Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules that do not encode proteins but play pivotal roles in regulating gene expression and cellular processes. Emerging evidence suggests that ncRNAs have evolved as key regulators in mediating adaptive responses to environmental constraints. By modulating gene expression, ncRNAs enable organisms to fine-tune their physiological and cellular processes to maintain homeostasis under different environmental conditions. Understanding the biological function of ncRNAs in response to environmental stimuli is crucial for unraveling the complex regulatory networks that underlie adaptation and survival. This book explores various types of ncRNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), and their involvement in the modulation of gene expression networks in plants to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Additionally, the book discusses the mechanisms by which ncRNAs interact with their target molecules, such as mRNAs and proteins, to exert regulatory effects.
This information about nRNA response to environmental stresses - acting as regulators of cellular processes and stress-related signaling pathways for improving crop production - are lying unorganized in different articles of journals and edited books. Therefore, it is time demanding to publish a book dealing with these aspects.
The introduction discusses the significance of understanding ncRNA-mediated regulation in the context of adaptation and survival in changing environmental conditions. By providing a comprehensive overview, this sets the stage for the subsequent chapters. Chapters then delve into the role of ncRNAs in epigenetic regulation and transgenerational effects, and explore how ncRNAs participate in shaping the epigenome and influencing heritable gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. This book discusses the implications of ncRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation in adapting to environmental challenges and its potential transgenerational effects. It summarizes key findings and highlights the importance of ncRNA-mediated regulation in responding to environmental constraints, emphasizing the unarguable biological function of ncRNAs and their role as critical regulators in adaptation and survival.
Dr. Channapatna S. Prakash is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tuskegee University, USA and also professor of crop genetics. Dr. Prakash's research expertise is on genetic improvement research on food crops of importance to developing countries. His lab was among the first to develop transgenic sweet potato and peanut plants and conduct pioneering genomic studies on the peanut. Dr. Prakash has been a global leader in enhancing the societal awareness of crop and food biotechnology issues, and was recognized for his outstanding work on agricultural biotechnology outreach with 2015 Borlaug CAST Communication Award, by the Council of Agricultural Science and Technology, which credited him as "arguably done more than anyone else in academia or industry to promote agricultural technologies that can help feed the world's growing population." He also serves as the Editor in Chief of the journal 'GM Crops & Food.
Dr. Muhammad Waseem is Associate Professor at College of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan, China. He is also severing as Assistant Professor of Botany at the Department of Botany, University of Narowal, Pakistan. He received a doctoral degree (Ph.D., specialization in Plant Molecular Biology) from the School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, PR China. He also has four years of postdoctoral researcher. His interests include transcriptional regulation of flowering time regulation, fruit ripening and development, and abiotic stresses such as salinity and drought. In addition, he has hands-on experience in next-generation sequencing data analysis, transcriptomics, and data visualization. Currently, Dr. Waseem is actively in investigating flowering time regulation in Brassica crops. He has been awarded with a National Science Foundation Project, RFIS. In brief, he has published more than 40 research articles, 5 review articles, and 9 book chapters in various high-impact factor publications including New Phytologist, International Journal of Macromolecules, Journal of Biotechnology, Planta, Scientific Reports, Pakistan Journal of Botany, GM Crops & Food, Environmental and Experimental Botany, International Journal of Molecular Biology, Genes, Plant Physiology, and Frontiers in Plant Science. Moreover, he is currently editing a few special issues as a leading guest editor in Frontiers in Plant Science, International Journal of Molecular Biology, GENES, and Functional Plant Biology.
Dr. Sajid Fiaz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor working at Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Pakistan. Dr. Fiaz received his PhD in Crop Genetics and Breeding from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Fiaz's research interests include marker assisted selection for agronomic traits, mutation breeding for biotic and abiotic stress resistance, QTL mapping, genome wide association analysis and genome editing for yield and quality traits in cereals. Dr. Fiaz is actively supervising under-graduate and post-graduate students. He has been awarded with a Start-Up Research Grant Project from Higher Education Commission of Pakistan worth 1.0 Million PKR. He has published more than 160 research, 10 review articles and 13 book chapters with prestigious scientific magazines like International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Frontiers in Plant Sciences, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry and Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. He is working as academic editor for PLOS ONE, guest associate editor for Frontiers in Plant Sciences, review editor for Frontiers in Genetics and editorial board member for GM Crops and Food. He has recently edited books, Principle and Practices of OMICS and Genome Editing for Crop Improvement, Legumes Biofortification, Sustainable Agriculture in the Era of the OMICs Revolution, and OMICs-based Techniques for Global Food Security with Springer and Wiley publisher. Currently, his lab group is working to identify genetic factors controlling drought stress tolerance in exotic and local landraces of rice.
