Oxidative Stress in Plants

Written and edited by world-leading scientists, Oxidative Stress in Plants reviews the current knowledge of the mechanisms by which various biotic and abiotic environmental stress conditions produce oxygen radicals.
Plants depend for their survival on physiological mechanisms with which to combat adverse environmental conditions, such as pathogen attack, wounding, drought, cold, freezig, salt, UV, intense light, heavy metals and SO2. Many of these cause excess production of active oxygen species in plant cells. Plants in turn have evolved complex defence systems against such oxidative stress. The study of these mechanisms has become a fast-moving, topical firld of importance to many biologists studying the effect of the environment on living organisms. Written and edited by scientists, "Oxidative Stress in Plants" reviews the current knowledge of the mechanisms by which various biotic and abiotic environmental stress conditions produce oxygen eadicals. The biochemistry and molecular biology of both non-enzymatic (Vitamin C; Glutathione) and enzymatic systems which eliminate active oxygen species are considered in detail. In addition, the book discusses evidence that active oxygen species and antioxidants act as signals which trigger defence reactions.