Study on Organellar Genomes of Vascular Plants
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: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 651
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant organellar genomes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) are key carriers of genetic information that exist in many copies in the cell and are fundamental to understanding plant cellular functions and evolutionary history. Chloroplast genomes were the first to be sequenced and described in plants and are essential for photosynthesis and other biosynthetic activities.
Chloroplast genomes, generally more conserved than mitochondrial genomes, range from 120 to 160 kb and contain genes crucial for photosynthesis, ribosomal proteins, and RNA components. Despite this conservation, cpDNA exhibits structural and content variations among plant lineages, indicative of a complex evolutionary trajectory involving gene duplication and transfer. Studies of chloroplast genomes have demonstrated their variability at the species level, and their polymorphic intergenic regions are now widely used in studies of phylogenetics, phylogeography, and molecular evolution.
Mitochondrial genomes are central to energy production, and in contrast to chloroplast genomes, they are well known for their very large size and have many unique features that distinguish them from animal mitogenomes. This variation is attributable to frequent recombination, horizontal gene transfer, and gene loss.
The research on these genomes has been propelled by advancements in sequencing technologies, which have provided deeper insights into their structure and evolution. These studies are crucial for understanding plant biology, including phylogeny, evolutionary adaptation, and cellular processes and responses to environmental stresses, thereby offering avenues for agricultural innovation and conservation strategies.
Therefore, this Special Issue aims to explore the latest advances in research on the topic. We welcome submissions of both original research and review articles.
Dr. Monika Szczecińska
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
- chloroplast DNA (cpDNA)
- plant evolution
- plant organellar genome
- genomics
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