Inside DNA: Bioinformatics for Reading, Re-Reading, Comparing and Rewriting Plant Genomes
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 September 2026 | Viewed by 124
Editor
Interests: bioinformatics; computational biology; genomics; transcriptomics; population genomics; molecular breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The sequencing of the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana marked a turning point in plant biology. This landmark achievement enabled researchers to explore the fundamental mechanisms underlying plant development, responses to environmental stress, and interactions with their surroundings. It represented not only a major scientific success but also the prologue to a remarkable journey of discovery. The availability of a high-quality reference genome soon triggered a cascade of resequencing projects, aimed at reading new DNA sequences in comparison with the reference. These efforts dramatically expanded our understanding of genetic variation and biodiversity across plant populations, particularly in species of agronomic importance. More recently, this scientific trajectory has culminated in the construction of pangenomes, which capture the collective genetic repertoire of multiple individuals rather than relying on a single reference sequence. By integrating core and variable genomic regions, pangenomes provide a more comprehensive representation of genomic diversity and open new perspectives for evolutionary studies, crop improvement, and functional genomics.
This increasingly deep view into the genome is opening the door to unprecedented opportunities. Understanding DNA at high resolution enables innovative approaches to biological research and biotechnology. Advances in genome analysis, comparative genomics, and genome editing technologies are now allowing scientists not only to read and compare genomes but also to rewrite them, paving the way for transformative applications in agriculture, environmental sustainability, and plant science.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in bioinformatics and genomics approaches for reading, comparing, and engineering genomes, with particular attention to the emerging role of pangenomics and large-scale comparative analyses.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, and methodological papers addressing topics including, but not limited to genome assembly and annotation, resequencing and comparative genomics, pangenome construction and analysis, structural variation, population genomics, functional genomics, computational tools and pipelines for genomic analysis, and genome editing strategies informed by genomic data.
This Special Issue invites contributions that explore how bioinformatics, genomics, and biotechnologies are transforming our ability to decode, compare, and ultimately redesign genomes, expanding our understanding of biodiversity and enabling innovative applications in plant science and beyond.
Dr. Nunzio D'Agostino
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- bioinformatics
- computational genomics
- pan-genomics
- population genomics
- genetic diversity
- predictive breeding
- environmental stress
- crop improvement
- functional genomics
- plant biotechnology
- genome editing
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