Identification and Molecular Phylogeny of Forest Microorganisms
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Biodiversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 872
Editors
Interests: fungi; Ascomycota; plant disease; taxonomy; biological control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forest ecosystems harbor an immense diversity of microorganisms. As key drivers of ecosystem functions, forest microorganisms play pivotal roles in nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, plant symbiosis, and disease dynamics. However, due to morphological overlaps and subtle variations, traditional taxonomy often faces significant challenges in accurately delimiting species boundaries. Consequently, a vast number of ecologically or pathologically significant microorganisms remain undescribed or subject to taxonomic confusion.
With the rapid advancement of molecular techniques—particularly DNA barcoding, Multi-Locus Sequence Analysis (MLSA), and genomics—microbial systematics has undergone a revolution. Modern molecular phylogenetic analyses have not only revealed complex evolutionary relationships among microorganisms but have also facilitated the discovery of numerous cryptic species and the revision of obsolete classification systems.
This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest advances in the identification and molecular phylogeny of forest microorganisms. We invite submissions covering topics such as the description of new taxa from forest environments, phylogenetic resolution of species complexes, molecular identification of important forest pathogens or endophytes, and community diversity analyses based on metagenomics. This Special Issue strives to provide a solid foundation for understanding the ecological functions and biodiversity conservation of forest microorganisms through accurate species identification and robust phylogenetic frameworks.
Dr. Ning Jiang
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Rong Ma
Guest Editor Assistant
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-anonymized 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
- microbial taxonomy
- molecular phylogeny
- forest pathology
- fungal diversity
- new species
- endophytes
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