Genetics and Cell Biology in Crop Improvement

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1238

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 311400, China
Interests: rice (Oryza sativa L.); developmental biology; plant genetics; molecular biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, China National Rice Research Insti-tute, Hangzhou 311400, China
Interests: synthetic biology; protein interactome, plant genomics and genetics; molecular breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global food security faces unprecedented challenges due to population growth, increasing per capita food demand, and the degradation of arable land. These issues are exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, including elevated atmospheric CO2 levels, rising temperatures, and shifting rainfall patterns, which directly affect crop productivity and field management strategies. Addressing these challenges requires a focus on developing innovative solutions in agriculture.

This Special Issue emphasizes the integration of advanced genetic and cellular biology tools to drive crop improvement. Techniques such as synthetic biology, gene editing, metabolic engineering, and molecular breeding are instrumental in developing plant varieties with superior traits, including higher yields, enhanced resistance to diseases, improved nutritional content, and greater tolerance to environmental stresses. A deeper exploration of the genetic and cellular mechanisms underlying plant growth and development is essential for achieving these goals.

This Special Issue invites original research articles and comprehensive reviews that align with this theme. We believe that your contributions will significantly shape the future of crop improvement.

Dr. Zhiyong Li
Dr. Jian Zhang
Dr. Jie Huang
Dr. Xixi Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • plant genomics and genetics
  • gene cloning and function
  • crop molecular breeding
  • germplasm enhancement
  • genetic engineering
  • plant cell biology
  • crop adaptability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2478 KiB  
Article
Cost-Effective Detection of SNPs and Structural Variations in Full-Length Genes of Wheat and Sunflower Using Multiplex PCR and Rapid Nanopore Kit
by Ekaterina Polkhovskaya, Evgeniy Moskalev, Pavel Merkulov, Ksenia Dudnikova, Maxim Dudnikov, Ivan Gruzdev, Yakov Demurin, Alexander Soloviev and Ilya Kirov
Biology 2025, 14(2), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14020138 - 29 Jan 2025
Viewed by 978
Abstract
The rapid identification of allele variants in target genes is crucial for accelerating marker-assisted selection (MAS) in plant breeding. Although current high-throughput genotyping methods are efficient in detecting known polymorphisms, they are limited when multiple variant sites are scattered along the gene. This [...] Read more.
The rapid identification of allele variants in target genes is crucial for accelerating marker-assisted selection (MAS) in plant breeding. Although current high-throughput genotyping methods are efficient in detecting known polymorphisms, they are limited when multiple variant sites are scattered along the gene. This study presents a target amplicon sequencing approach using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT-TAS) to rapidly sequence full-length genes and identify allele variants in sunflower and wheat collections. This procedure combines multiplex PCR and a rapid sequencing kit, significantly reducing the time and cost compared to previous methods. The efficiency of the approach was demonstrated by sequencing four genes (Ahasl1, Ahasl2, Ahasl3, and FAD2) in 40 sunflower genotypes and three genes (Ppo, Wx, and Lox) in 30 wheat genotypes. The ONT-TAS revealed a complete picture of SNPs and InDels distributed over the individual alleles, enabling rapid (4.5 h for PCR and sequencing) characterization of the genetic diversity of the target genes in the germplasm collections. The results showed a significant diversity of the Ahasl1/Ahasl3 and Wx-A/Lox-B genes in the sunflower and wheat collections, respectively. This method offers a high-throughput, cost-effective (USD 3.4 per gene) solution for genotyping and identifying novel allele variants in plant breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Cell Biology in Crop Improvement)
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