In Vitro Culture of Crops: Bridging Heritage and Innovation

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Propagation and Seeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2025 | Viewed by 316

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CREA, Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi dell’Economia Agraria—Centro Olivicoltura, Frutticoltura e Agrumicoltura, 00134 Rome, Italy
Interests: plant tissue culture; plant secondary metabolism; salt tolerance; micropropagation; in vitro culture; callus culture; expression studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Harnessing in vitro plant cultures to address the dual challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change represents a relatively unexplored scientific frontier. This proposal focuses on emerging technologies and their applications to address global challenges such as climate change, food security, and the production of sustainable resources. This approach bridges conservation, sustainability, and biotechnology, offering innovative tools to preserve crop genetic resources and mitigate the effects of global warming. It also integrates interdisciplinary relevant topics like AI, 3D cultures, and space exploration.

Themes:

  1. In Vitro Cultures and Food Security in a Changing Climate.
    • Application of in vitro cultures for the conservation of traditional food crops at risk.
    • Plant cell tissue banks to ensure the resilience of genetic food resources.
  2. Crop Resilience to Extreme Climatic Conditions.
    • Development of cell lines and plant varieties tolerant to drought, salinity, and high temperatures.
    • In vitro manipulation of genetic traits to enhance plant adaptability to climate change.
  3. Bioreactors for in vitro cultures as low-impact solutions for agricultural production.
  4. New Developments in Food and Pharmaceutical Security.
    • Cellular cultures for the production of "in vitro" food (e.g., alternative plant-based proteins).
    • In vitro synthesis of high-value secondary metabolites for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.
  5. In vitro cultures for bioremediation and the absorption of environmental contaminants.
  6. Advanced Biotechnologies.
    • Applications of genetic editing (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9) to enhance crop yield.
    • Use of innovative biomaterials for culture supports.
  7. Multidimensional Approaches: 3D Cultures and Plant Organoids.
  8. Digitization and Automation.
    • Integration of artificial intelligence and sensors for automated culture monitoring.
    • Use of robotic systems for large-scale propagation.
  9. In Vitro and Space Exploration.
    • Applications of in vitro plant cultures to support human life during long-term space missions.
    • Development of bioreactors for food and oxygen production in extraterrestrial environments.

Dr. Simona Lucioli
Guest Editor

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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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

  • crop in vitro cultures
  • climate change
  • food security
  • crop resilience bioreactors
  • bioremediation
  • 3D plant cultures
  • plant organoids
  • digitization
  • space exploration

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 2466 KiB  
Article
Enhancement of Phenolic and Polyacetylene Accumulation in Lobelia chinensis (Chinese lobelia) Plantlet Cultures Through Yeast Extract and Salicylic Acid Elicitation
by Xinlei Bai, Han-Sol Lee, Jong-Eun Han, Hosakatte Niranjana Murthy and So-Young Park
Horticulturae 2025, 11(6), 612; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11060612 - 30 May 2025
Viewed by 158
Abstract
Lobelia chinensis (Lour.) is a medicinal plant that contains phytochemicals, such as phenolics and polyacetylene compounds, with beneficial biological activities. In vitro cultures are typically employed for biomass generation and plant multiplication. However, the current biotechnological approaches for producing these chemicals are ineffective, [...] Read more.
Lobelia chinensis (Lour.) is a medicinal plant that contains phytochemicals, such as phenolics and polyacetylene compounds, with beneficial biological activities. In vitro cultures are typically employed for biomass generation and plant multiplication. However, the current biotechnological approaches for producing these chemicals are ineffective, which is why bioelicitors are being used to boost synthesis of these molecules. Plantlet cultures were established in vitro using Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 3% sucrose (w/v). Following 4 weeks of culture initiation, the plantlet cultures were treated with 0, 25, 50, 100, or 200 mg L−1 of yeast extract (YE) or with 0, 25, 50, 100, or 200 µM of salicylic acid (SA) for 1 week to boost the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The amounts of total phenolics, total flavonoids, specific phenolics including catechin, phloretic acid, linarin, and polyacetylenes, including lobetyolinin and lobetylin, were considerably elevated in the plantlet cultures treated with 50 mg L−1 YE and/or 25 µM SA. The 2,2 Diphenyl 1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethybenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were performed to assess the antioxidant properties of the plantlets. The elicitor-treated plantlets were found to have higher antioxidant activity. Thus, plantlet biomass produced in vitro can be used as a raw material to produce medicinal and nutraceutical products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue In Vitro Culture of Crops: Bridging Heritage and Innovation)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop