Advances in Legume Crops Research—2nd Edition
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 2025 | Viewed by 519
Special Issue Editors
Interests: legume; breeding; screening for biotic and abiotic stresses; genetic studies; disease resistance; herbicide resistance; genetic gain assessment; genomic-assisted breeding; speed breeding; efficient breeding tools and techniques; genotype × environment interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: disease resistance; plant breeding; cereals; legumes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Legumes are important crops in diversifying farming systems, being able to fix nitrogen and improving soil structure. The ability of fixing nitrogen contributes to reducing the use of chemical fertilizers, which are expensive and unfriendly for the environment. They also reduce the carbon footprint They contribute to food and nutritional security through diversified food systems. However, legume crops remain marginalized in many countries due to policy issues which favor cereals over legumes. Legumes are also affected by diverse biotic (diseases, parasitic weeds, and insects) and abiotic stresses (heat, frost, drought, salinity, soil acidity, nutrient deficiency). Conventional breeding approaches have resulted in significant genetic improvement in legume crops, and improved cultivars have been developed for cultivation in different agro-ecologies. However, low genetic gains have been reported in legume crops grown in developing countries, which indicate production gaps and low self-sufficiency. Significant research has been carried out on introgression desirables genes from crop-wide relatives, and development efforts have been made in the past decade on important legumes at advanced research institutes and in the CGIAR centers, which have led to valuable genomic resources and genomic tools such as draft genome sequence, resequencing data, large-scale genome wide markers, dense genetic maps, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and diagnostic markers. These tools are essential to the modernization of breeding programs and accelerate the breeding cycle, which can increase genetic gains when integrated with a speed breeding approach.
Dr. Fouad S. Maalouf
Dr. Diego Rubiales
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
- genomics in legumes
- genetics
- molecular breeding and marker-assisted selection/breeding
- biotic and abiotic stresses
- genetic resources
- wild relatives
- genomic selection
- modern breeding methods
- G × E interaction
- rapid advancement generation
- genetic gains
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.
Related Special Issue
- Advances in Legume Crops Research in Plants (16 articles)
