Foreword to the Series Foreword Preface 1 Introduction 1.1 Plant physiological ecology 1.2 Main questions involved with plant physiological ecology 1.3 Introduction of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don 1.4 Previous studies on C. roseus References 2 Alkaloid Metabolisms 2.1 Reviews on alkaloid metabolisms of C. roseus 2.1.1 Introduction 2.1.2 Biosynthesis pathway and comparmentation of C. roseus alkaloids 2.1.3 Regulation of C. roseus alkaloids 2.1.4 Conclusions and perspectives 2.2 The tissue-controlled alkaloid metabolisms of C. roseus 2.3 The development-controlled alkaloid metabolisms of C. roseus 2.3.1 Alkaloid contents of different age leaves 2.3.2 Alkaloid contents of leaf during seedling development 2.4 The environment-controlled alkaloid metabolisms of C. roseus alkaloids 2.4.1 Temperature-controlled alkaloid metabolism in C. roseus 2.4.2 Water-controlled alkaloid metabolism in C. roseus seedlings 2.4.3 Irradiance-controlled alkaloid metabolism in C. roseus seedlings 2.5 Alkaloid metabolism in C. roseus seedlings controlled by biotic factors 2.5.1 Alkaloid metabolisms controlled by phytohormone 2.5.2 Alkaloid metabolisms controlled by nitrate 2.5.3 Alkaloid metabolisms controlled by external H2O2 References 3 Soluble Sugar Metabolisms 3.1 Reviews of regulation of sugars in the development of plant 3.1.1 Introduction 3.1.2 Plant vegetative development 3.1.3 Nutrient organ development 3.1.4 Plant reproductive development 3.1.5 The regulation of source and sink 3.2 Source-sink regulation by harvest of Catharanthus roseus seedlings 3.2.1 Introduction 3.2.2 Sugar content changes in differently positional leaves 3.2.3 AI activity variations in differently positional leaves 3.2.4 Photosynthesis and gas exchange features of differently positional leaves 3.2.5 Discussion and conclusion 3.3 Effects of environmental factors on soluble sugar variations 3.3.1 Effects of temperature on soluble sugar 3.3.2 Effects of phytohormones on soluble sugar and endogenous ABA 3.3.3 Effects of water deficit on soluble sugar 3.3.4 Effects of light intensity on soluble sugar References 4 Photosynthesis 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Photosynthesis and respiration during development of Catharanthus roseus 4.2.1 Introduction 4.2.2 Results 4.2.3 Conclusion and discussion 4.3 Response of photosynthesis of Catharanthus roseus to light 4.3.1 Introduction 4.3.2 Plant material 4.3.3 Results and discussions 4.4 Response of respiration and photosynthesis of Catharanthus roseus to temperature 4.4.1 Introduction 4.4.2 Results 4.5 Response of photosynthesis of Catharanthus roseus to re-hydration 4.6 Response of photosynthesis of Catharanthus roseus to exogenous hormones 4.6.1 Light-response curves induced by different treatment of ABA and GA 4.6.2 Response of photosynthesis rate and gas exchanges to hormones References 5 Phytohormone 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 Major role of abscisic acid (ABA) 5.1.2 Gibberellin (GA) 5.1.3 Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) 5.2 Phytohormone changes during development of Catharanthus roseus 5.3 Physiological effects of exogenous ABA and GA on C. roseus 5.3.1 Phytohormone changes induced by exogenous ABA and GA on leaves 5.3.2 Phytohormone changes induced by exposure of roots of C. roseus to ABA and GA solution for short-time course 5.4 Effects of temperature and light intensity on phytohormone and soluble sugar changes of C. roseus 5.4.1 Anthocyanin content changes of stems exerted by different light and temperature environments 5.4.2 Phytohormone changes exerted by different light and temperature environments 5.4.3 Soluble sugar changes exerted by different light and temperature environments 5.5 ABA-induced heat tolerance in catharanthus roseus seedlings 5.5.1 Introduction 5.5.2 Results 5.5.3 Discussion 5.5.4 Methods References