Quantitative and Molecular Genetics in Crop Improvement Conditions

Dear Colleagues,

Quantitative traits (QTs) are often controlled by multiple genes, and several statistic approaches have been developed to identify genetic regions or genes explaining the phenotypic variation of the traits. Assessment of quantitative trait loci (QTL) is one of the most important research fields in molecular genetics, because it contributes both in pure science and agricultural industries, such as crop improvement through molecular breeding. In addition, genomic selection, which predicts genomic estimation breeding values (GEBVs) in QTs, has recently been performed in a wide range of crop improvement strategies to reflect the entire effect of genes in selection. Genotype × environment (G × E) is another important issue in quantitative molecular genetics. The widespread use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has enhanced molecular genetics with larger-scale data. Recent advances in digital phenotyping technologies also contribute in the advancement of and more precious quantitative molecular genetic analysis.

In this Special Issue, we call for papers in the field of quantitative molecular genetics in crop improvement. The followings are examples of topics for this Issue: (1) novel approaches for identification and investigation of QTLs; (2) novel approaches for genomic selection; (3) novel approaches for revealing G × E interaction in quantitative genetics; (4) application of digital phenotyping or large-scale data analysis system for molecular genetics; and (5) reviewing recent studies in quantitative molecular genetics. Comprehensive discussions are rather welcome, more so than reports of identification of specific QTLs or prediction of GEBVs.

Dr. Sachiko Isobe
Guest Editor

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