Drought Stress Adaptation in Bioenergy Crops
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2026 | Viewed by 27
Special Issue Editors
Interests: energy crop; breeding; agronomy; GWAS; QTL; abiotic
Interests: bioinformatics; gene editing; molecular breeding; plant biotic and abiotic stress tolerance; plant multi-omics and plant population genetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With global climate change, the ability of energy crops such as Miscanthus, switchgrass, and energy cane to withstand drought stress has become a critical research focus. This Special Issue aims to gather the latest studies that investigate the genetic mechanisms and adaptive strategies of energy crops under water-limited conditions. We especially welcome research using GWAS, QTL mapping, phenotypic analysis, and physiological assessments to reveal drought tolerance traits and their genetic basis. Studies applying multi-omics approaches—such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and integrative phenotyping—are encouraged to explore gene–trait relationships, stress response pathways, and adaptive flexibility. By advancing our understanding of drought resilience, this Special Issue seeks to link fundamental discoveries with practical applications, promoting the development of high-biomass energy crop varieties suitable for cultivation on marginal and arid lands. Ultimately, we aim to contribute to sustainable bioenergy production in the face of global water scarcity.
Dr. Liang Xiao
Dr. Zemao Yang
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.
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 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
- energy crops
- drought stress
- genomics
- phenotypic adaptation
- GWAS
- QTL mapping
- physiology
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