Legume Genetic Improvement for Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 267
Editors
Interests: soybean genetic improvement
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Legumes are vital for global nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Advances in functional genomics and biotechnologies (e.g., CRISPR, genomic selection) are revolutionizing breeding strategies. However, escalating biotic and abiotic stresses continue to threaten legume productivity. This collection explores how integrating modern genomic tools can address these challenges and enhance crop resilience.
The Special Issue welcomes original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and methodological innovations covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Discovery and functional validation of stress‑responsive genes, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and regulatory elements using forward and reverse genetics approaches.
- Multi‑omics integration (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics) to dissect the complex regulatory networks underlying drought, salinity, heat, cold, heavy metal toxicity, as well as resistance to pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses) and insect pests.
- Application of genome‑wide association studies (GWASs), genomic selection (GS), and marker‑assisted selection (MAS) in stress tolerance breeding.
- CRISPR/Cas9 and other genome‑editing technologies for precise modification of susceptibility or tolerance genes, and their combination with transgenic approaches.
- High‑throughput phenotyping platforms and advanced imaging techniques for rapid and non‑destructive stress tolerance assessment.
- Interaction between stress responses and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF)/symbiosis with rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi, and its impact on overall plant fitness.
- Allelic mining, introgression, and pyramiding of stress tolerance traits from wild relatives or exotic germplasm.
- Modeling and prediction of genotype‑by‑environment (G×E) interactions to guide region‑specific breeding decisions.
- Innovative breeding strategies, including speed breeding and synthetic biology, for accelerated genetic gain under changing climatic scenarios.
This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting‑edge multidisciplinary research that advances the genetic improvement of legumes for enhanced tolerance to both biotic and abiotic stresses. By integrating functional genomics, stress physiology, and modern breeding technologies, this issue seeks to deepen our understanding of stress‑response networks and translate these insights into practical strategies for developing climate‑resilient, high‑yielding legume cultivars.
Dr. Jinhui Wang
Dr. Sui Wang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- legumes
- abiotic stress tolerance
- biotic stress resistance
- functional genomics
- molecular breeding
- genome editing
- genomic selection/marker-assisted selection
- multi-omics integration
- biological nitrogen fixation or rhizosphere microbiome
- quantitative trait loci (QTL)/GWAS
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