Cell and Tissue Culture in Forestry

Since the first edition of our book "Tissue Culture in Fores­ try" in 1982 we have witnessed remarkable advances in cell and tissue culture technologies with woody perennials. In addition to forest biologists in government, industry, and universities, we now have molecular biologists, genetic engineers, and biochemists using cell and tissue cultures of woody species routinely. There­ fore, the time has come for an update of the earlier edition. In our present effort to cover new developments we have expanded to three volumes: 1. General principles and Biotechnology 2. Specific Principles and Methods: Growth and Development 3. Case Histories: Gymnosperms, Angiosperms and Palms The scientific barriers to progress in tree improvement are not so much lack of foreign gene expression in plants but our current inabili ty to regenerate plants in true-to-type fashion on a mas­ sive and economic scale. To achieve this in the form of an appro­ pr iate biotechnology, cell and tissue culture will increasing ly require a better understanding of basic principles in chemistry and physics that determine structural and functional relationships among molecules and macromolecules (proteins, RNA, DNA) within cells and tissues. These principles and their relationship with the culture medium and its physical environment, principles of clonal propagation, and genetic variation and ultrastructure are discussed in volume one.

`... the three volumes provide a comprehensive survey of the state of research, theoretical and practical problems, and of potential and actual applications of cell and tissue cultures in forest and some other woody plants. It will certainly be of great interest to research workers within various theoretical and applied fields of experimental botany and can assist in achieving commercial exploitation of in vitro technologies.'
Biologia Plantarum, (1988)

`Overall, the three volumes form a very comprehensive guide to the application of tissue culture to forestry improvement programmes. ... strongly recommended for inclusion in the library of every tissue culture laboratory.'
Journal of Experimental Botany, 39:203 (1988)