This book contains articles written by speakers and selected participants who attended the Advanced Research Workshop in 2002. The workshop was dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the distinguished Russian plant physiologist Mikhail Khristoforovich Chailakhyan who is best known for proposing the existence of a universal flowering hormone that he named florigen. The opening article by N. P. Aksenova is a brief yet fascinating account of Chailakhyan's research career, which conveys a sense of his dedication to research into hormonal regulation of plant growth and development, the many collaborations that he developed, and outlines some of Chailakhyan's research achievements. Several other contributors refer further to Chailakhyan's work and this creates an interesting re-emerging theme throughout the text.
The book is divided into four sections; flowering, cytokinins, auxins, and complex hormonal regulation of developmental processes. These don't sit so comfortably with the book title, which suggests an emphasis on practical applications. On closer examination it is clear that the content is broader than the title suggests. The 25 papers, as is often the case with conference proceedings, range from review articles to reports of primary data. Some articles report the results of applied research with phytohormones. Others concentrate on some of the recent molecular advances in understanding of hormone synthesis and signalling and consider their potential in biotechnology and agricultural. Overall the contributions hang together quite well and one is left with a pretty good impression of what probably took place at this workshop.
The section on flowering includes informative reviews by Peter Davies and Rod King that consider the role of hormones, particularly gibberellins, during flowering. There is also an interesting review from Salomé Prat's lab of potato tuberization that explores not only the role of gibberellins and photoperiod but touches on the relationships between transmissible signals inducing tuberization and flowering. Other articles in this section explore the nature of flower-inducing factors and the possible role of melatonin as an inhibitor of flowering. Thought-provoking articles from Thomas Schmülling and Miroslav Kamínek review recent developments in cytokinin signalling and metabolism and consider various strategies for how these might be exploited to improve growth and yield of crops. The rationale that current methods of applying plant growth regulators to crops to improve yield or quality could be superseded by a more precise genetic modification of cytokinin biosynthesis tailored to specific tissues and stages of plant development is presented as having high potential. However, it is clear that before this can be realised more needs to be understood about the physiology and hormone homeostasis of crops. An excellent review of recent developments in auxin transport by David Morris and Eva Zažímalová sets the scene for subsequent papers concerned with auxin action and cell growth from labs in the host nation. The final section of the book is a collection of shorter papers dealing with different aspects of hormone signalling and physiology.
Like most conference proceedings this book is likely to be of interest to quite a limited audience. Although the review articles are well written and informative, much of the material can be found elsewhere in on-line journals. There is the inevitable issue that information presented will become out of date as work is published in peer-reviewed journals. Conferences are important because they bring people with a common interest together so that they can share and exchange ideas and information. The editors Ivana Macháčková and Georgy Romanov have succeeded in producing a volume that conveys a record of what happened at this NATO-Russian Workshop, and a sense that this meeting brought together quite a unique group of participants.