Evolution and Development of Grasses: From Genes to Morphology
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant genetic systems; plant evolutionary genetics; plant genetic resources; plant genomic analysis; plant molecular genetics; plant reproduction; forage grass improvement; apomixis; polyploidy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant cytogenetics, plant polyploidy; plant genetic systems; plant fertility; plant meiotic behavior; plant hybridization; plant evolutionary genetics; plant genetic resource characterization; plant genetics; apomixis; plant reproduction; plant seed production and germination
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Poaceae family includes many of the world’s most diverse and economically important flowering plants, sustaining global food production and shaping extensive terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding why grasses have been so evolutionarily successful requires bringing together basic genetic principles with the study of the complex morphological traits they produce. This Special Issue, “Evolution and Development of Grasses: From Genes to Morphology”, offers a space to present recent work that explores the drivers of diversification in this family across different levels of biological organization.
The evolution of grass is marked by striking genomic flexibility, recurrent polyploidization, and specialized developmental pathways that have allowed for these plants to thrive in a wide range of environments. To address this complexity, this Special Issue seeks studies that link genotype and phenotype, from chromosomal variation to the functional architecture of the whole plant. We are particularly interested in contributions that show how shifts in gene regulation and genome structure are reflected in the diverse morphologies found in major cereal crops and wild grasses alike.
We invite original research articles that focus on the evolutionary and developmental biology of grasses. The scope is intentionally broad, encompassing cytogenetics and chromosome evolution, population and evolutionary genetics of diversification, adaptation, and domestication, as well as work on the genetic control of the development and evolution of the architecture of plants. Studies in phylogenomics, population genomics, gene flow and introgression, and genotype–environment associations also fall within the remit of this Special Issue. Finally, we welcome manuscripts that translate basic insights into applied contexts, including breeding, pre-breeding, and the use of wild relatives to enhance resilience and performance under changing environmental conditions.
By bringing together these different perspectives, this Special Issue aims to offer a more integrated view of the evolution and development of grass and deepen our understanding of the processes that continue to shape this crucial plant family.
Dr. Eric Javier Martínez
Dr. Ana Isabel Honfi
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
- Poaceae
- evo-devo
- comparative Genomics
- cytogenetics
- plant development
- functional morphology
- molecular evolution
- population genetics
- phylogenomics
- plant breeding
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