Hybrid Breeding: Future Status and Future Prospects - Series II

Dear Colleagues,

Hybrid breeding is a scientific approach based on the exploitation of heterosis for crop production. The use of hybrids changed the history of agriculture since some crops increased the yield potential and its stability of production significantly in adverse environments. Nowadays, its importance remains relevant due to the prevalence of climate change and environmental deterioration. The discovery of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) facilitated the introgression of hybrid breeding in some cross-pollinated and self-pollinated crop species like wheat, rye, barley, tomato, etc., enabling the production of high yielding hybrids, whereas in other cases hybridization enabled the production of new cultivars (e.g. via transferring useful translocations like the 1BL.1RS and 1AL.1RS in bread wheat) or even crops (e.g. triticate, tritordeum, hordocale). Another important application of heterosis is the production of doubled haploid lines after crossing recalcitrant wheat cultivars to cultivars with good andogenic ability. Thus it is crucial to study the effect of heterosis on important crop species, where pure lines are still the dominant type of cultivars. However, attention must be given to avoid side effects noticed after applying CMS procedure in hybrid breeding. New sources of CMS and restoration genes have to be discovered to ensure the conservation and broadening of the genetic background for crop plants. Furthermore, the latest achievements of molecular techniques could be proved beneficial in hybrid breeding. This new special issue aims to provide all current prospects regarding a safe and effective application of hybrid breeding for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and seed companies.

Dr. Ioannis N. Xynias
Dr. Athanasios G. Mavromatis
Dr. Ioannis Mylonas
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 monthly 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.