Horticultural Plant Genomics and Quantitative Genetics
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: 5 February 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant molecular biology; plant genomics; quantitative genetics; plant breeding
Interests: Angiosperm phylogenomics; evo-devo of key innovations; integrative evolutionary mechanisms analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Horticultural and specialty economic crops are crucial for global agriculture, providing both nutritional security and high-value commodities for pharmaceutical, ornamental, and industrial sectors. Recent advances in genomics and quantitative genetics have revolutionized our ability to decode complex agronomic traits, accelerating precision breeding for yield, stress resilience, and quality enhancement.
Amid escalating challenges such as climate volatility, pathogen evolution, and resource use efficiency demands, integrating multi-omics data with cutting-edge computational tools is critical. This synergy enables us to identify causal genes/networks underlying key traits, optimize genomic selection models, and bridge the gap between genetic discovery and field application.
This Special Issue seeks high-quality contributions that address (but are not limited to) the following:
- Pan-genome/transcriptome construction for capturing species diversity;
- Forward/reverse genetics approaches (GWAS, QTL mapping, and CRISPR-based validation);
- Multi-omics data integration strategies (genomics, phenomics, and metabolomics);
- Machine learning-driven prediction models for trait dissection and breeding;
- Database development for germplasm genotype–phenotype associations;
- Field-to-lab translational studies applying genomic selection in real-world breeding programs.
We particularly welcome submissions that demonstrate interdisciplinary methodologies that connect molecular insights with scalable breeding solutions for understudied specialty crops.
Prof. Dr. Yanjun Zan
Dr. Honglei Li
Dr. Huan Si
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
- horticultural crop pan-genomes
- genomics-assisted breeding
- multi-omics data integration
- machine learning-driven phenomics
- genomic selection models
- germplasm genotype–phenotype databases
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