Plant Cell Biology

Plant Cell Biology is a semester long course for undergraduates and graduate students which integrates mathematics and physics, two years of chemistry, genetics, biochemistry and evolution disciplines. Having taught this course for over ten years, the author uses his expertise to relate the background established in plant anatomy, plant physiology, plant growth and development, plant taxonomy, plant biochemistry, and plant molecular biology courses to plant cell biology. This integration attempts to break down the barrier so plant cell biology is seen as an entrée into higher science.Distinguishing this book from papers that are often used for teaching the subject which use a single plant to demonstrate the techniques of molecular biology, this book covers all aspects of plant cell biology without emphasizing any one plant, organelle, molecule, or technique. Although most examples are biased towards plants, basic similarities between all living eukaryotic cells (animal and plant) are recognized and used to best illustrate for students cell processes.

"What is one to make of a textbook on plant cell biology whose sub-title is ‘From Astronomy to Zoology’… that is written by a scientist who freely admits to being an ‘amateur’ and a ‘dilettante’… and largely based on the author’s plant cell biology lecture course at Cornell University (USA) variously entitled ‘Cell la vie’ and ‘Molecular theology of the cell’?...Probably the greatest strength of PCB is… the companion website… which contains all manner of interesting ‘stuff’: lecture demonstrations (practical demonstrations to illustrate teaching points in lectures), lecture PowerPoint presentations (by topic/organelle), laboratory classes, movies and micrographs, and a list of errata and additions to the book’s text. The bibliography is very impressive: 140 pages of 2-column text containing approximately 40 citations per page and appears as up-to-date as publication timescales allow… In making this set of lectures available, Wayne had in mind the ambition of breaking down ‘the artificial barriers between anatomy, astronomy, biochemistry, botany, chemistry… mathematics… philosophy…, physics, physiology… and zoology to give the reader a multi-dimensional perspective of the cell."—Annals of Botany