Genetics and Breeding for Crop Quality and Resistance Proceedings of the XV EUCARPIA Congress, Viterbo, Italy, September 20–25, 1998

The book highlights the state of research in plant genetics and breeding and the results and applications of biotechnology procedures: i.e. achievements and perspectives of molecular biology and genetic engineering in the improvement of quantitative, qualitative and nutritional characters of crops, including their resistance to pests and diseases and their adaptation to different ecosystems.
The book is divided into seven chapters. The first six are focused on the research aimed at improvement of resistance to Fungi, Bacteria, Nematode, Virus and Insect, and improvement of Quality. The latter was assigned two keynote lectures, respectively on agro-food quality and on quality of wood plants. Each chapter begins with a keynote paper. The seventh chapter includes the special lectures which opened and closed the Congress.

Resistance to Fungi.- Avirulence and pathogenicity genes of Cladosporium fulvum.- Pathogenesis-related proteins for the control of fungal diseases of tomato.- Introgression of late blight resistance into Solanum tuberosum.- Crown rust resistance in ryegrasses.- Results of resistance evaluations in Brassicaceae with Plasmodiophora brassicae, Alternaria and Phoma lingam.- Breeding research on resistance to Fusarium head blight in wheay.- Genetics of durabel adult plant resistance to rust diseases in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).- Assessment and genetics of host plant resistance to yellow rust in bread wheat germplasm adapted to the East African highlands.- The role of b-32 protein in protecting plants against pathogens.- Breeding for fungal resistance in Musa.- Mapping different resistances against downy mildew in sunflower.- Resistance to Bacteria.- Resistance to bacteria in tomato.- Phytopathogen resistance improvement of horticultural crops by plant-defensin gene introduction.- Plant-bacterial pathogen interaction modified in transgenic tomato plants expressing the Gox gene encoding glucose oxidase.- Nitric oxide signalling in the plant hypersensitive disease resistance response.- Polymorphism of inhibitors of hydrolytic enzymes present in cereal and sunflower seeds.- Resistance to Insects.- Cereal ?-amylase/trypsin inhibitors and transgenic insect resistance.- New genes for pest control.- Expression of thaumatin II gene in horticultural crops.- Variability of the inhibitors of serine, cysteine proteinases and insect ?-amylases in Vigna and Phaseolus.- Resistance to Nematode.- Molecular isolation of two cyst nematode resistance genes: the Hs1Pro-1 gene of beet and the GPA2 gene of potato.- Development and molecular characterisation of nematode-resistant rapeseed(tiBrassica napus L.).- Integration of nematode-responsive regulatory sequences from Arabidopsis thaliana into nematode control strategies.- Genome engineering for pest resistance in potato.- Resistance to Virus.- An appraisal of pathogen-derived resistance for the control of virus diseases.- Breeding for virus resistance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).- Inheritance of resistance to SCMV and MDMV in european maize.- Strategies to search for new Citrus Tristeza Virus resistant genotypes in a germplasm bank.- Quality.- Genetic manipulation of lipoxygenases for the agrifood industry.- Molecular marker and genetic engineering strategies to improve wood quality in poplar.- Advanced backeross QTL analysis: a method for the systematic use of exotic germplasm in the improvement of crop quality.- QTLs for organoleptic quality in fresh market tomato.- Genetic engineering of parthenocarpic vegetable crops.- Control of melon ripening by genetic engineering.- Breeding of vegetables with minimum pollutant accumulation.- Genetic modification of erucic acid biosynthesis in Brassica napus.- Variability of seed storage proteins within the sunflower gene pool.- Sunflower breeding for different oil quality.- Gluten agglomeration in batters as quality characteristic of wheat varieties for wafer making and starch production.- QTL for quality parameters for bread-making in a segregating wheat by spelt population.- Detection of QTL for bread-making quality in wheat using molecular markers.- Indirect selection for total digestible dry matter yield in forage maize, using stem diameter.- Overviews.- Agricultural production and natural resources.- Where do we go from this point.