Breeding Strategies to Enhance Quality and Resilience in Horticultural Crops
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: plant breeding; organic farming; quality traits; adaptation to climate change; flavor and aroma improvement; vegetables; hybridization; gene expression; traditional varieties; germplasm characterization and use
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, horticultural crops have faced a range of challenges that threaten food security. Among others, the effects of the climate change, both direct (drought, soil and water salinization, increasing temperatures) and indirect (e.g., new pathogens, changes in biological equilibriums in the soil). Also, high-input farming pollutes the atmosphere, water and soils, and requires huge amounts of water, fertilizers and non-renewable resources, etc. Furthermore, they are based on a few modern varieties that encompass narrow cultivated diversity, which presents a risk for food security. Finally, the interest of consumers in healthier fruits and vegetables offers the opportunity to new niches for high-quality foods. In this context, breeding strategies can provide an essential support to achieve more diverse and resilient farming systems, based on a plethora of improved varieties obtained from landraces (including organic heterogeneous materials), bred for adaptation to low-input conditions (i.e., water- and/or fertilizer-use efficiency, salinity, high temperatures) and with enhanced taste, flavor and/or nutritional value, as well as the identification of genes linked to these traits. The present Special Issue welcomes studies investigating breeding strategies and techniques that enhance the quality and adaptability of horticultural crops to new pedoclimatic challenges.
Prof. Dr. Adrían Rodríguez-Burruezo
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- acids
- antioxidants
- crop resilience and adaptability
- cultivated diversity
- genome wide association study
- genomic selection
- quantitative trait loci
- sugars
- valorization of landraces
- volatiles
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