Biotechnology and the Improvement of Forage Legumes

This book describes recent advances in the application of biotechnology to the solution of agricultural problems in forage legume production. Forage legumes include alfalfa and clovers and are for major economic importance throughout the world. The methods of biotechnology are being used to improve forage quality, to enhance abiotic and biotic stress tolerances and nitrogen fixation, as well as to develop new methodologies for plant breeding. Several chapters describe how techniques such as plant transformation, somatic embryogenesis, cryopreservation, somatic hybridization and molecular DNA markers, can be applied to forage legumes. Written by leading scientists from Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, the book provides a timely review for workers in plant breeding and biotechnology, as well as agronomists concerned with forage crops.