Desiccation and Survival in Plants : Drying without Dying / M. Black and H.W. Pritchard

Part I: Introduction
Part II: Methodology
Part III: Biology of dehydration
Part IV: Mechanisms of damage and tolerance
Part V: Retrospect and prospect

1: Drying without dying

2: Methods for study of water relations under desiccation stress 3: Experimental aspects of drying and recovery 4: Biochemical and biophysical methods for quantifying desiccation phenomena in seeds and vegetative tissues, 5: Desiccation sensitivity in orthodox and recalcitrant seeds in relation to development
6: Pollen and spores: Desiccation tolerance in pollen and the spores of lower plants and fungi
7: Vegetative tissues: Bryophytes, vascular resurrection plants and vegetative propagules
8: Ecological, taxonomic and phylogenetic aspects of desiccation tolerance in seeds and other plant tissues

9: Desiccation stress and damage
10: Biochemistry and biophysics of tolerance systems
11: Molecular genetics of desiccation and tolerant systems
12: Rehydration of dried systems: Membranes and the nuclear genome

13: Damage and tolerance in retrospect and prospect

In the past twenty years there has been a revolution in plant sciences, as new methods of molecular biology and biophysics have been applied to investigate environmental stress, particularly desiccation tolerance. Today, there is a good level of understanding of how plant cells cope with extreme water stress. This book is divided into four sections, dealing with 1) the technical background to desiccation tolerance studies; 2) the frequency and levels of dehydration stress tolerance in biological systems; 3) mechanisms of damage and tolerance, and 4) a brief prospect and retrospect. It covers orthodox and recalcitrant seeds, pollen and spores, vegetative parts, and other plant tissues.