Recent Advances in Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology of Solanaceous Crops

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Genetics, Genomics, Breeding, and Biotechnology (G2B2)".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2025 | Viewed by 255

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Vegetable Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: solanaceae vegetables; genetic mapping; functional genomics; molecular-assisted breeding

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticultural, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
Interests: solanaceae vegetables; genetics; genome editing; fruit development; molecular breeding

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350001, China
Interests: solanaceae vegetables; plant immunity; plant physiology; plant biochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solanaceous crops, such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), are important horticultural species of the Solanaceae family with significant economic and nutritional values. Plant breeding has played an important role in the improvement of Solanaceous crops through the development of new cultivars with significantly improved plant architecture, yield, and quality. However, these important traits are easily affected by the various biotic and abiotic stresses, including pathogens, insect pests, drought, light, extreme temperatures, etc. Currently, conventional hybridization is still the main method of cultivar development for Solanaceous crops.

The objective of this Special Issue entitled “Recent Advances in Genetics, Breeding, and Biotechnology of Solanaceous Crops” is to present the recent progress in all research towards the improvement of Solanaceous crops. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. The application of advanced techniques to explore the relationships or mechanisms between phenotypes and their corresponding genotypes, including multi-omics, single-cell RNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, ATAC-seq, molecular markers, tissue culture, gene editing, transgenic plants, etc.
  2. Phenotype–genotype associations, including genetic mapping, bulk segregant analysis, etc.
  3. Phenomics and the analysis of germplasm resources.
  4. Functional validation of genes governing traits and their molecular mechanisms.
  5. Genome-wide analysis of important gene families.

Dr. Qian You
Prof. Dr. Feng Wang
Dr. Qiang Li
Dr. Zhiqin Liu
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.

Keywords

  • solanaceous crops
  • genetic resources
  • fruit quality
  • genetic mapping
  • multi-omics
  • biotic and abiotic stresses
  • plant immunity
  • molecular marker

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

20 pages, 2684 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Evaluation and Screening for Salt Tolerance Germplasms at Seedling Stage in Eggplant
by Yu Fang, Zhiguo Wang, Yingnan Du, Shuaitao Di, Zhenwei Gao, Xueping Chen, Weiwei Zhang, Lijun Song, Shuangxia Luo and Qiang Li
Horticulturae 2025, 11(6), 697; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11060697 (registering DOI) - 17 Jun 2025
Abstract
Salt stress presents a major environmental constraint to global agricultural productivity and crop yield stability. Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most extensively cultivated Solanaceae crops worldwide, and the characterization of its germplasm for salt tolerance is essential to develop [...] Read more.
Salt stress presents a major environmental constraint to global agricultural productivity and crop yield stability. Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most extensively cultivated Solanaceae crops worldwide, and the characterization of its germplasm for salt tolerance is essential to develop breeding programs to target its abiotic stress resilience. In this study, 200 mmol/L NaCl was identified as the initial screening concentration for the discrimination of salt tolerance levels in eggplant seedlings. Salt tolerance indices derived from 13 descriptors, including the plant height, stem diameter, and leaf number, were used to evaluate 165 germplasm resources (108 inbred lines and 57 commercial cultivars). These 165 germplasms were grouped into five groups, and six highly tolerant and eight highly sensitive germplasms were identified. Importantly, a stepwise multiple linear regression model incorporating the root surface area, leaf number, leaf water content, malondialdehyde content, and stem water content achieved 90.02% predictive accuracy, establishing a high-throughput screening protocol for germplasm selection. This systematic approach provides methodological advancements for precision breeding and identifies key physiological and morphological markers for salt tolerance improvement in eggplant. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop