physiology, pathology, entomology, nematology, crop production, biochemistry, and obviously bioinformatics. It must be mentioned that information regarding each plant genome is ever-growing. The contents of the
volumes of this compendium are, therefore, focusing on the basic aspects
of the genomes and their utility. They include information on the academic
and/or economic importance of the plants, description of their genomes from
a molecular genetic and cytogenetic point of view, and the genomic resources
developed. Detailed deliberations focus on the background history of the
national and international genome initiatives, public and private partners
involved, strategies and genomic resources and tools utilized, enumeration on
the sequences and their assembly, repetitive sequences, gene annotation, and
genome duplication. In addition, synteny with other sequences, comparison
of gene families, and, most importantly, the potential of the genome sequence
information for gene pool characterization through genotyping by sequencing
(GBS) and genetic improvement of crop plants have been described. As
expected, there is a lot of variation of these topics in the volumes based on
the information available on the crop, model, or reference plants.
I must confess that as the series editor, it has been a daunting task for me
to work on such a huge and broad knowledge base that spans so many
diverse plant species. However, pioneering scientists with lifetime experience
and expertise on the particular crops did excellent jobs editing the respective
volumes. I myself have been a small science worker on plant genomes since
the mid-1980s and that provided me the opportunity to personally know
several stalwarts of plant genomics from all over the globe. Most, if not all,
of the volume editors are my longtime friends and colleagues. It has been
highly comfortable and enriching for me to work with them on this book
series. To be honest, while working on this series I have been and will remain
a student first, a science worker second, and a series editor last. And I must
express my gratitude to the volume editors and the chapter authors for providing me the opportunity to work with them on this compendium.
I also wish to mention here my thanks and gratitude to the Springer staff,
particularly Dr. Christina Eckey and Dr. Jutta Lindenborn for the earlier set
of volumes and presently Ing. Zuzana Bernhart for all their timely help and
support.
I always had to set aside additional hours to edit books beside my professional and personal commitments—hours I could and should have given
to my wife, Phullara, and our kids, Sourav and Devleena. I must mention that
they not only allowed me the freedom to take away those hours from them
but also offered their support in the editing job itself. I am really not sure
whether my dedication of this compendium to them will suffice to do justice
to their sacrifices for the interest of science and the science community.
Kalyani, India
Chittaranjan Kole
Preface to the Series
ix
volumes of this compendium are, therefore, focusing on the basic aspects
of the genomes and their utility. They include information on the academic
and/or economic importance of the plants, description of their genomes from
a molecular genetic and cytogenetic point of view, and the genomic resources
developed. Detailed deliberations focus on the background history of the
national and international genome initiatives, public and private partners
involved, strategies and genomic resources and tools utilized, enumeration on
the sequences and their assembly, repetitive sequences, gene annotation, and
genome duplication. In addition, synteny with other sequences, comparison
of gene families, and, most importantly, the potential of the genome sequence
information for gene pool characterization through genotyping by sequencing
(GBS) and genetic improvement of crop plants have been described. As
expected, there is a lot of variation of these topics in the volumes based on
the information available on the crop, model, or reference plants.
I must confess that as the series editor, it has been a daunting task for me
to work on such a huge and broad knowledge base that spans so many
diverse plant species. However, pioneering scientists with lifetime experience
and expertise on the particular crops did excellent jobs editing the respective
volumes. I myself have been a small science worker on plant genomes since
the mid-1980s and that provided me the opportunity to personally know
several stalwarts of plant genomics from all over the globe. Most, if not all,
of the volume editors are my longtime friends and colleagues. It has been
highly comfortable and enriching for me to work with them on this book
series. To be honest, while working on this series I have been and will remain
a student first, a science worker second, and a series editor last. And I must
express my gratitude to the volume editors and the chapter authors for providing me the opportunity to work with them on this compendium.
I also wish to mention here my thanks and gratitude to the Springer staff,
particularly Dr. Christina Eckey and Dr. Jutta Lindenborn for the earlier set
of volumes and presently Ing. Zuzana Bernhart for all their timely help and
support.
I always had to set aside additional hours to edit books beside my professional and personal commitments—hours I could and should have given
to my wife, Phullara, and our kids, Sourav and Devleena. I must mention that
they not only allowed me the freedom to take away those hours from them
but also offered their support in the editing job itself. I am really not sure
whether my dedication of this compendium to them will suffice to do justice
to their sacrifices for the interest of science and the science community.
Kalyani, India
Chittaranjan Kole
Preface to the Series
ix