Trace elements are not essential in the same way as primary nutrients, as plants can survive and grow without them as long as they are provided with sufficient amounts of primary nutrients. Optimal growth and development may require the presence of trace elements in the appropriate amounts. Trace elements however possess their effects on the plants as well as animals. This study discusses the effects of trace elements on plants, animals and humans, with examples. Early research emphasis on the nutritional relevance of Si for plant development and growth, more recent research has switched its focus to silica's effect on human health. Yet, the vast majority of Si, or dietary silica, originates from plants. The presence of silicon in the majority of cells as well as in fundamental species such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi provide support for the idea that Si is necessary in mammals. Root growth suppression is the principal consequence of Pb poisoning in plants, most likely because cell division is suppressed at the root tip. Roots of the Lemma minor plant showed evidence of Pb's ability to impede cell division. Root dry mass and length were reduced in response to Pb poisoning in various plant species. On the other hand, too much zinc can damage the pancreas, interfere with protein metabolism, and cause arteriosclerosis. Respiratory issues may result from using zinc chloride for an extended period of time. While outbreak of zinc exposure at work may cause metal fever, a virus-like illness. Meanwhile, the amount of chromium that crops absorb can also be impacted by soil acidification. Plants often only absorb chromium (III). Following these examples, the chapter unfolds different aspects of benefits as well as harmfulness of trace elements.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum. L) grain size is considered to be one of the main criteria of yield constituents by wheat breeders. In order to detect phenotypic diversity and relationship between thousand kernel weight, a collection of 204 landraces from different parts of Pakistan was planted across two years (2012-2014). High throughput method based on seed imaging was used to measure the kernel size and shape. The correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlation between thousand kernel weight (TKW) with perimeter of vertical (PV), thickness (T), area of vertical (AV), area of horizontal (AH), perimeter of horizontal (PH), width (W) and Length (L). Bioplot showed that accessions with high seed shape parameters have higher TKW. By taking TKW as a dependent variable multiple regression analysis was performed. Regression summary indicated that 31% of the variations in TKW are explained by the independent variables. It was shown that grain thickness, length and width are most important for predicting TKW. Based on image analysis this study provides useful information about the relationship between TKW, kernel size and shape in Pakistani wheat landraces that may help to improve grain weight in a breeding program.

Wheat is the domesticated form of many of the grasses from Poaceae and tribe Triticeae. These annual and perennial grasses comprising of approximately 325 species also include the diploid ancestors of wheat known as its wild relatives. These relatives exhibit more genetic diversity as compared to their cultivated form, hence are a potent means of allelic enrichment of wheat via intergeneric, interspecific or intraspecific hybridization. Wheat relatives include many grasses like Aegilops, Thinopyrum, Triticum, Elymus, Leymus, Elytrigia, Lophopyrum, Secale, Heteranthelium, Taeniantherum, Haynaldia, and Hordeum from the tribe Hordeae that are distributed across the three gene pools (primary, secondary, and tertiary) based upon their genetic distance attribute. Due to the allelic variation that is present, these relatives have been utilized in wheat research and production for over a century commencing in 1904 with wheat/barley combinations or as early as 1872 if X Triticale is considered. During these many decades via basic, strategic, and applied research efforts genes have been exploited for introgressing resistances/tolerances to several biotic and abiotic stresses of global significance. The trait coverage has increased progressively and currently targets include insect/virus resistance, micronutrients with growing focus on cereal quality parameters towards which these alien resources are contributing new diversity. Wild relative variation is not restricted to bread 396wheats alone and the tetraploid durums are also recipients of their practical benefits for crop yield maximization. Potential of the wild resource also exists for inducing sterility; crucial for hybrid wheat development. In addition, within the strategic research scenario wild species have emerged as a significant base for producing user-friendly wheat genomic genetic stocks for future usage practicality. We in this review have targeted major facets of wild relative utilization for wheat improvement since 1904 and in addition have provided an in-depth overview of the germplasm holdings that global researchers could tap upon.

Heavy metals such as Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Co, Cd, Zn, Hg and arsenic are for long being accumulated in soils through industrial waste and sewage disposal. Although some of these metals are essential micronutrients responsible for many regular processes in plants, their excess, however, can have detrimental effects and can directly influence the plant growth, metabolism, physiology and senescence. Plants have different mechanisms to fight stress, and they are responsible to maintain homeostasis of essential metals required by plants. These mechanisms also focus on prevention of plants exposure to heavy metals present in the soil or providing tolerance to the plant by detoxifying the metals. Other mechanisms are specific and are initiated when the respective stress is encountered. The first line of defense provided by a plant is to reduce the uptake of metals when stimulated with toxicity of heavy metals and includes the help offered by cellular and root exudates that restricts metals from entering the cell. Many plants have exclusive mechanisms for individual metal ions and are involved in sequestering these ions in compartments avoiding their exposure to sensitive components of the cells. As a second line of defense, other mechanisms for detoxification of these metals are introduced that chelates, transports, sequesters and detoxifies these metal ions in the plant's vacuole. During the time of metal toxicity, oxidative stress is pronounced in the cells and production of stress-related proteins and hormones, antioxidants, signaling molecules including heat-shock proteins synthesis is initiated.

Human kind is optimistic about the presence of alien civilizations in the outer space. The scientists are still working on the means to detect and make the first contact with the extraterrestrials. The current focus is on the search of nonintelligent microbial life forms. Moreover, efforts are underway to identify the optimum conditions to support life on other planets. Before the dawn of the space age, the moon was considered to be just a barren land formed by the ancient impact craters. Similarly Mars was just a distant planet and Venus was boiling cauldron of molten rock shrouded in dense and poisonous atmosphere. Significant progress has, however, been made after the recent discoveries in the field of astrobiology, astrobiotechnology, and synthetic space biology. This chapter presents the conditions that support life in the outer space. Techniques employed for the identification and detection of organic molecules, fossilized microorganisms, and minerals have also been discussed. Moreover, the potential of life outside earth with reference to the extremophile organisms has been addressed. Finally, the future role of astrobiology in finding new home for the living organisms has been discussed.

Oilseed crops belong to numerous plant families and their seeds are used not only as a source of oil but also as raw materials for various oleo‐chemical industries. The raw materials act as a renewable source of energy and are associated with power generation (Jankowski & Budzynski, 2003). Among various oilseed crops, the preferred ones are soybean, sesame, safflower, sunflower, groundnut, and castor (Weiss, 2000). The crops of sunflower, soybean, and canola offer good management options for irrigation reduction, thus enhancing the benefits of reduced input costs of these oilseed crops (Aiken & Lamm, 2006). There exists a positive correlation between soil water extraction and rooting depth in oilseed crops. The tap root, along with the well‐formed root growth system of safflower, allows this oilseed crop to extract moisture at greater depths from the soil. When safflower water requirements are satisfied with 68.6% and 78.4% water content, the crop provides the yield of 392 kgha after only one turn of irrigation. Safflower yields 762 kgha with two irrigations (Kar et al., 2007). Oilseed crops like soybean, sunflower, and canola are susceptible to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a fungal pathogen that is responsible for a reduction in the yield of these crops. The application of sulfur as fertilizer on the oilseed crops results in increased concentration of oil as well as protein content of the Brassica seeds (Malhi et al., 2006). For the production of a ton of oilseed, approximately 12 Kg sulfur is required (Ghosh et al., 2000). Some 23.5% of protein content has been observed in canola after the application of 80 kgha of nitrogen but this did not play a significant role in increasing the oil content (Ahmad et al., 2007). There has been an increased risk of blackleg in canola fields when crops are planted adjacent to canola stubble that is six months mature. To avoid serious damage by blackleg in canola fields, it is recommended that the crops should be sown in such a way that there is a distance of at least 500 m from last season’s canola stubble (Marcroft et al., 2004). Among the various oilseed crops, there are some anti‐nutritive compounds such as condensed tannins, inositol phosphates, and glucosinolates, etc. All such anti‐nutritive compounds are responsible for lowering the nutritive value of oilseed crops. In most situations these compounds do not harm the crop plants (Matthaus & Angelini, 2005). Advances in plant technology and the advent of metabolic engineering have enabled the modification of oilseed crops, thus establishing transgenic crop plants. Such transgenic oilseed crops have novel biosynthetic genes taken from noncommercial plants that provide the oilseed plants with good fatty acids (Thelen & Ohlrogge, 2002). To modify the fatty acid content Oilseed crops: Present scenario and future prospects

Introduction .................................................................................................................................466 Need for cell-free system ...........................................................................................................468 Cell-free biosystem biomanufacturing ..................................................................................... 469Quick reaction rates ............................................................................................................... 469 Tolerance of toxic compounds and products ..................................................................... 469 Catalysis of nonnatural reactions ......................................................................................... 469 Maximize product yield ........................................................................................................ 470 Reaction equilibrium shift ..................................................................................................... 470Applications of CFB2 .................................................................................................................. 470 Cell-free protein synthesis .................................................................................................... 471Printing protein arrays ...................................................................................................... 472 Ribosome display .............................................................................................................. 472 Isotopic labeling ................................................................................................................. 472 Incorporation of nonnatural amino acids ...................................................................... 472In vitro synthetic biology ....................................................................................................... 472 Programming circuits ....................................................................................................... 473 Minimal cells ...................................................................................................................... 474 Compartmentalization ...................................................................................................... 474 Cell-free systems and spatial organization .................................................................... 474Synthetic pathway biotransformation ................................................................................. 475 Examples of SyPaB .................................................................................................................477Production of biofuels ................................................................................................................ 478 High-yield production of hydrogen .................................................................................... 478

Medicinal plants have been used for centuries. Their cultivation on a commercial scale is necessary to meet public demand. Plants face many stresses, which include biotic and abiotic factors. Abiotic stresses like drought, salt, temperature and environmental stresses affect the ability of plants to produce secondary metabolites. This chapter reviews medicinal plants and the effects of salt, drought, light, temperature and heavy metal stresses on their life cycle, life stages and secondary metabolite production. It discusses some examples of medicinal plants exposed to different types of stresses and their manipulated responses. The chapter looks at stress and plant physiological mechanism relationships and studies the mechanisms which are used to combat stress.

Soil is the most complicated biomaterial present on earth. It is composed of a variety of substances and provides a habitat to various organisms. Different chemical reactions take place in soil that ensures the sustainability of life. Microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, actinomyces and algae are widely distributed in soil. These natural micro fl ora have several advantages. They contribute to the growth and development of plants, decomposition of organic materials, nutrient cycling, soil nitrifi cation, sustenance of pedological system and production of bioactive compounds. Soil fungi develop mutualistic associations with plants and increase their surface area for absorption. Rhizosphere of soil, the area in which S. R. Imadi • A. Gul (*) Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences , National University of Sciences and Technology , Islamabad , Pakistan e-mail: alvina_gul@yahoo.com M. M. Babar Shifa College of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University , Islamabad , Pakistan H. Hasan Quaid-I-Azam University , Islamabad , Pakistan