Overview
- Editors:
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Roberto Rodríguez
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University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
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R. Sánchez Tamés
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University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
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D. J. Durzan
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University of California, Davis, Davis, USA
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Table of contents (62 chapters)
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Aging, Maturation and Rejuvenation
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- C. Díaz-Sala, M. Rey, R. Rodríguez
Pages 27-36
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- A. Ballester, M. C. Sánchez, M. C. San-José, F. J. Vieitez, A. M. Vieitez
Pages 43-49
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- Andreas Meier-Dinkel, Jochen Kleinschmit
Pages 51-63
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Vegetative Propagation: Advantages and Limitations
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- Trevor A. Thorpe, Indra S. Harry
Pages 67-74
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- R. Sánchez Tamés, B. Fernandez Muñiz, J. P. Majada
Pages 81-87
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- K. A. Roubelakis-Angelakis, K. C. Katsirdakis
Pages 89-95
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- M. Salomè S. Pais, Joaquim M. S. Cabral
Pages 97-112
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- M. E. Ostry, D. D. Skilling, O. Y. Lee-Stadelmann, W. P. Hackett
Pages 113-116
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- Erica E. Benson, Keith Harding
Pages 125-131
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Ultrastructural, Genetic and Biochemical Characteristics of Aging and Senescence
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Front Matter
Pages 139-139
About this book
For many, the terms aging, maturation and senescence are synonymous and used interchangeably, but they should not be. Whereas senescence represents an endogenously controlled degenerative programme leading to plant or organ death, genetiC aging encompasses a wide array of passive degenerative genetiC processes driven primarily by exogenous factors (Leopold, 1975). Aging is therefore considered a consequence of genetiC lesions that accumulate over time, but by themselves do not necessarily cause death. These lesions are probably made more severe by the increase in size and complexity in trees and their attendant physiology. Thus while the withering of flower petals following pollination can be considered senescence, the loss of viability of stored seeds more clearly represents aging (Norden, 1988). The very recent book "Senescence and Aging in Plants" does not discuss trees, the most dominant group of plants on the earth. Yet both angiospermic and gymnospermic trees also undergo the above phenomena but less is known about them. Do woody plants senesce or do they just age? What is phase change? Is this synonymous with maturation? While it is now becoming recognized that there is no programmed senescence in trees, senescence of their parts, even in gymnosperms (e. g. , needles of temperate conifers las t an average of 3. 5 years), is common; but aging is a readily acknowledged phenomenon. In theory, at least, in the absence of any programmed senescence trees should -live forever, but in practice they do not.