Recent advances in plant genomics and molecular biology have revolutionized our understanding of plant genetics, providing new opportunities for more efficient and controllable plant breeding. Successful techniques require a solid understanding of the underlying molecular biology as well as experience in applied plant breeding. Bridging the gap between developments in biotechnology and its applications in plant improvement, Molecular Plant Breeding provides an integrative overview of issues from basic theories to their applications to crop improvement including molecular marker technology, gene mapping, genetic transformation, quantitative genetics, and breeding methodology.
Researchers and students involved in plant breeding and plant biology
Dr Yunbi Xu, a molecular maize breeder/senior scientist, is the head of Applied Biotechnology Center, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), Mexico. Dr Xu was educated in China including BSc from Huazhong (Central China) Agricultural College in agronomy in 1982, and MSc (1985) and PhD (1993) from Zhejiang Agricultural University in genetics and plant breeding. He was an assistant and A/Prof and the Deputy Director of the Department of Agronomy, Zhejiang Agricultural University (1985 to 1995), the Rockefeller Foundation Postdoctoral Scientists at Cornell University (1995-1998), molecular breeder at RiceTec, Inc Texas, for hybrid rice breeding (1998-2003), and Research Associate scientist at Cornell University for genomics of water use effi ciency in rice (2003- 2006). Dr Xu’s research fi elds are genetics and plant breeding including molecular marker development, germplasm evaluation, QTL mapping, marker-assisted selection, and molecular breeding, with focus on rice (1982-2006) and maize (2006-). His publications include over 90 referred journal articles, book chapters and conference papers, and two books (Molecular Quantitative Genetics, China Agriculture Press, 1994; Molecular Plant Breeding, CABI Publisher, 2009). He is an editor for three international journals (Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Molecular Breeding, and International Journal of Plant Genomics) and two Chinese journals (Acta Agronomica Sinica and Chinese Journal of Agricultural Science).