Exploration of Aneuploidy and Polyploidy in the Evolution of Horticultural Crops and Crop Wild Relatives
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: genetic diversity; systematics; population genetics; orchidaceae; karyotyping; botany; chromosomes; evolutionary biology; fluorescence in situ hybridization; genetics
Interests: plant biosystematics; cytogenetics; conservation of mediterranean flora; orchidaceae
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: vascular flora; taxonomy; systematics; vegetation; phytosociology; threatened plant taxa; red listing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In plants, variations in chromosome number, e.g. aneuploidy and polyploidy, play a key role in both the natural evolution of species and human-driven breeding. In horticultural crops, these cytogenetic phenomena are significant not only for understanding evolutionary history but also for advancing breeding strategies. However, not all horticultural crops have been thoroughly investigated from a cytogenetic perspective. Many still lack essential data on chromosome number, structure, and comparative chromosome maps with related wild species. The evolution of horticultural crops and their wild relatives has been shaped not only by human selection and genetic mutations but also by key cytogenetic processes, including polyploidy, chromosomal restructuring, hybridization and introgression between cultivated and wild plants, as well as alterations in genome organization. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is vital for crop improvement, the management of genetic diversity, and the sustainable use of wild relatives as genetic resources.
In this Special Issue, we invite original research and review articles addressing topics such as the following: (1) Cytogenetic evolution of horticultural crops and their wild relatives; (2) classical and molecular cytogenetic approaches (e.g., chromosome number variation, chromosomal rearrangements, chromosomal markers, and fluorescence in situ hybridization [FISH]) as essential tools for studying aneuploidy and polyploidy in horticultural crops; (3) cytogenetic studies on horticultural crops that remain poorly characterized, particularly those lacking data on chromosome number, structure, or comparative maps with related wild species.
Dr. Saverio D’Emerico
Dr. Alessio Turco
Dr. Robert Philipp Wagensommer
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.
Keywords
- aneuploidy
- classical and molecular genetics
- crop wild relatives
- epigenetics
- evolution
- genetic diversity
- horticultural crops
- polyploidy
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