Reproductive Biology for Improving Crop Yield and Breeding Efficiency

A Special Issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395) belonging to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 814

Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Science and Health, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60604, USA
Interests: genetic analysis of vegetative phase change

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
Interests: perennial grain breeding; companion crop development; polyculture design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reproductive processes fundamentally determine crop productivity and have been central to agriculture since long before the Green Revolution. Understanding floral development, pollination, fertilization and seed formation is essential for advancing crop improvement strategies. This Special Issue would address the critical gap between reproductive biology research and practical breeding applications. We invite submissions examining molecular mechanisms governing fertility, grain/seed set, flowering time regulation and reproductive stress responses across all major crops and other plants. 

This Special Issue would highlight reproductive biology as a translational nexus for improving seed set, hybrid seed production, stress resilience during reproduction and breeding efficiency. We welcome original research spanning molecular and cellular regulation, reproductive-stage stress tolerance, novel hybridization and sterility systems, clonal seed technologies, precision pollination and seed production, components of yield and field validation linking reproductive traits to yield outcomes.

Dr. Jianfei Zhao
Dr. Douglas J. Cattani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

  • seed quality/quantity
  • crop breeding
  • crop reproductive development
  • phenology regulation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 6513 KB  
Article
The FataAP2-FataAP1-FataTOE Regulatory Cascade Regulates Floral Organ Development in Fagopyrum tataricum
by Shengchun Li, Yuhan Yan, Haonan Liu, Anhu Wang and Zhixiong Liu
Agronomy 2026, 16(17), 1635; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16171635 - 27 Aug 2026
Viewed by 307
Abstract
Arabidopsis class A genes APETALA 1 (AP1) and AP2 determine sepal and petal identity; AP2 also acts as a repressor that directly negatively regulates AP1 expression to control flowering time, while TOE1 represses flowering by inhibiting CONSTANS (CO) activity. [...] Read more.
Arabidopsis class A genes APETALA 1 (AP1) and AP2 determine sepal and petal identity; AP2 also acts as a repressor that directly negatively regulates AP1 expression to control flowering time, while TOE1 represses flowering by inhibiting CONSTANS (CO) activity. Petunia AP2-type ROB is required for perianth and pistil development, as well as the repression of B-function and TOE-type BEN. However, how AP1 and AP2 orthologs from Fagopyrum tataricum work together to regulateflowering and floral organ development remains unclear. F. tataricum is an edible and medical crop rich in bioactive phytochemicals that have health benefits. This plant has only one perianth whorl, making it an excellent model for exploring the development and evolution of apetaly. In this study, we found that AP1-like FataAP1, AP2-type FataAP2, and TOE-type FataTOE were expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits of tartary buckwheat and in all stages detected during floral bud differentiation and development. The Y1H assay and DLR suggested that FataAP2 directly activates FataAP1 transcription and that FataAP1 directly activates the transcription of FataTOE. The VIGS silencing of FataAP2, FataAP1, and FataTOE resulted in flowers with increased tepal numbers and partly abnormal outer-whorl stamens with reduced filament lengths and shriveled anthers without pollen grains. A hierarchical regulatory cascade, FataAP2-FataAP1-FataTOE, was uncovered, which modulated tepal numbers and outer-whorl stamen development during tartary buckwheat flower development. Our current research provides new insights into the molecular mechanism of floral organ development in tartary buckwheat and may provide new evidence for exploring the floral phenotypic differences between tartary buckwheat and common buckwheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reproductive Biology for Improving Crop Yield and Breeding Efficiency)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop