Biology wishing to learn the fundamentals of angiosperm embryology, and at the time addresses researchers entering the field or simply curious about the current state of our knowledge. Researchers actively engaged in plant embryology will find in-depth information and will certainly appreciate having this book on the shelf above their desks as it will soon become an indispensable companion in their daily work.' Plant Science, 161 (2001)
