Weaponizing Plants: Where Old and New Plant Protection Strategies Are Taking Us?
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 86
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant metabolism and stress response; botanicals; fungal mycotoxins; new generation antifungals; biopesticides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: endophytic fungi; fungal symbionts and their relationships with plants, etiology and epidemiology of infectious diseases of medicinal and aromatic plants, with special regards of new and emerging infectious diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite a new era bringing new challenges, the need for environmental health and protection remain unaffected. In fact, by keeping plants strong, we can not only protect their role in supporting all living organisms by releasing oxygen and representing the primary source of food, but also boost their contribution to ecosystem foundation and biodiversity stability, climate regulation, soil fertility and preservation.
Indeed, plants play a vital role in all the aspects of our existence; after all, no plants, no life. By taking action to keep them healthy, we will protect ourselves and pave the way for a sustainable future. Therefore, studies seeking to halt the continuing loss of plant diversity or tuning at different levels of plant metabolism in order to cope with adverse climatic conditions or mitigate the occurrence of abiotic stresses, or again the exploration of alternative strategies, to reduce the impact of noxious substances on the plant ecosphere have become imperative.
This Special Issue covers plants in terrestrial, inland water and marine environments, aiming to collect the most updated insights, innovative strategies and experimental developments intended to increase plants’ health, biosecurity and conservation. Original research papers and reviews describing CRISPR/Cas9 in plant biotechnology, bioinformatic resources, innovative approaches for endangered species management and/or restoration, exploitation of biological control agents as well as biostimulants, development and/or validation of plant resistance enhancers against biotic stress (through direct or indirect antagonistic interaction with the pathogen, competition for nutrients and space, hyperparasitism, antibiosis, production/regulation of secondary metabolites with biocontrol activity or supporting antagonists to gain a competitive advantage) or abiotic adversities (salinity, flooding, drought, heavy metals, anthropogenic pollutants).
Ecological studies and evolutionary investigations are also encouraged and welcomed. But beware! Particular attention to plants is highly recommended.
Dr. Francesca Degola
Prof. Dr. Beata Zimowska
Dr. Gianluigi Giannelli
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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
- plant biodiversity
- plant conservation
- sustainable agroecosystems
- plant protection
- environmental stresses
- biotechnology
- plant resilience
- mitigation of adversities
- endangered plant species
- saving plants
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
