Genetic Breeding and Biotic/Abiotic Stress Regulation in Citrus
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: citrus breeding; genomics; abiotic stress; disease resistance; stress physiology
Interests: crop breeding; plant disease; stress resistance; crop cultivation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Citrus production faces significant challenges from both biotic and abiotic stresses, which threaten yield, quality, and global food security. Genetic breeding and multi-omics approaches offer promising solutions to enhance stress resilience and sustainable cultivation. This Special Issue focuses on the latest advances in citrus genomics, stress physiology, and molecular breeding, covering key areas such as the following:
- Genomics and functional gene discovery for disease resistance.
- Abiotic stress responses (e.g., drought, salinity, temperature extremes).
- Biotic stress interactions, including pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses) and pests.
- Genetic breeding strategies, including marker-assisted selection (MAS), gene editing (e.g., CRISPR), and hybrid vigor utilization.
Climate change and intensive farming practices exacerbate stress impacts, necessitating innovative research to develop resilient citrus varieties. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and short communications addressing molecular mechanisms, high-throughput phenotyping, omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics), and field-applicable breeding solutions.
Contributions on emerging pathogens, cross-species resistance transfer, and eco-friendly management strategies are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Haijie Ma
Dr. Yunpeng Gai
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
- citrus breeding
- stress resistance
- genomics
- gene editing
- disease resistance
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