This book provides a comprehensive, clearly written and well-explained introduction to the wide topic of plant biotechnology. It is divided into three sections covering Plant Tissue Culture, Genetic Material and its Organization, and Recombinant DNA Technology. Section I starts with an introduction to the term biotechnology with a timescale of development up to 2005 with sequencing of the rice genome. Wide-ranging chapters on plant tissue culture then follow from basic lab organization, protocols, types of culture, somaclonal variation and cryopreservation. Section II covers genetic material and its organization, processing and control. Section III on recombinant DNA technology is by far the largest section of the book, though it might have been better to further divide this section.

It begins with basic lab techniques for handling DNA molecules, then gives detailed information on cloning, PCR, mutagenesis, transposons and gene tagging, gene isolation and molecular markers. The genomics, bioinformatics and intellectual property chapters would have followed on from here, but are interrupted by chapters on gene transfer in plants and into chloroplasts and mitochondria, and then chapters on transgenic crops, impact and risk of the technology, which may have been better in a fourth section. However, this in no way detracts from the value of the book as a wide-ranging text on the subject of crop improvement under the heading of biotechnology.

I highly recommend it to both undergraduates and those starting their post-graduate careers in this field. Each of the sections would stand alone for those with an interest in any of the three parts.