Exploring the Genetic and/or Metabolic Diversity of Traditional Crop Varieties
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2026 | Viewed by 11
Special Issue Editors
Interests: genomics; transcriptomics; molecular markers; genetic diversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Landraces are traditional, locally adapted varieties of plants that have developed over time in a particular geographic region or under specific environmental conditions. In order to face the changing current and future climatic conditions, the genetic basis of modern cultivars should be broadened and our knowledge of crop landraces still cultivated or preserved in genebank collections should be deepened. Landraces maintain a high level of genetic diversity, making them resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses, and local varieties thus represent a good source of genes/alleles potentially useful in breeding programs.
Moreover, the nutritional and nutraceutical value of traditional varieties is often poorly known; nevertheless, many landraces are profoundly tied to local cultures, agriculture, and culinary traditions. Indeed, unraveling the metabolic diversity as well as the underlying genetic variation is of great interest in terms of identifying differences among populations of crop plants and selecting landraces with agriculturally and nutritionally significant traits. Plants accumulate a remarkable diversity of metabolites and possess the ability to modulate metabolite biosynthesis when facing environmental cues, and this fine modulation is depicted in metabolic profiles, hence analysis of the metabolome of genetically diverse populations can help address stress response issues and highlight potential health-promoting properties.
In this Special Issue, all aspects of the genetic and/or metabolic diversity of local varieties will be considered with the aim of improving our knowledge and adding value to local crop germplasm resources.
Prof. Dr. Gabriella Sonnante
Dr. Emanuela Blanco
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- landraces
- germplasm resources
- genetic diversity
- nutritional and nutraceutical value
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