Plant Biotechnology and Genetic Diversity for Horticultural Crop Improvement

A Special Issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472) belonging to the section "Crop Genetics, Genomics and Breeding".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2027 | Viewed by 440

Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Horticulture and Business in Rural Development, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Mănăștur St. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: plant molecular biology; plant breeding; metabolomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Horticulture and Business in Rural Development, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Mănăștur St. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: micropropagation; plant tissue culture; plant growth and development; plant biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For a millennia, horticultural crops have been fundamental to human civilization, providing vital nutrients, therapeutic compounds, and industrial raw materials essential to global food security. However, the vast genetic diversity within these species poses a complex challenge: identifying and selecting elite genotypes to develop high-value, climate-resilient varieties with superior nutritional and medicinal profiles. Modern plant breeding relies on the synergy between rich genetic resources and cutting-edge laboratory technologies. In this context, advanced multi-OMICS platforms—including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics—alongside high-throughput phenotyping have revolutionized our understanding of plant diversity and the molecular mechanisms underlying complex agronomic traits.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to innovative approaches for the identification, characterization, and strategic use of horticultural germplasm from both wild habitats and gene banks. By showcasing novel biotechnological tools and molecular conservation strategies, this Special Issue aims to drive sustainable solutions for the future of global agriculture.

We welcome original research and review articles that demonstrate how molecular and biotechnological techniques can enhance crop resilience, yield, and quality.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Advanced multi-OMICS platforms (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics);

- Cutting-edge laboratory technologies in plant breeding;

- Molecular mechanisms underlying agronomic traits in crops;

- Horticultural germplasm utilization;

- Molecular conservation strategies for horticultural crops;

- Identification and selection of elite genotypes of economic importance.

Dr. Monica Harta
Dr. Doina Clapa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • genetic diversity
  • multi-OMICS approaches
  • germplasm characterization crop improvement
  • molecular marker techniques
  • high-throughput phenotyping
  • climate resilience

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2593 KB  
Article
Discriminatory Power of Retrotransposon-Based iPBS Markers for Assessing Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) Genotypes
by Asim Mehmood and Peter M. Dracatos
Agriculture 2026, 16(17), 1858; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16171858 - 28 Aug 2026
Viewed by 276
Abstract
Genetic relationships and population structure of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) germplasm maintained in northern Pakistan have received limited molecular assessment. We genetically characterized 37 genotypes collected at six sites in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) using 22 inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. [...] Read more.
Genetic relationships and population structure of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) germplasm maintained in northern Pakistan have received limited molecular assessment. We genetically characterized 37 genotypes collected at six sites in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) using 22 inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers. The iPBS markers generated 289 scorable bands, all of which were polymorphic (mean = 13.14 bands per primer). Across primers, mean polymorphic information content (PIC), resolving power (Rp; genotype-discrimination capacity) and marker index (MI; combined informativeness and multiplex capacity) were 0.36, 7.01 and 4.69, respectively. Primer 2079 recorded the highest Rp, effective multiplex ratio (EMR) and MI, while primer 2243 had the highest PIC. Within the sampled material, expected heterozygosity, Shannon’s information index and the percentage of polymorphic loci were higher in KPK than in Punjab. The first two principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) coordinates accounted for 15.14% of the variation, and samples from the two provinces overlapped. A locus-resampled, bootstrap-supported neighbor-joining (NJ) tree recovered several relationships among genotypes from different localities. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) assigned 96% of the variation within the two sampled provincial groups and 4% between them (PhiPT = 0.04, p = 0.001). Bayesian analysis indicated two principal genetic backgrounds with mixed membership across locations. Together, the analyses identify informative iPBS primers, show that molecular variation is concentrated within the two sampled provincial groups, and highlight differentiated genotypes for conservation and replicated phenotypic evaluation. Full article
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