It is our pleasure to present the 53rd volume of the Biotechnology in Agric- ture and Forestry (BAF) series. This is the second issue of the BAF series edited by the new editorial team consisting of Professors Horst Lörz, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, Jack Widholm, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA,and Toshiyuki Nagata,University of Tokyo,Tokyo,Japan. This series was originally founded by the late Professor Y. P. S. Bajaj,Delhi,India,in 1986. The current volume is somewhat unique, since in this volume only one plant cell line,the tobacco BY-2 cell line,is handled,while previous volumes mainly dealt with plants having certain economical importance. Nonetheless, the three editors of this volume,Professors Dirk Inzé,Seiichiro Hasezawa and Toshiyuki Nagata,believe that most scientists who are working in the ?eld of plant s- ences will enjoy seeing this volume as a kind of source book of the unique tobacco BY-2 cells. Indeed,tobacco BY-2 cells have,over the years,gained the status as a model plant system,comparable to HeLa cells for human research. The current book is very timely because a wealth of basic knowledge on plant cells related to,e. g. ,cell division,cytoskeleton,cytokinesis,plant hormone s- naling,etc. ,has been gathered from experiments with this cell line. As re?ected in the contents,the accumulated knowledge of the BY-2 cell line is enormous and there is no other cell line that has been so important for progress in the plant sciences. Such knowledge should be shared with scientists from the ?elds of both applied and basic plant science.

1 When I Encountered Tobacco BY-2 Cells!

Section I: Cell Cycle
2 Improvements of the Molecular Toolbox for Cell Cycle Studies in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
3 Transcriptional Regulation During the Plant Cell Cycle: Involvement of Myb Proteins in Cyclin B Transcription
4 Control of the G1/S Phase Transition in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
5 Expression, Localisation and Stability of Mitotic Cyclins in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
Section II: Cell Biology and Cytoskeleton
6 Molecular Mechanisms of Microtubule Nucleation in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
7 Dynamic Behavior of Microtubules and Vacuoles at M/G1 Interface Observed in Living Tobacco BY-2 Cells
8 Tobacco BY-2 Cells as an Ideal Material for Biochemical Studies of Plant Cytoskeletal Proteins
9 Cell Plate Formation: Knowledge from Studies Using Tobacco BY-2 Cells
Section III: Physiological and Developmental Aspects
10 Hormonal Control of the Plant Cell Cycle
11 Block Points in the Cell Cycle Progression of Plant Cells: Deduced Lessons from Tobacco BY-2 Cells
12 Growth and Physiology of Suspension-Cultured Plant Cells: the Contribution of Tobacco BY-2 Cells to the Study of Auxin Action
13 Dual Pathways for Auxin Regulation of Cell Division and Expansion
14 Studies on Dynamic Changes of Organelles Using Tobacco BY-2 as the Model Plant Cell Line
15 Cell Wall Dynamics in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
16 Regulation of Secondary Metabolism in Tobacco Cell Cultures
17 Boron Nutrition of Cultured Tobacco BY-2 Cells
Section IV: Molecular Biological Aspects
18 In Vitro Transcription Systems from BY-2 Cells
19 Protein Sorting and Protein Modification Along the Secretory Pathway in BY-2 Cells
20 Characterisation of an Inducible/Repressible Gene Expression System in Tobacco BY-2 Cells
21 The Tobacco BY-2 Cell Line as a Model Systemto Understand in Planta Nuclear Coactivator Interactions
22 Tobacco BY-2 Proteomics.