Stress Tolerance and Genetic Improvement in Fiber Crops

Dear Colleagues,

The forthcoming Special Issue "Stress Tolerance and Genetic Improvement in Fiber Crops" addresses a paramount challenge in contemporary agriculture: the deleterious effects of abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, and salinity on crop yield and productivity. These stresses, exacerbated by climate change and water scarcity, significantly threaten global agricultural output, particularly during critical growth stages such as reproduction, where yield losses can surpass 50%.

Recent advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies and the availability of reference genomes for various crops have catalyzed significant progress in understanding the genetic foundations of stress tolerance in fiber crops. The isolation and functional characterization of stress-responsive genes, alongside comprehensive analyses of gene regulatory networks, have illuminated the molecular mechanisms underpinning plant responses to abiotic stresses.

This Special Issue will concentrate on cutting-edge research in several pivotal domains:

1. Abiotic Stress Responses: elucidating the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms by which fiber crops respond to environmental stresses such as drought, heat, and salinity.
2. Genomic Research: utilizing high-throughput sequencing and other genomic tools to identify, annotate, and characterize genes associated with stress tolerance in fiber crops.
3. Gene–Abiotic Stress Interactions: dissecting the complex interactions between genes and abiotic stress factors to pinpoint key genetic determinants and pathways that confer stress tolerance.
4. Gene Regulation Mechanisms: investigating the regulatory frameworks governing stress-responsive gene expression, including the roles of transcription factors, non-coding RNAs, and epigenetic modifications in modulating these responses.
5. Stress Signal Transduction: unraveling the signaling pathways involved in stress perception and response, with a focus on identifying critical signaling molecules and their interactions that drive adaptive responses.
6. Multiomics: multiomics data integration would help to enhance the identification and prediction of key candidates linked to key traits.

By synthesizing research across these domains, this Special Issue aims to highlight innovative approaches for enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in fiber crops through genetic and molecular breeding strategies. These advancements are crucial for developing resilient crop varieties that can sustain productivity under adverse environmental conditions, thereby contributing to global agricultural sustainability and food security.

Dr. Muhammad Jawad Umer
Dr. Colleen P. MacMillan
Guest Editors

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• abiotic stress tolerance
• fiber crops
• genetic improvement
• drought resistance
• heat tolerance
• salinity stress
• genomic research
• high-throughput sequencing
• stress-responsive genes
• gene regulation networks
• precision genome editing
• stress signal transduction
• molecular breeding
• crop yield stability
• environmental stress adaptation