Advances in Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement of Tropical Crops

Dear Colleagues,

Tropical crops are important economic crops in more than 100 tropical countries around the world. Tropical horticultural crops, including tropical fruit trees, tropical unique vegetables, and tropical flowers, are important components of tropical crops. Germplasm resources are the genetic source for improving crops. The preservation method of germplasm resources has shifted from in situ preservation to facility preservation (germplasm bank, test-tube seedling bank, ultra-low temperature storage, germplasm nursery, DNA bank). In recent years, the accurate evaluation of collected germplasm resources using molecular biological techniques has become a research hotspot. The identification of phenotypic traits has shifted from single-environment, low-throughput, extensive identification to multi-year, multi-environment, focused traits, high-throughput, and accurate identification. With the rapid development of omics technology, intelligence, and information technology, reliable means have been provided for accurate and rapid exploration and application of important traits, and identification and evaluation have entered a new stage. At the same time, aiming at breeding objectives such as high yield, high quality, disease resistance, insect resistance, and stress resistance, a large number of excellent germplasm have been created through natural or artificial variation, artificial hybridization, seedling selection, induced mutation, distant hybridization, gene editing, and other techniques and methods. These achievements have laid a good foundation for tropical crop breeding. With the advancement of technology, the genetic improvement of tropical crops is shifting from molecular markers, whole genome selection, and transgenosis to multi-omics, big data, genome design, gene editing, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence.

We welcome the submission of articles from the following areas:

1. New progress in the preservation of germplasm resources;
2. New strategies for germplasm resource innovation;
3. Accurate evaluation of germplasm resources;
4. New technologies and methods for genetic improvement of germplasm resources;
5. Cultivation of new varieties.

Prof. Dr. Xintao Lei
Dr. Yong Xiao
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. 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.

• tropical horticultural crop
• germplasm resources
• new germplasm creation
• accurate evaluation
• genetic improvement