Genetic Modification Techniques in Crop Breeding

A Special Issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747) belonging to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 522

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Genetic Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 49315, Republic of Korea
Interests: genome editing; epigenetics; long non-coding RNA; protein-protein interaction; environmental triggers; gene silencing

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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Microbiology, National Center of Excellence in Statistical and Mathematical Modelling on Bio-Resources Management (NCOE-MHRD), Thiagarajar College, Madurai 625009, India
Interests: plant tissue culture; genetic engineering; DNA-free genome editing; molecular breeding; plant physiology; gene silencing; phytochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Genetic modification techniques in crop breeding are essential for addressing the significant challenges faced in agriculture today. Altering the genetic material of crops to introduce beneficial traits that enhance food production and resilience is invaluable. These techniques have transformed agriculture, enabling farmers to cultivate crops that are more resistant to diseases, pests, and environmental stresses, while also improving yield and nutritional content. Investing in these advancements is not just about increasing agricultural efficiency; it is also about ensuring food security for a growing global population amid the uncertainties of climate change. Embracing genetic modification has the potential to pave the way for a sustainable future, making it a vital aspect of modern agriculture that we should advocate for and support.

This Special Issue, with your potential contributions, aims to collect and showcase the latest research findings and advancements in crop breeding using various genetic modification techniques and related fields. We are deeply grateful for your potential contributions to this essential area of research.

Topics of interest for this issue include, but are not limited to:

  1. Traditional Breeding (Conventional Crossbreeding)
  2. Genetic Engineering
  3. Gene Editing
  4. Gene Silencing (RNA Interference)
  5. Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) 
  6. Gene Stacking
  7. TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes)
  8. Applications of genetic modification in crop breeding
  9. Ethical and Environmental Considerations

We welcome researchers, scholars, and practitioners globally to submit original research and review articles on the topics above.

Dr. Jae Bok Heo
Guest Editor

Dr. Sivabalan Karthik
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • crop improvement
  • functional genomics
  • GM and GE regulation
  • GM and GE risk assessment
  • crop breeding
  • genome evolution

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 17950 KB  
Article
CabHLH18-like Gene Promotes Leaf Yellowing and Directly Activates CaCLH1 in Pepper
by Zhanghong Yu, Zhe Zhang, Luokun Rong, Linbin Yan and Yaning Meng
Plants 2026, 15(17), 2627; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15172627 - 28 Aug 2026
Abstract
Yellow leaf phenotypes represent an important trait in pepper and enrich genetic germplasm resources. Previous studies have primarily examined leaf yellowing caused by defects in chlorophyll biosynthesis, whereas the functions of chlorophyll degradation-related genes remain less well characterized. In this study, a yellow [...] Read more.
Yellow leaf phenotypes represent an important trait in pepper and enrich genetic germplasm resources. Previous studies have primarily examined leaf yellowing caused by defects in chlorophyll biosynthesis, whereas the functions of chlorophyll degradation-related genes remain less well characterized. In this study, a yellow leaf phenotype (NY) was identified. Transmission electron microscopy and RNA-seq showed that differentially expressed genes were concentrated in photosynthesis- and chlorophyll-related pathways. CaCLH1 was then demonstrated to promote chlorophyll degradation. Yeast one-hybrid analysis identified the CabHLH18-like gene as a direct interactor with the CaCLH1 promoter and as a positive regulator of CaCLH1 transcription. The CabHLH18-like gene was highly expressed in yellow leaf pepper. The CabHLH18-like gene was subsequently isolated and characterized, revealing nuclear localization and transcription factor activity. Functional analysis showed that silencing the CabHLH18-like gene increased chlorophyll content, whereas its overexpression reduced chlorophyll content. These findings indicate that CaCLH1 is a direct downstream target of the CabHLH18-like gene and contributes to CabHLH18-like-gene-mediated regulation of leaf yellowing in pepper. This study refines mechanistic understanding of leaf yellowing and provides a foundation for future research and breeding applications in pepper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Modification Techniques in Crop Breeding)
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