Molecular Regulation of Plant Development and Stress Responses

Dear Colleagues,

The journals Plants will be jointly publishing a Special Issue on the molecular regulation of crop development and stress responses. As global environmental degradation and population growth continue to escalate, food security has emerged as a critical constraint on human development. The developmental mechanisms of crops and their responses to environmental stress are key determinants of crop yield and quality.

Advances in biology, particularly in molecular biology, have offered promising avenues for enhancing crop quality and stress resistance through targeted genetic interventions. To date, numerous crop genomes provide abundant information for gene functional studies. The in-depth screening and identification of functional genes in crops, coupled with the elucidation of their regulatory networks, show critical value for improving crop yield and quality, as well as enhancing stress resistance capabilities.

This Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas, aiming to contribute to the overall knowledge of molecular regulation of crop development and stress responses from several aspects. The scope of topics may encompass, but not limited to the following bullets: Crop Genomics; Key Gene Families and Functional Validation in Crops; Molecular Regulatory Mechanisms of Crop Quality; Molecular Regulatory Mechanisms of Crop Development and Stress Responses; Epigenetic regulation of crop traits and so on.

Prof. Dr. Yong Huang 
Prof. Dr. Zhi Liu
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.