Preface/Front Matter

Abstract

During the past decade, plant biology has been revolutionized by application of the methods and concepts of molecular genetics. During this period, the small mustard Arabidopsis thaliana has emerged as the most widely used and facile experimental organism for studies of a broad range of problems in development, metabolism, genetics, environmental adaptation, pathogen interactions, and many other areas. Although it is a typical higher plant in most respects, and is therefore a good model for approximately 250,000 other species, Arabidopsis has an unusually small genome, can be readily grown in confined laboratory environments, has convenient genetic properties such as a short generation time and prolific seed production, and is easily transformed. For these and related reasons, biological and genetic information about Arabidopsis is in a phase of explosive growth, and Arabidopsis has been chosen as the major organism for plant genome projects.

This book represents a synthesis of currently available information about the biology of Arabidopsis, written by a consortium of authors and groups of authors representing the major fields of enquiry in plant biology. It provides up-to-date reviews, descriptions of recent and ongoing research in specific areas, and reference material. Plant molecular biology and, in particular, Arabidopsis molecular biology are rapidly changing fields, and the pace of change is increasing. Because of this, the authors of each chapter have been asked to include unpublished information as well as published work and to indicate the expected future directions of research in each area.

Since Arabidopsis is of interest as a