Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.1
4.9
Journals
IJMS
Special Issues
Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: Second Edition
ijms-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for IJMS Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: Second Edition

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 3074

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Chen Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Genetics and Fruit Development, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: grape; genetics; genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruit is the main source of minerals and vitamins essential for the human body and has long played important roles in human diet and health. The fruit tree industry is therefore an important driving force for the development of the world agricultural economy. Currently, rapid changes in global climate, water shortage, and environmental deterioration pose great challenges to the development of the fruit crop industry. Moreover, perennial fruit crops have a long period of development and a highly heterozygous genetic background, thereby causing the related molecular research to be more difficult compared with field crops. However, with the rapid development of modern scientific biotechnology, molecular research on fruit crop has achieved numerous remarkable advancements in recent years with regard to multiple aspects of plant genomics, molecular biology, biological chemistry, molecular breeding, genetic engineering, gene editing, and bioinformatics. These advances provide a significant theoretical basis for rapid, healthy, and sustainable development of the fruit crop industry.

This Focus Issue aims to highlight the latest progress in the molecular research on fruit crops, which covers many research areas on the growth and development and nutritional and environmental biology of fruit crops in addition to the application of modern biotechnology and bioinformatics in fruit crops, which cover grafting, flowering and fruit-set, parthenocarpy, self-incompatibility, quality improvement of fruits, post-harvest aspects, response to stress, and transduction of hormonal and/or environmental signals. We welcome submissions of original articles detailing molecular research of fruit crops and encourage the publication of research papers with major innovative technologies and original ideas. When submitting papers, you should indicate your interest in this Focus Issue in the cover letter and select “Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: 2nd Edition” from the Focus Issue list in the online submission system.

Prof. Dr. Chen Wang
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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

  • fruit crop
  • biotechnology
  • hormonal
  • environmental signals

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.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

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

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 2647 KiB  
Article
Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals Glycosylation Involving 2-O-β-D-Glucopyranosyl-L-Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis in Lycium barbarum
by Jiabin Huang, Haotian Wu, Ranran Gao, Lan Wu, Mengyue Wang, Yang Chu, Yuhua Shi, Li Xiang and Qinggang Yin
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(4), 1558; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041558 - 12 Feb 2025
Viewed by 699
Abstract
L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C, AA) is widely present in plants, but humans lack the ability to synthesize it independently. As a potent reducing agent, AA is susceptible to oxidation, making the enhancement of its stability crucial. 2-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2βG) is a stable natural [...] Read more.
L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C, AA) is widely present in plants, but humans lack the ability to synthesize it independently. As a potent reducing agent, AA is susceptible to oxidation, making the enhancement of its stability crucial. 2-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2βG) is a stable natural derivative of AA with glycosylation, initially discovered in the fruits of Lycium barbarum. Understanding the biosynthesis of AA-2βG is crucial for enhancing its production in L. barbarum. While the established biosynthesis pathway of AA constitutes the upstream of AA-2βG biosynthesis, the conclusive step of β-glycosylation remains unclear. We identified a L. barbarum cultivar by UPLC, ZN01, with a high content of AA-2βG, and compared its leaves, immature fruits, and mature fruits to a normal AA-2βG content L. barbarum cultivar for metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis. The RNA-seq and RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the expression levels of genes involved in the AA biosynthesis pathway did not consistently correlate with AA-2βG content, suggesting that the final glycosylation step may be a key determinant of AA-2βG accumulation. Subsequently, utilizing phylogenetic and co-expression analysis, we identified ten UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) and three β-glucosidases (BGLUs) which may be involved in the crucial step of the conversion from AA to AA-2βG, and the UGTs’ activities were predicted through molecular docking. Lastly, we speculated that the presence of the glycosylation process of AA might have a crucial role in maintaining AA homeostasis in L. barbarum, and deliberated on potential correlations between AA, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. Our integrated multi-omics analysis provides valuable insights into AA-2βG biosynthesis in L. barbarum, identifying thirteen candidate genes and highlighting the complex interplay between AA, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. These findings have implications for improving AA-2βG content in L. barbarum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: Second Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 7938 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Main Responsive Genes Reveals Their Regulatory Network Attended by Multi-Biological Metabolic Pathways in Paclobutrazol (PAC)-Modulated Grape Seed Development (GSD) at the Stone-Hardening Stage
by Rana Badar Aziz, Ji Wei, Qiqi Wu, Siyan Song, Hui Yang, Xinpeng Chen, Ying Wang, Ruiqiang Chao, Naila Mir Baz, Haitao Chen, Yuxuan Song, Jinggui Fang and Chen Wang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(3), 1102; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26031102 - 27 Jan 2025
Viewed by 945
Abstract
Paclobutrazol (PAC) is a significant inhibitor of gibberellin biosynthesis that profoundly influences grape seed development (GSD) through the modulation of key molecular pathways. Here, we identified 6659 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in GSD under PAC treatment, with 3601 up-regulated and 3058 down-regulated. An [...] Read more.
Paclobutrazol (PAC) is a significant inhibitor of gibberellin biosynthesis that profoundly influences grape seed development (GSD) through the modulation of key molecular pathways. Here, we identified 6659 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in GSD under PAC treatment, with 3601 up-regulated and 3058 down-regulated. An analysis of hormone-associated DEGs revealed that auxin-related genes (16) were the most up-regulated, followed by genes associated with brassinosteroid and ABA. In contrast, cytokinin- and gibberellin-related genes exhibited a suppressive response. PAC treatment also triggered extensive reprogramming of metabolic pathways, including 44 genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism (24 up-regulated, 20 down-regulated), 101 cell wall-related genes (53 up-regulated, 48 down-regulated), and 110 transcription factors (77 up-regulated, 33 down-regulated). A cis-element analysis of the promoters of 76 hormone-responsive genes identified 14 types of hormone-responsive cis-elements, with ABRE being the most prevalent. Genes responsible for inactivating active hormones, such as ABA-VvPP2CA, IAA-VvGH3.1, and CK-VvARR9-1, were also identified. Concurrently, PAC negatively regulated hormone-active genes, including BR-VvXTH25, SA-VvTGA21-3, and JA-VvTIFY3B, leading to reduced levels of these hormones. PAC modulates GSD by mediating the dynamic balance of multi-hormone accumulations. Furthermore, development-related cis-elements such as the AACA-motif, AAGAA-motif, AC-I, AC-II, O2-site, as-1, CAT-box, CCAAT-box, circadian, GCN4-motif, RY-element, HD-Zip 1, HD-Zip 3, MSA-like, MYB-like sequence, MYB-binding site, and MYB recognition site, were found in key DEGs involved in starch and sucrose metabolism, cell wall remodeling, and epigenetic regulation. This indicates that these pathways are responsive to PAC modulation during GSD. Finally, we developed a comprehensive regulatory network to illustrate the PAC-mediated pathways involved in GSD. This network integrates multi-hormonal signaling, cell wall remodeling, epigenetic regulation, and transcription factors, highlighting PAC’s pivotal role in GSD. Our findings provide new insights into the complex mechanisms underlying PAC’s effects on grapevine development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: Second Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 18149 KiB  
Article
Integration of ATAC-Seq and RNA-Seq Reveals the Role of FaTIP1 in Red Light-Induced Fruit Ripening in Strawberry
by Xiaodong Chen, Weijian Cai, Jin Xia, Jing Wang, Huazhao Yuan, Qinglian Wang, Fuhua Pang, Mizhen Zhao and Yushan Qiao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(2), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26020511 - 9 Jan 2025
Viewed by 931
Abstract
Light is an important environmental factor affecting the ripening and quality of strawberry fruit. Previous studies have shown that red light treatment can promote strawberry ripening. Gene expression is closely associated with chromatin openness, and changes in chromatin accessibility are crucial for the [...] Read more.
Light is an important environmental factor affecting the ripening and quality of strawberry fruit. Previous studies have shown that red light treatment can promote strawberry ripening. Gene expression is closely associated with chromatin openness, and changes in chromatin accessibility are crucial for the binding of transcription factors to downstream regulatory sequences. However, the changes in chromatin accessibility in response to different light treatments in octoploid strawberry plants are still unclear. In this study, the landscape of chromatin accessibility of octoploid strawberry under red (R) and yellow–green (YG) light conditions was analyzed by the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq). Through bioinformatics and Venn diagram analyses, a total of 1456 and 1854 group-specific genes (GSGs) were screened in the R and YG groups, respectively. By using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), 440 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Among these genes, 194 were upregulated under red light treatment. Through joint analysis of ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data, three red group-specific genes with increased expression were identified, namely, FaTIP1, FaQKY and FaLBD1. Through gene expression and transient transformation analyses of strawberry fruit, we further demonstrated that FaTIP1 can respond to red light induction and promote the ripening process of strawberry fruit. Our results provide a reference for the study of chromatin accessibility in octoploid strawberry and reveal new factors involved in the fruit’s response to red light and the regulation of the ripening process of strawberry fruit. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Research in Fruit Crop: Second Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop