Advances in Plant Genome Editing and Transformation
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2026) | Viewed by 4562
Special Issue Editor
Interests: plant synthetic biology; genome editing; comparative genomics; climate change; bioenergy; photosynthesis; plant genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The world faces pressing challenges in the security of food, energy, and environment due to climate change and population growth. Genome-editing technologies and novel plant transformation methods have revolutionized plant research by enabling precise and efficient genetic modifications. Highlighting these advances can accelerate their adoption in the genetic improvement of crops. This Special Issue explores the latest advancements in genome-editing and -transformation technologies, highlighting their transformative impact on plant science and agriculture. We invite original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that address the following topics: (1) new technologies for editing or transforming plant nuclear and organellar genomes and high-throughput transformation systems, including tissue culture-independent methods and robotic automation; (2) applications of genome editing and transformation in the genetic improvement of various crop plants; (3) technical innovations for improving transformation efficiency in recalcitrant species and addressing off-target effects to ensure precision in genome editing; (4) computational tools and data-driven approaches for optimizing genome-editing procedures (e.g., selecting the most efficient guide RNA (gRNA) sequences for CRISPR-Cas9, minimizing off-target effects, and predicting editing outcomes based on genomic features); (5) ethical considerations, public perception, and regulatory frameworks surrounding genome-edited crops, and pathways for the responsible deployment of genome-editing technologies in agriculture; and (6) future directions, such as emerging genome-editing systems and the role of artificial intelligence and automation in advancing genome editing and transformation.
Dr. Xiaohan Yang
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
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
- genome editing
- plant transformation
- genetic improvement
- CRISPR
- artificial intelligence
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