Advances in Tree Improvement and Biotechnology: Paving the Way for a Sustainable Forestry

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Genetics and Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1086

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. College of Forestry Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
2. Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
Interests: tree improvement; physiology; climate change adaptation; varietal forestry

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Guest Editor
College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Interests: transcriptional and translational regulation; genetic and genomic basis of wood formation; tissue culture and genetic engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Interests: sex chromosome; evolution of sex; molecular evolution; population genetics; genome

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Guest Editor
Department of Forest, Grassland and Freshwater Ecology, French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), 33612 Cestas, France
Interests: genetic engineering; somatic embryogenesis; cryopreservation; rejuvenation; epigenetics; micropropagation; reverse genetics; tree breeding; biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on tree improvement and biotechnology frontiers, emphasizing how these innovations contribute to sustainable forestry and environmental conservation. As the demand for forest resources grows, it is crucial to develop resilient and productive forests with improved tolerance to stresses related to environmental change impact, pests, and diseases. Researchers are unlocking new potential in forest management, conservation, and restoration by integrating traditional and modern tree improvement techniques with biotechnological advancements. The contributions in this issue explore cutting-edge research in genetic engineering, molecular breeding, and advanced propagation methods aimed at enhancing the sustainability and productivity of forests. These studies highlight the critical role of tree biotechnology in ensuring the long-term health and productivity of global forest ecosystems, supporting environmental sustainability and resource management goals for future human society.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Biomass, Bioenergy, Timber and Non-Timber Productions;
  • Genomic selection of trees;
  • Multi-varietal forestry and tree improvement progress;
  • Tree Improvement for Advanced Climate Resilience, Forest Health, and Pest/Disease Management;
  • Applying Ecological Genetics and Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources;
  • Socio-economic Impacts of Tree Biotechnology and Tree Improvement.

Dr. Chen Ding
Dr. Hao Chen
Dr. Ran Zhou
Dr. Jean-François Trontin
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Forests 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

  • tree improvement
  • molecular breeding
  • forest biotechnology
  • forest health
  • biomass
  • conservation
  • sustainable forestry
  • genomic selection

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 3216 KiB  
Article
Natural Regeneration, Genetic Diversity, and Provenance of Introduced Fagus sylvatica L. Stands in Latvia
by Dainis Edgars Ruņģis, Darius Danusevičius, Rūta Kembrytė-Ilčiukienė, Līga Jansone, Marta Kempf and Āris Jansons
Forests 2025, 16(1), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16010178 - 18 Jan 2025
Viewed by 775
Abstract
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) has a wide distribution range through Central and Western Europe, and is tolerant to a range of environmental factors and shade. Due to the high wood quality and growth rate, there is increasing interest in the cultivation [...] Read more.
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) has a wide distribution range through Central and Western Europe, and is tolerant to a range of environmental factors and shade. Due to the high wood quality and growth rate, there is increasing interest in the cultivation of this species in Northern Europe, and European beech is appropriate for closer-to-nature forestry management practices, where shade-tolerant species are essential. Latvia is located to the north of the natural range of European beech, but stands have been successfully established in the 19th century, using reproductive material of unknown origin. This study investigated the natural regeneration, genetic diversity, population structure, and provenance of Latvian F. sylvatica populations from two areas in western Latvia—Skede and Kaleti. Parent–offspring analyses did not identify a decrease in genetic diversity parameters in the naturally regenerated offspring, indicating that natural regeneration has not decreased the genetic viability of these populations. The three stands located in Skede were genetically very similar (pairwise Fst values ranged from 0.004 to 0.007). The Kaleti stand was more differentiated from the Skede stands (pairwise Fst values with the Skede stands ranged from 0.047 to 0.051), and the genetic diversity was low (He = 0.638). This is probably a result of the use of reproductive material collected from a very limited number of individuals to establish this stand, which also prevented the determination of the origin of this material. The Skede stand was compared to German, Polish, and Swedish F. sylvatica populations, and a Bayesian clustering analysis indicated that the most likely provenance of the Skede stand in Latvia was from southern Germany. Full article
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