Genetic engineering is a powerful tool for crop improvement. Crop biotechnology before 2001 was reviewed in Transgenic Crops I-III, but recent advances in plant cell and molecular biology have prompted the need for new volumes.

Transgenic Crops IV deals with cereals, vegetables, root crops, herbs and spices. Section I is an introductory chapter on the impact of plant biotechnology in agriculture. Section II focuses on cereals (rice, wheat, maize, rye, pearl millet, barley, oats), while Section III is directed to vegetable crops (tomato, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, chickpea, common beans and cowpeas, carrot, radish). Root crops (potato, cassava, sweet potato, sugar beet) are included in Section IV, with herbs and spices (sweet and hot peppers, onion, garlic and related species, mint) in Section V.

This volume is an invaluable reference for plant breeders, researchers and graduate students in the fields of plant biotechnology, agronomy, horticulture, genetics and both plant cell and molecular biology.