Tree Epigenetic Diversity and Its Role in Tree Adaptation

Dear Colleagues,

Trees play an important role in global biodiversity, the carbon cycle, and climate regulation. Their long lifespan requires exceptional adaptive strategies to cope with environmental stresses such as drought, pathogens, and extreme temperatures. Traditionally, adaptation in trees has been studied in the light of genetic diversity. However, it has been shown that epigenetic diversity can significantly influence how trees respond to environmental stresses. Epigenetic mechanisms (DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNAs) play a critical role in regulating gene expression and activating phenotypic plasticity in response to changing climatic conditions. These mechanisms allow trees to rapidly adapt traits such as leaf morphology, flowering time, and stress tolerance without requiring changes to DNA sequence. This flexibility is critical for coping with short-term fluctuations in environmental conditions. In some tree species, environmentally induced epigenetic states are passed to offspring, a phenomenon known as transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. While the stability of such marks remains under investigation, this mechanism offers a potential pathway for rapid evolutionary responses in long-lived organisms.

In this Special Issue, we review the latest developments and perspectives in the field of epigenetic diversity in trees, including its main mechanisms, how it contributes to environmental response and long-term adaptation, the potential for epigenetic traits to be inherited from generation to generation, whether it affects the resilience of forests to ever-changing climate conditions, management strategies, and new technologies applied to the protection and conservation of forest ecosystems. Submissions of original research articles and reviews are welcome. 

Dr. Ermioni Malliarou
Dr. Evangelia V. Avramidou
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.