Sustainable Utilisation and Bioengineering of Halophytes (Sustainable Development and Biodiversity, 38)

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the cutting-edge research in the bioengineering of halophytes, with a particular focus on advancements in biotechnology, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics.

Halophytes are a unique group of plants that have adapted to grow in extreme environmental conditions such as high salt, low water, and high temperatures. In desert conditions, these plants are crucial for supporting animal and human life. However, overexploitation of these plants degrades the ecosystem. Sustainable utilization and improvement of these plants through modern tools are essential for the sustainability of both the plants and the environment. Halophytes possess unique metabolic and physiological features, making them an attractive target for bioengineering. Recent advancements in bioengineering have significantly enhanced the study and manipulation of halophytes. By exploring the intricacies of these technologies, this book addresses key questions and challenges in harnessing the potential of halophytes for sustainable plant resources, environmental remediation, and novel biotechnological applications.

This book will be valuable for researchers in plant biology, environmental studies, desertification, plant improvement, and biotechnology.

Dr. Jaya Arora, Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India has been teaching Botany since 2012. She did her M.Sc and Ph.D. in Botany with a specialization in plant tissue culture and secondary metabolite production from Mohanlal Sukhadia University. She had qualified CSIR-NET-SRF and was awarded the Maharana Fateh Singh Award in 2000 for meritorious performance during her matriculation and the Gargi Award and Scholarship for matriculation by Govt. of Rajasthan, India, 2000. She has 14 years of research experience with one UGC start-up completed project (2013-2015) and mentored one Women Scientists Scheme-A project (2016-2019) funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Currently, she is Co-PI in two different projects funded by MHRD RUSA 2.0, India. Her research group has published research papers in various international repute journals with high impact factors such as Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant, Bioengineered, Frontiers in Plant Science, Nanomaterials, Biofuels, Biologia Futura, Horticulturae, Plants, etc. dealing with plant biotechnology, proteomics (bioactive peptides), natural products, secondary metabolite production, seed biology studies and conservation of medicinal plants. Dr. Arora has edited and authored 6 books including publications with prestigious publishing houses mainly Springer, Cham. This work was funded by various funding agencies like U.G.C., C.S.I.R, and D.S.T. Currently, she is supervising 4 Ph.D. Students and 2 students have been awarded Ph.D. degree.

Dr. Marius-Nicusor Grigore is an editor PhD at the ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University Press and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and Doctoral School of Biology, from ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași. He received his BSc and PhD in Biology, and M.Sc in Educational Sciences from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania. He was subsequently a postdoctoral fellow in the field of halophytes’ ecophysiology at the same university, as well as an invited researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain. His primary research interests are in the ecology, anatomy and physiology of halophytes and plant responses to abiotic (salt, drought) stress, as well as in Didactics of Biology. He has published 11 books, 9 book chapters, and over 80 peer-reviewed papers on halophytes. In 2016, he was awarded the Romanian Academy’s `Emil Racoviță` prize for the book - Halophytes: An Integrative Anatomical Study, published with Springer in 2014; Handbook of Halophytes: From Molecules to Ecosystems towards Biosaline Agriculture, Springer, was awarded the scientific merit `Nicolae Giosan` by The Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences ”Gheorghe Ionescu-Șișești” București, Romania, in November 2022. He coordinated national projects and conducted many scientific missions abroad, at Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, in the field of biochemistry and ecophysiology of halophytes and plant responses to salt stress.

Dr. Abhishek Joshi is currently associated with research and teaching at the Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India. He did his M.Sc and Ph.D. in Botany with a specialization in plant tissue culture and secondary metabolite production from Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University. Joshi's doctoral research was focused on unravelling the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that enable halophytes to thrive in saline conditions. He has 10 years of research experience on halophytes occurring in Southern Rajasthan of Indian subcontinent with 1 e-book, and 34 publications in international repute journals and books, with one edited book published with a prestigious publishing house.