A joint publication of FAO/IAEA and the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), entitled "Banana improvement: Cellular, molecular biology, and induced mutations" and edited by S.M. Jain and R. Swennen, has just been made available on the web. In 1994, the Plant Breeding and Genetic Section of the joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture started a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled "Cellular biology and biotechnology including mutation techniques for creation of new useful banana genotypes". This reference book disseminates the results obtained during this CRP, together with several review papers, with the aim of "providing state of the art information on a number of biotechnological tools for adoption by breeders and molecular biologists to obtain Musa varieties with desirable characters in a more rapid and efficient way". The 30 chapters are organised in 5 major sections: a) cell and tissue culture, and mutation induction b) pests and diseases c) molecular cytogenetics d) genomics and e) genetic transformation and others. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/ae216e/ae216e00.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

05/01/2005