The rapid progress on somatic embryogenesis and its prospects for potential application to improving woody plants prompted us to edit this book initially in three volumes, and now an additional three more volumes. We were all convinced that such a treatise was needed and would be extremely useful to researchers and students. This volume 6 is dedicated to Prof. Harry Waris, Helsinki, Finland, who did pioneer work on somatic embryogenesis during the time when Prof. Steward and others were actively engaged in this area. His former student Prof. Liisa Simols, University of Helsinki, Finland, has written a dedication 'Harry Waris, a pioneer in somatic embryogenesis' to her teacher Prof. Waris. This volume is divided into three sections and contains a total of 26 chapters.
Section A comprises seven chapters covering topics such as: Historical insights into some contemporary problems in somatic embryogenesis (SE); Thin cell layer for somatic embryogenesis induction in woody trees; SE in tropical fruit and forest trees; SE in fruit and forest arid trees; Status of SE in Indian forest trees; SE research in fruit trees in India; Applications of SE for the improvement of tropical fruit trees. Section B comprises 15 chapters, dealing with: SE in oil palm, hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), pistachio (Pistacia vera L.), Araucaria angustifolia, Quercus suber, Aspidosperma polyneuron, Acacia senegal, Simmondsia chiensis, Cupressus sempervirens, pecan (Carya illinoinensis), rattan (Calamus spp.), tamarillo (Cyphomandra betacea, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lor.), Aegle marmelos, and Euonymus europaeus. Section C comprises three chapters related to cryo-storage of citrus, conifers and rubber. All the chapters have been peer-reviewed and revised accordingly to improve the quality of the chapters.
We are thankful to all: (a) contributory authors for their co-operation in submitting manuscripts in time, and (b) reviewers for spending their valuable time in reviewing the manuscripts.