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Genetic and Biotechnology Techniques in Evaluation and Breeding of Woody...
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Genetic and Biotechnology Techniques in Evaluation and Breeding of Woody Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1241

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yaqiong Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Pomology, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Interests: biotechnology; small berry; non-timber forests; genetic breeding; function
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Chunhong Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Pomology, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Interests: blackberry; blueberry; genetic and breeding; biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Woody plant germplasm, hybrid populations, and their parental-origin genetic inheritance provide basic and crucial clues for breeding forestry trees, mainly economic forests and timber forests. In recent years, genetic and genomic tools have been widely used for evaluating and breeding various tree types with different genetic behaviors. Economic forests are trees (including berry fruit trees) and shrubs cultivated primarily for producing fruits, edible oils, beverages, industrial raw materials, and spices. Timber forests are trees subject to artificial directional cultivation for industrial raw materials. Most forest trees are perennials with prolonged juvenile periods, complex genetic makeups, and typically long traditional breeding cycles. Despite these factors, research on the genetic improvement of various forest trees has made significant progress, driven by advances in biotechnology-based breeding and genomic technologies. This Special Issue focuses on research related to the evaluation and breeding of germplasm resources or hybrid populations in diverse forest trees. Studies encompassing (a) genetic identification and variation analysis, (b) genetic validation and its implications for tree improvement, (c) biotechnological approaches for trait enhancement, (d) molecular marker applications, and (e) the linkage or genomic mapping of yield-, quality-, and tolerance-related traits are particularly encouraged.

Dr. Yaqiong Wu
Dr. Chunhong Zhang
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 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

  • forest trees
  • germplasm evaluation
  • gene mapping
  • molecular markers
  • hybrid population
  • heredity
  • gene function
  • biotechnology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 7892 KB  
Article
Evaluation and Selection of Rubus spp.× Rubus chingii Hybrids with Excellent Overall Fruit Quality and High Drought Tolerance
by Yue Li, Yiru Zhang, Yaqiong Wu, Zhengjin Huang, Lianfei Lyu, Weilin Li and Chunhong Zhang
Plants 2026, 15(6), 899; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15060899 - 13 Mar 2026
Viewed by 499
Abstract
Blackberry cultivars typically exhibit high fruit antioxidant levels but poor drought tolerance compared with their wild Rubus relatives. Few studies have employed wild Rubus species in hybridization programs aimed at improving drought tolerance and fruit quality in cultivated blackberries. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Blackberry cultivars typically exhibit high fruit antioxidant levels but poor drought tolerance compared with their wild Rubus relatives. Few studies have employed wild Rubus species in hybridization programs aimed at improving drought tolerance and fruit quality in cultivated blackberries. In this study, we comprehensively assessed growth traits, fruit characteristics, and drought tolerance in 108 F1 progenies derived from a cross between the cultivated blackberry ‘Prime-Ark® Freedom’ and the wild species Rubus chingii. Correlation analysis of fruit morphological traits indicated significant positive associations among single fruit weight, fruit thickness, and fruit diameter, reflecting coordinated fruit development. Among the nutritional quality traits evaluated, both anthocyanin and total phenolic contents exhibited transgressive segregation. Specifically, 47.78% of the progeny demonstrated higher anthocyanin content, and 45.56% exhibited greater total phenolic content than the higher-performing parent. The corresponding genetic transmission ability (Ta) reached 139.23% and 101.24% for these traits, respectively, indicating pronounced additive genetic effects and high heritability. After a 7-day drought treatment, the hybrid progenies exhibited significant heterosis in catalase (CAT) activity, with 24.07% exceeding the higher-parent value. In contrast, proline content exhibited high broad-sense heritability (H2 = 0.990) and considerable genetic variation. Under drought stress, all chlorophyll components were strongly positively correlated. Using principal component analysis (PCA), we established comprehensive evaluation models for fruit quality and drought tolerance. Based on these models, seven accessions—H3, H4, H8, H10, H11, H14, and H25—were identified as superior in both drought tolerance and fruit quality. This study provides an integrated evaluation framework for selecting drought-tolerant and high-quality genotypes from interspecific hybrid progenies in blackberry, offering a theoretical basis for utilizing wild Rubus resources in breeding improved cultivars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic and Biotechnology Techniques in Evaluation and Breeding of Woody Plants)
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16 pages, 7786 KB  
Article
An Efficient Micropropagation Protocol for Camellia chekiangoleosa ‘Ganhongyou 1’ via Stem Segment Culture
by Anni Liu, Yixuan Peng, Xin Chen, Qiangqiang Cheng, Kang Zha and Qiang Wen
Plants 2026, 15(6), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15060871 - 11 Mar 2026
Viewed by 446
Abstract
The provincial-level registered superior cultivar Camellia chekiangoleosa ‘Ganhongyou 1’ boasts superior economic traits coupled with significant ornamental value, driving demand for an efficient propagation system. Consequently, this study aimed to develop a rapid micropropagation protocol by investigating culture conditions using semi-woody nodal segments [...] Read more.
The provincial-level registered superior cultivar Camellia chekiangoleosa ‘Ganhongyou 1’ boasts superior economic traits coupled with significant ornamental value, driving demand for an efficient propagation system. Consequently, this study aimed to develop a rapid micropropagation protocol by investigating culture conditions using semi-woody nodal segments with axillary buds as explants on Hyponex basal medium supplemented with varying combinations of plant growth regulators. Contamination was effectively minimized to 18% by a combined approach of surface sterilization (75% ethanol, 0.1% HgCl2, and 20% NaClO) and incorporating 1 mL/L bactericide into the induction medium. For bud induction, the optimal medium was 2 g/L Hyponex supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) and 0.2 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), achieving an 86.67% induction rate. The best proliferation was achieved on the medium containing 2 g/L Hyponex, 1.0 mg/L 6-BA, 0.15 mg/L 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA), and 0.5 mg/L gibberellic acid (GA3), yielding a proliferation coefficient of 6.53. A combined strategy, integrating in vitro pre-culture with ex vitro treatment, proved most effective for rooting and acclimatization: shoots were first pre-cultured for 20 days on 1/2 strength Hyponex medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 2.0 mg/L IBA, followed by ex vitro base treatment with 1.0 g/L ABT (a rooting powder complex) solution before transplantation into seedling bags. This approach resulted in an 88% survival rate. Furthermore, anatomical analysis revealed the origin of adventitious root primordia from phloem parenchyma cells, thereby confirming a phloem-rooting pattern for this species. In conclusion, this study establishes a practical and efficient micropropagation protocol for ‘Ganhongyou 1’, providing a reliable technical foundation for its commercial-scale seedling production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic and Biotechnology Techniques in Evaluation and Breeding of Woody Plants)
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