Plant Genetic Resources and Their Use in Cotton Improvement

Dear Colleagues,

Plant genetic resources are a critical part of crop improvement programs. They provide important sources of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance or resistance, enhanced crop quality, increased genetic diversity, and other traits important to crop production. The plant genetic resources available for cotton (Gossypium spp.) improvement are extensive and consist of greater than 50 species. Globally, the majority of cotton production comes from the cultivation of two primary species, G. hirsutum L. (upland) and G. barbadense L. (pima), which account for nearly 35 million hectares of production area that will produce a farmgate value of $35 billion USD. Although the primary use of cotton is for its spinnable fiber that is used to manufacture textile products, other crop constituents such as the seed and its byproducts are used in a number of food chain applications as sources of oil and protein for human and animal consumption. The available cotton plant genetic resources provide a readily available source of genetic diversity for long term cotton improvement. In this Special Issue, our aim is to highlight the use of plant genetic resources for cotton improvement. We invite you to submit a research paper on any aspect of using plant genetic resources to advance cotton improvement.

Dr. B. Todd Campbell
Dr. Joshua Udall
Dr. Lori Hinze
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.