Biology of Hevea Rubber (eBook)

P. M. Priyadarshan commenced his research career as a Jr. Scientist in Spices (Spices Board, India) and later worked as Plant Breeder and then as Deputy Director of the Rubber Research Institute of India. As a Plant Breeder, his expertise includes breeding Hevea for non-traditional areas, especially for north-east India, conspicuous with cold stress. He could develop special techniques for breeding Hevea for stressful environments that laid a firm foundation for deriving new clones for these areas. His research interest is primarily in Genetics, Breeding and Genomics. Till date, he authored 53 research papers published in national and international journals including Advances in Genetics, Advances in Agronomy and Plant Breeding Reviews. He edited books on Breeding Major Food staples (Wiley-Blackwell), Breeding Plantation Tree Crops (tropical and temperate species – Springer) and Genomics of Tree Crops (Springer). Besides, he has authored several chapters and reviews dealing with breeding trees that appeared in books by International publishers.

Preface to the Second Edition 5
Contents 6
1: Introduction 9
2: Genesis and Development 18
2.1 The Amazon River Basin 18
2.2 History of Domestication 21
3: Plant Structure and Ecophysiology 28
3.1 Plant Structure 28
3.1.1 Flowers 29
3.1.2 Fruit Set 32
3.1.3 Post-fertilization Events 33
3.1.4 Seed 35
3.1.5 Vegetative Growth 35
3.1.6 Wintering 36
3.1.7 Root System 36
3.1.8 Juvenile and Mature Characteristics 37
3.1.9 Growth Studies 38
3.1.10 Root Heterogeneity and Stock-Scion Interactions 38
3.2 Ecophysiology 40
3.2.1 Photosynthetic Efficiency 41
3.2.2 Dry Matter Production and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) 42
4: Propagation Systems 45
4.1 Polyclonal Seed Generation 45
4.2 Vegetative Methods 46
4.2.1 Brown Bud Grafting 46
4.2.2 Green Bud Grafting 47
4.2.3 Young Bud Grafting 47
4.2.4 Crown Grafting 47
4.2.5 Rooting of Cuttings 49
4.2.6 Layering 49
4.2.7 Root Trainers 49
4.3 Preparation and Packing of Propagation Materials 50
4.4 Somatic Embryogenesis and Meristem Culture 52
4.4.1 Stock-Scion Interaction 56
5: Latex Production, Diagnosis and Harvest 57
5.1 Rubber Particles 58
5.2 Organic Non-rubber Constituents 59
5.3 Nucleic Acids and Polysomes 62
5.4 Latex Metabolism 62
5.5 Factors Regulating Metabolism of Latex 66
5.6 Latex Vessels and Turgour Pressure 67
5.7 Anatomy and Latex Flow 69
5.8 Lutoids and Coagulation of Latex 71
5.8.1 Lutoid Breakdown Mechanisms 72
5.9 Harvest 73
5.9.1 Tapping Notations 74
5.9.2 Tapping Techniques 76
5.9.3 Factors Affecting Tapping Efficiency 78
5.9.4 Yield Stimulation 80
5.10 Tapping Panel Dryness and Necrosis 84
6: Genetic Resources 89
6.1 Hevea as a Species Complex 89
6.1.1 Distribution of Allied Species 91
6.1.2 New Genetic Resources 95
6.2 Molecular Diversity 99
6.3 Gene Flow and Paternity Identification 101
6.4 Genetic Mapping 102
6.5 Nuclear Vs. Cytoplasmic Diversity 104
6.5.1 Potentiality of mtDNA 106
6.5.2 Potentiality of cpDNA 108
6.6 Impact of Genetic Erosion 111
7: Heterozygosis and Breeding 112
7.1 Early History of Rubber Breeding 112
7.2 Evaluation of Clones 113
7.3 Recombination Breeding 113
7.4 Breeding Pattern 117
7.5 Selection 120
7.5.1 Early Selection and Estimation of Genetic Value 124
7.5.2 Paternity Identification and Breeding Without Breeding (BwB) 126
7.6 Hevea Clones 127
8: Genetics of Traits 131
9: Environmental Constraints and Adaptation to Global Changes 134
9.1 Hevea Under Marginal Conditions 135
9.1.1 Abiotic Stress Factors 138
9.1.2 Regions of India, Thailand and Vietnam 140
9.1.3 Chinese Conditions 142
9.1.4 Conditions in West Africa 143
9.1.5 Situation in South America 144
9.2 Phenology Under Differential Geo-Climates 144
9.3 Immature Phase Under Sub-­optimal Environments 147
9.4 Yield Depression, Patterns, Regimes and Specific Adaptation 148
9.5 Tree Physiology Under Stressed Environments 155
9.6 Hevea and Clean Development Management 158
10: Genotype-by-Environment Interactions 165
10.1 G × E Interactions and Specific Adaptation 166
11: Biological Constraints 173
11.1 South American Leaf Blight 173
11.2 Abnormal Leaf Fall 180
11.3 Powdery Mildew 181
11.4 Corynespora Leaf Disease 182
11.5 Shoot Rot 185
11.6 Gloeosporium Leaf Disease 185
12: Biotechnology 187
12.1 In Vitro Culture 187
12.2 Anther Culture 188
12.3 Protoplast Culture and Embryo Rescue 189
12.4 Direct Gene Transfer 189
13: Genomics and Molecular Breeding 192
13.1 Non-expressed Molecular Genetic Markers (MGMs) 193
13.2 Expressed Genes in Hevea 195
13.3 Transcriptome Analysis 199
13.4 Rubber Biosynthesis 202
13.5 Gene Mapping 204
13.6 Molecular Biology of Tapping Panel Dryness (TPD) 209
13.7 Genomics for Changed Climates 212
13.8 Perspectives on Genomics 212
14: Ancillary Income Generations 216
14.1 Hevea Honey 216
14.2 Hevea Wood 216
14.2.1 Processing 218
14.2.2 Production and Consumption 219
References 220