Development and Utilization of Maize Germplasm Resources
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editors
Interests: carbon–nitrogen–phosphorus nutrient synergy in maize; maize breeding
Interests: plant architecture; stress tolerance; maize breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the world’s most important staple crops, yet its productivity is increasingly threatened by environmental stresses and limited nutrient availability. To confront the challenges of climate change and advance toward agricultural production that is sustainable, it is essential to deepen our understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying stress resilience and nutrient-use efficiency in maize.
This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality research focused on the genetic basis of maize adaptation to abiotic stresses—specifically high temperature, drought, and salinity—as well as the efficiency of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) uptake and utilization. We invite contributions that employ advanced genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phenomic approaches to identify key genes, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and superior allelic variants associated with these traits. Studies that bridge basic discovery with pre-breeding applications, including molecular design breeding and allele mining for crop improvement, are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Chaofeng Li
Dr. Xiupeng Mei
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-blind 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
- plant architecture
- stress tolerance
- nutrient use efficiency
- lodging resistance
- genetic diversity
- yield trait
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