Abiotic stress has a very high profile in the plant sciences at the moment. The problem of feeding many more people (perhaps 4 to even 6 billion by the end of the century) may have a potential solution in the form of molecular biological manipulation. This, it is frequently claimed, will give plants able to produce large amounts of biomass and edible material with minimal resources under what are, currently, very adverse conditions. Well, is it true? I looked to this book to find out more about abiotic stresses in relation to molecular biology and other aspects of plant growth and production. On offer, under the guidance of two editors, are eight review chapters, each by multiple authors addressing particular stresses. The approach is strongly molecular biological but with the aim of considerable integration with physiology. Individual chapters differ rather in structure, aims and detail. Chapter 1 (22 pp, 134 references) ‘Plant tolerance to heat stress: current strategies and new emergent insights’, deals with heat sensors at the membrane level, heat shock proteins, compatible solutes, and active oxygen detoxifying systems, with a short general overview and summary. Chapter 2 (28 pp, 187 references) discusses ‘Chilling and freezing stresses in plants: cellular responses and molecular strategies for adaptation’ and analyses signal transduction pathways, the CBF/DREB1 regulatory pathway, the role of ABA, LEA proteins and osmolytes. Chapter 3 (16 pp, 112 references), “Salt tolerance: placing advances in molecular genetics into a physiological and agronomic context”, ranges from osmolyte production, through ion homeostasis, ROS scavenging, salt and water transport to the role of aquaporins (it also has ‘Conclusive remarks’ which may be a conclusion but are not at all conclusive!). The fourth chapter ‘Unravelling the genetic basis of drought tolerance in crops’ (51 pp, 339 references) takes almost a ‘crop-down’ approach with major sections on yield components, separate sections on physiological and on molecular mechanisms conferring tolerance to drought, then molecular approaches for dissecting the molecular basis of drought tolerance–including QTL analysis, identification of candidate genes for drought-related traits and an assessment of the potential of genetic engineering. Chapter 5 (8 pp, 50 references), ‘Anoxia: the role of carbohydrates in cereal germination’, deals briefly with some aspects of enzymology and gene expression. Chapter 6 (23 pp, 220 references), ‘Response to heavy metals in plants: a molecular approach’ considers phytochelatins and gene expression, regulation by metal ions, and non-protein chelators: it focuses substantially on algae. Chapter 7 (47 pp, 389 references), ‘Plant responses to elevated carbon dioxide’, deals with methodology, grassland systems (particularly and separately lichens and mosses), trees and forests, horticultural plant responses, effects on soils and ‘Ipogeous’ growth (page 186), with very wide ranging, mainly physiological analyses. Finally, chapter 8 (24 pp, 97 references) treats ‘Ozone: a novel plant “pathogen”’ (sic) by considering ozone in the environment, its effects on plants, and the occurrence of varieties of species sensitive to it. Mechanisms of protection against ozone are also analysed.
The book is a review of primary science literature and its contents speak volumes: it has no particular focus in its rather limited space; generally lacks in-depth, structured analysis; repeats many reviews and papers uncritically; figures are few and not particularly enlightening. Chapter 4 is the exception and I recommend it, but chapter 7 shows all the worst features and cannot be recommended, given the substantial review literature already available. There is great detail in most chapters with many references listed: this could be useful but the titles are not given so it is difficult to see their relevance. One problem is that much is just listing—with inadequate analysis. The book is only of use to researchers, and just possibly teachers interested in the science—others would have to wade through too much to glean information. More experienced readers will, I am sure, find useful parts, as I did, but the good bits were more than offset by my irritation at the lack of concepts. A neophyte researcher in the subject would be helped to get literature, but I am sure that such a tender plant would soon suffer multiple-stresses associated with uncontrolled information overload lacking structure. Incidentally, I suspect a neophyte would not know from the book that the environment per se does not constitute ‘abiotic stress’—external conditions are neutral. It is the ability of plant mechanisms to operate in an environment that determines whether the conditions are ‘stressful’.
The text is not well checked or proofread—many distinctly odd, non-English words and structures occur: what is “instauration” in relation to membrane lipids (abstract of chapter 1, and elsewhere)? Some things amused me – (page 63) ‘The increased availability of mutants with altered responses to salinity in arabidopsis and other agriculturally important species is generating …’ strengthens my suspicion that molecular biologists do take their model species too seriously. Editorial control was not strong, one suspects. My hopes for an objective assessment of where molecular biology has got towards its promise of rapid and vast improvements in agricultural crops were largely not fulfilled, again with the honourable exception of chapter 4.
This book will possibly be useful to libraries serving specialist research groups: at the price, and given what is already available, wider readership is unlikely.