Breeding Research on Aromatic and Medicinal Plants

Contents: Preface: breeding research on aromatic and medicinal plants. Conventional breeding: 1. Breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic factors in medicinal and aromatic plants: general situation and current results in Annual Caraway (Carum carvi L. var. annum)/Jutta Gabler. 2. Combining ability of Origanum Majorana L. Hybrids: sensorial quality/Johannes Novak, Wolfram Junghanns, Wolf-dieter Bluthner, Rudolf Marchart, Carla Vender, Leon Van Niekerk, Friedrich Pank, Jan Langbehn and Chlodwig Franz. 3. Influence of selection and inbreeding on Origanum majorana L./Jan Langbehn, Friedrich Pank, Johannes Novak and Chlodwig Franz. 4. Combining ability of Origanum majorana L. Strains--agronomical Traits and essential oil content: results of the field experiment series in 1999/Friedrich Pank, Carla Vender, Leon van Niekerk, Wolfram Junghanns, Jan Langbehn, Wolf-Dieter Bluthner, Johannes Novak and Chlodwig Franz. 5. Distribution of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in crossing progenies of petasites hybridus/R. Chizzola and Th. Langer. 6. Breeding of sweet basil (ocimum basilicum) resistant to Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium Oxysporum f.sp. basilicum/Nativ Dudai, David Chaimovitsh, Reuven Reuveni, Uzi Ravid, Olga Larkov and Eli Putiesky. 7. The impact of drought stress and/or nitrogen fertilization in some medicinal plants/Dea Baricevic and Alenka Zupancic. 8. Fertility of Echinacea angustifolia Moench and Linum usitatissimum L. after herbicide treatment/Romana Izmailow and Maria Pajak. 9. Seed yields, yield components and essential oil of selected coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) lines/Filiz Ayanoglu, Ahmet Mert, Neset Aslan and Bilal Gurbuz. 10. Changes in germination capacity of Foeniculum vulgare mill.taxa/Eszter Toth, Katalin Goncz and Zsuzsanna Pluhar. 11. Investigations on the infraspecific variability of Hypericum perforatum L./Zsusanna Pluhar, Jeno Bernath and Eva Nemeth. 12. First field trials of Borage (Borago officinalis L.) in Andalusia (Southern Spain) as a source of "Biological" Gamma Linolenic acid/C. Galvez and A. De Haro. 13. Ontogenetic variation regarding hypericin and hyperforin levels in four accessions of hypericum perforatum L./Karin Berger Buter and Bernd Buter. 14. Breeding improvement of Laurus Nobilis L. By conventional and In Vitro propagation techniques/Naoufel Souayah, Mohamed Larbi Khouja, Abdelhamid Khaldi, Mohamed Nejib Rejeb and Sadok Bouzid. 15. Breeding for a hypericum perforatum L. variety both productive and collectotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) tolerant/Myriam Gaudin, X. Simonnet, Nicole Debrunner and A. Ryser. 16. Evaluation of spontaneous Oleander (Nerium oleander L.) as a medicinal plant/Maurizio Mulas, Barbara Perinu and Ana Helena Dias Francesconi. 17. Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) as a new aromatic crop: cultivar selection/Maurizio Mulas, Ana Helena Dias Francesconi and Barbara Perinu. 18. Selection of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) cultivars to optimize biomass yield/Maurizio Mulas, Ana Helena Dias Francesconi, Barbara Perinu and Erika Del Vais. Biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular genetics and physiology: 1. Manipulation of natural product accumulation in plants through genetic engineering/Barry V. Charlwood and Marcia Pletsch. 2. Biochemical and molecular regulation of monoterpene accumulation in Peppermint (Mentha Xpiperita)/Jonathan Gershenzon, Marie McConkey and Rodney Croteau. 3. Influence of environmental factors (Including UV-B radiation) on the composition of the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum sweet basil/Zivojin Rakic and Christopher B. Johnson. 4. Characterization of hypericum perforatum L. plants from various accessions by RAPD Fingerprinting/Birgit Arnholdt-Schmitt. 5. DNA fingerprinting by RAPD on Origanum majorana L./Evelyn Klocke, Jan Langbehn, Claudia Grewe and Friedrich Pank. 6. Determination of the progenitors and the genetic stability of the Artichoke Cultivar SALUSCHOCKER using molecular markers/Monika Messmer, Ernst Scheider, Gunter Stekly and Bernd Buter. 7. Investigations on morphological, biochemical and molecular variability of Ocimum L. species/Sabine B. Wetzel, Hans Kruger, Karl Hammer and Konrad Bachmann. 8. Peltate Glandular trichomes of Ocimum basilicum L. (Sweet Basil) contain high levels of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of phenylpropenes/David R. Gang, James Simon, Efraim Lewinsohn and Eran Pichersky. 9. Application of protoplast fusion technology to Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.): biodiversity as a source to enhance biological activity of secondary compounds/Marjo Kristiina Keskitalo. 10. Rapid SPME-GC analysis of volatile secondary metabolites in various wild species of the Genus Allium/Hartwig Schulz and Hans Kruger. 11. The effects of Casein and its constituents on the development of tissue culture and somatic embryogenesis from Malva silvestris L.: a preliminary study/Spiridon Kintzios, Emmanouil Papagiannakis, Georgios Aivalakis, John Konstas, Dimitrios Bouranis and Lito Christodoulopoulou. 12. Preliminary evaluation of somaclonal variation for the In Vitro production of new toxic proteins from Viscum album L./Spiridon Kintzios, Maria Barberaki, Panagiotis Tourgielis, Georgios Aivalakis and An Volioti. 13. The effects of light on Callus growth and somatic embryogenesis from Lavandula vera and Teucrium chamaedrys: a preliminary study/Spiridon Kintzios, Iosif Papanastasiou, Panagiotis Tourgelis, Charalambos Papastellatos, Vlassios Georgopoulos and John Drossopoulos. 14. Studies on the physiological function of In Vitro produced antioxidants from sage (Salvia Officinalis L.): effects on cell growth and metabolism/Spiridon Kintzios, Maria Adamopoulou, Eleni Pistola, Katerina Delki and John Drossopoulos. 15. A genetic map of Papaver Somniferum L. based on molecular and morphological markers/Petra Straka and Thomas Nothnagel. Biodiversity and conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants resources: 1. Challenges and opportunities in enhancing the conservation and use of Medicinal and Aromatic plants/S. Padulosi, D. Leaman and P. Quek. 2. Genetic and chemical relations among selected clones of Salvia officinalis/Elvira Bazina, Antonios Makris, Carla Vender and Melpomeni Skoula. 3. The essential oil composition of Algerian Zaatar: Origanum spp. and Thymus spp./Zahia Houmani, Samir Azzoudj, George Naxakis and Melpomeni Skoula. 4. Evaluation of different Madder Genotypes (Rubia tinctorum L.) for dyestuff production/Simone Siebenborn, R. Marquard, I. Turgut and S. Yuce. 5. Variation of the Anthocyanin content in Sambucus nigra L. populations growing in Portugal/F.G. Braga, L.M. Carvalho, M.J. Carvalho, H. Guedes-Pinto, J.M. Torres-Pereira, M.F. Neto and A. Monteiro. 6. Variability in the content of Gamma-Linolenic acid and other fatty acids of the seed oil of Germplasm of wild and cultivated Borage (Borago Officinalis L.)/Antonio De Haro, Vicente Dominguez and Mercedes del Rio. 7. Geographic and environmental influences on the variation of essential oil and coumarins in Crithmum maritimum L./Jan Burczyk, Krystyna Wierzchowska-Renke, Kazimierz Glowniak, Pawel Glowniak and Dariusz Marek. 8. Study of Autochthon Camelina Sativa (L.) Crantz in Slovenia/Janko Rode. 9. Biodiversity and uses of white mustard (Sinapis alba L.), native to Israel, as a a plant with economic potential/Zohara Yaniv, David Granot, Efraim Lev and Dan Schafferman. 10. Variation of the Arbutin content in different wild populations of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi in Catalonia, Spain/Irene Parejo, Francesc Viladomat, Jaume Bastida and Carles Codina. 11. The chemical variability of Ocimum species/Hans Kruger, Sabine B. Wetzel and Barbel Zeiger. 12. Phenotypic variation in hypericum perforatum L. and H. Maculatum crantz wild populations in Lithuania/Jolita Radusiene and Edita Bagdonaite. 13. Variation for agronomic and essential oil traits among wild populations of Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauchert from Central Italy/Paola Taviani, Daniele Rosellini and Fabio Veronesi.  14. Variation of morphology, yield and essential oil components in common chamomile (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert) cultivars grown in Southern Italy/Laura D'Andrea. 15. Evaluation and preservation of genetic resources of Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) in Southern Italy for pharmaceutical use/Girolamo Russo and Laura D'Andrea. Economic, ethical and legal aspects: 1. Stakes in the evolutionary race: the economic value of plants for medicinal applications/Timo Goeschl. 2. European plant intellectual property/Margaret Llewelyn. 3. The effects of different nitrogen doses on Artemisia annua L./Filiz Ayanoglu, Ahmet Mert and Saliha Kirici. 4. Propagation of some native grown medicinal plants by stem cuttings/Filiz Ayanoglu, Ahmet Mert, Cahit Erdogan and Alpaslan Kaya. 5. The effects of different plant densities on yield, yield components and quality of Artemisia annua L. ecotypes/Ahmet Mert, Saliha Kirici and Filiz Ayanoglu. Index.

"In this essential book, researchers from large and small laboratories and institutions throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region explore recent developments in the selection and breeding of aromatic and medicinal plants. They take varied approaches - from traditional breeding to the use of molecular markers-and complement them with up-to-date information on biodiversity and resource conservation as well as economic, ethical, and legal considerations."