Plant Physiology, Development and Metabolism

This book focuses on the fundamentals of plant physiology for undergraduate and graduate students. It consists of 34 chapters divided into five major units. Unit I discusses the unique mechanisms of water and ion transport, while Unit II describes the various metabolic events essential for plant development that result from plants’ ability to capture photons from sunlight, to convert inorganic forms of nutrition to organic forms and to synthesize high energy molecules, such as ATP. Light signal perception and transduction works in perfect coordination with a wide variety of plant growth regulators in regulating various plant developmental processes, and these aspects are explored in Unit III. Unit IV investigates plants’ various structural and biochemical adaptive mechanisms to enable them to survive under a wide variety of abiotic stress conditions (salt, temperature, flooding, drought), pathogen and herbivore attack (biotic interactions). Lastly, Unit V addresses the large number of secondary metabolites produced by plants that are medicinally important for mankind and their applications in biotechnology and agriculture. Each topic is supported by illustrations, tables and information boxes, and a glossary of important terms in plant physiology is provided at the end. 

Professor Satish C. Bhatla has served at the Department of Botany, University of Delhi since 1985. After obtaining a specialized Master’s degree in Plant Physiology in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1980, Professor Bhatla undertook postdoctoral training as a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), at Heidelberg University of, Freie University Berlin and the University of Freiburg in Germany. He has been teaching and pursuing research in plant physiology for the past 38 years. He has International collaborations with universities in Bonn (Germany), Minsk (Belarus) and Tel Aviv (Israel). Professor Bhatla is a member of the International Society of Plant Signaling and Behavior Steering Committee and an Associate Editor of its journal.  He has written more than 90 International research publications. His recent and current areas of research include nitric oxide signaling, oil body mobilization mechanisms, salt stress tolerance mechanisms in plants, seed germination and regulation of adventitious and lateral roots. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (India) and has been Dean of the Faculty of Science and Head of the Department of Botany at the University of Delhi. Contact: bhatlasc@gmail.com 

Dr. Manju A. Lal obtained her Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute at New Delhi in 1976. She specialized in abiotic stress in relation to nitrogen metabolism in crop plants. Dr. Manju A. Lal has taught plant physiology to undergraduate students for more than four decades. She retired from her post as Associate Professor at the Department of Botany, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi in December 2017. Beyond classroom teaching, Dr. Manju A. Lal has also contributed significantly to disseminating information on key topics in plant physiology to undergraduate students through e-learning projects. Contact: lalmanjua@gmail.com