Biotechnology in Agriculture Proceedings of the First Asia-Pacific Conference on Agricultural Biotechnology, Beijing, China, 20–24 August 1992

The First Asia --- Pacific Conference on Agricultural Biotechnology was held in Beijing, China on 20-24, August, 1992. Over half the population in the world is in the Asian and Pacific Region. With an increasing population and decreasing farming lands, it is important to develop agricultural biotechnology for improvement of the productivity, profitability and stability of the farming system. The Conference's main objectives were to bring together scientists working in different fields of agricultural biotechnology to stimulate discussion on this important process and to have an appraisal of the most recent studies concerning genetic manipulation of plants, plant cell and tissue culture, plant gene regulation, plant-microbe interaction, animal biotechnology etc. The Conference was attended by 391 scientists from different countries and regions. This volume presents the contributions of the lectures and a selected number of posters, which are an up-to-date account of the state of knowledge on agricultural biotechnology. The book provides a valuable reference source not only for specialists in agricultural biotechnology, but also for researchers working on related aspects of agronomy, biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, microbiology and animal sciences. It is with great pleasure to acknowledge the contributions of the authors in assuring the prompt publication of this volume. We would also extend our sincere thank to Kluwer Academic Publishers for the publication of these proceedings.

Agricultural biotechnology in China.- The cellular and molecular mechanism of coat protein mediated resistance in transgenic plants.- Isolation and partial characterization of an antifungal protein from rice.- Somatic hybridization for improvement of crop Brassicas.- The role of plant regeneration from protoplasts in agricultural biotechnology.- RNA polymerase and nodD promoters of the nodulation genes in R. leguminosarum.- Mechanisms of somatic embryogenesis in plant cell cultures.- Emerging strategies for enhancing crop resistance to microbial pathogens.- Biotechnology in a changing world:Implications for rice research.- Biological insect control and genetic engineering.- Present plant biotechnology.- Biological software in agriculture.- Factors affecting the viability of fresh and cryopreserved embryos.- The chloroplast genome from crop plants.- Biovillages and a better biofuture for Asia.- Progress and prospects for using biotechnology in plant breeding.- Production and analysis of transgenic rice plants.- Development and prospects of hybrid rice breeding.- Growth hormone gene and the transgenic fish.- Transgenic cabbage plants with insect tolerance.- Synthesis and expression of a gene for mature small subunit of rice.- Functional and structural analysis of promoter fragments in soybean nuclear DNA.- The endosperm-specific activity of a rice prolamin promoter in transgenic tobacco.- Isolation of insecticidal genes for transgenic plants.- Cytoplasmic male sterility and male fertility restoration the expression and evolution of the mt S-Pcf locus.- Cloning and nucleotide sequence of chloroplast psaA gene from sorghum.- Finger printing barley genome using PCR with arbitrary primer in barley plants regenerated from tissue culture.- Construction of rice Zhenshan 97B mitochondrial genomic library, screenin and mapping of atp6 atp9 gene.- Interaction of nuclear proteins with 5’-upstream region of rice waxy gene.- Studies on wheat HMW glutenin gene.- Integration of RFLP and conventional linkage maps in rice.- Genetic engineering of Chinese potato cultivars by introducing antibacterial polypetide gene.- Homeotic mutations and flower development in Petunia.- The regulation of light and protein:synthesis inhibitors of gene expression of rubisco and rubisco subunit binding protein.- Progress in RFLP gene tagging and marker-aided selection.- Rice chromosome mapping by using reciprocal translocations and tertiary trisomies.- Genetic transformation of potato with Bacillus thuringiensis HD73 cryia(C) gene and development of insect resistant plants.- A microcomputer program package MAPL for automatic construction of RFLP linkage maps.- Identification of wheat-wheatgrass translocation lines by RAPD analysis.- Expression of a rice sulfur-rich l0kDa prolamin gene in E.coli.- Tagging genes for bacterial blight resistance in rice by RFLP and RAPD markers.- Patterns of restriction fragment length polymorphisms in corn, barley and rice.- Tagging rice blast resistance genes to RFLP markers.- Analysis of activity of rice actin 15’ sequences in transgenic creeping bentgrass(Agrostis palustris Huds).- Biotechnological control of plant sexual reproduction and its application to plant breeding.- Somaclonal variation in plants regenerated from rice callus-submergence tolerance and other agronomic characters.- A new breeding line of tobacco selected by somatic hybridization between N.tabacum and N.rustica.- Studies on the propagules used for artificial seeds.- Plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis from suspension cultures derived protoplasts of 6cotton cultivars(Gossypium hirsutum L).- The effects of carbon sources on pollen embryo development and plant regeneration in Triticwn aestivum L.- Studies on medicinal products from panax ginseng cell culture.- Rescue and characterization of aged seeds by embryoculture.- Rapid clonal propagation of Chinese medicinal herbs by tissue culture.- Practical application of somatic embryogenesis synthetic seed system.- Selection of NaCl-tolerant variant of Setaria italica via tissue culture technique and its physiological and biochemical characteristics.- Transmission of extra chromosomes and its effects on anther culture in rice trisomic plants.- Ultrastructural characteristics of the embryogenic callus cells of American ginseng.- Induction on regeneration of floral organs and sexual organs.- Breeding of Indica two-line hybrid rice.- Production of polyphenols in cultured tissues of cocoa, Theobroma cacao.- Molecular stage in somatic hybrids among gramineous and leguminous species.- In vitro inoculation of Asparagus with conidial suspension and culture filtrate of Fusarium oxysporum schlect f.asparagt.- The regulatory role of ethylene on cell differentiation and growth of mustard plants in vitro.- Studies on the selection of pollen plants from anther culture of autotetraploid hybrid rice.- Genetic analysis of rice mutants obtained by anther culture.- Efficient production of pollen embryoids and doubled-haploid plants via anther culture of maize.- The effect of thermo-photoperiod for donor plant growth on anther culture of indica rice.- Effects of various concentrations of sucrose on growth and proline accumulation in oil palm polyembryogenic cultures.- Changes in leaves and anthers of Hubei photoperiod-sensitive genie malesterile rice induced by photoperiods.- In vitro flowering of orchid (Dendrobium candidum).- In vitro morphogenesis and its hormonal control in tissue cultures of Freesia refracta.- Chromosome variation of Triticeae via anther culture.- Protoplast culture and plant regeneration of grain legumes.- Study on enhancing the frequency of plant regeneration from rice (Oryz sativa L.) protoplasts via direct and indirect embryogenesis.- Somatic hybridization between tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) and selection of a new strain 694-L.- High frequency of plantlet regeneration from protoplast of rice (Oryza sativa L)cultured on modified simple medium.- Regeneration of plants from protoplasts of Sorghum vulgare.- Regeneration of plants from protoplasts of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).- Hybrid papaya artificial seed production for experimental field.- Anti-idiotypic antibodies:probes for abscisic acid receptor.- Transfer of rye genes to wheat via chromosome manipulation and anther culture.- In vitro culture of several tropical crops and its further application.- Regulation of the production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes in the bacterial plant pathogen, Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora.- Symbiotic genes of Azorhizobium caulinodans, a bacterium that nodulates Sesbania rostrata.- Coordinate regulation of B-carotene biosynthesis and developmental and adaptive processes in Dunaliella bardawil.- Study of antagonistic proteins of bacteria to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.- Oxidative stress response in Xanthomonas oryzae.- Enhanced biological control of wheat take-all by using in vivo genetically engineered Pseudomonas fluorescens.- Exopolysaccharide-deficient mutants of Rhizobium astragalus that fail to effectively nodulate.- A novel dominant drug resistance marker for transformation of Pyricularia oryzae.- Molecular genetic analysis on pathogenicity of Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae (XCO).- Alcaligenes-host plant interaction.- In vitro development and cryopreservation of IVM-IVF bovine oocytes.- An ovine metallothinein-pig somatotropin fusion gene promotes growth in transgenic rabbits and pigs.- Changes of fecal and plasma progesterone levels in swamp buffalo cows (Bubalus bubalis)during the estrous cycle and pregnancy.- Development and recombinant porcine growth hormone.- Induction of the tetraploids of the Chinese shrimp (Penaeus chinensis).- Plant regeneration from protoplasts of higher plants in China.- Integrated application of biotechnology in crop improvement.- Conclusion remarks.