Author
Submitted to: Sugar Cane International
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 7/20/2002 Publication Date: 7/1/2002 Citation: Pan, Y.-B. 2002. Book Review Commentary. Sugar Cane International: The Journal of Cane Agriculture. July/August Issue:10. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Sugarcane Biotechnology (ISBN 1-57808-163-7) is a review-type book prepared by G.R. Naik (Professor and Chairman at Department of Biotechnology, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, Karnataka, India). The 165-page book, published in 2001 by Science Publishers, Inc. (Enfield, NH, USA and Plymouth, UK), presents useful information on sugarcane biotechnology research activities up to 1998. There are seven chapters. Brief introductions to sugarcane as a cash crop and as a C-4 model plant and to biotechnology and its role in crop improvement are given in Chapters 1 and 2. In-depth descriptions of laboratory instruments and bio-analytical tools are described in Chapter 3, sugarcane tissue culture and related studies in Chapter 4, and sugarcane molecular biotechnology in Chapter 7. Brief reviews on immunodiagnostic studies to detect sugarcane diseases and organic farming practices are presented in Chapters 5 and 6. Among these chapters, sugarcane tissue culture and molecular biotechnology are the most informative. In the molecular biotechnology chapter, an extensive review is given on molecular marker and sugarcane transformation from the late 1980s to 1998. The book may serve as a starting reference for graduate students, researchers, and others seeking to become knowledgeable in the field of sugarcane biotechnology. |