Genetic and Environmental Factors Influencing Anthocyanin Pigmentation in Crop Plants
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 2630
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant breeding, genetics and genomics; vegetable crops; plant pigments; anthocyanins; health-enhancing phytochemicals; genetic diversity; vegetable germplasm; molecular marker systems
Interests: vegetable genetics and breeding; nutritional quality; consumer acceptance; crop wild relatives; crop abiotic stress; global agriculture and health
Interests: fruit and vegetable genetics; genomics; quality traits; bioactives
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Anthocyanins are a diverse subgroup of flavonoid secondary metabolites, with nearly ubiquitous distribution among flowering plants, which participate in a wide variety of processes and functions, including plant development, responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, and attraction of animals and insects for seed dispersal and pollination. In many crop species, these pigments represent a dietary source of health-enhancing compounds –due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties- thereby increasing consumer quality in anthocyanin-rich fruits, bulbs, tubers, roots, leaves and grains.
While their concentration in plant organs produced for fresh consumption is important, as they provide benefits in terms of appearance and nutritive value, the chemical structure and composition of these pigments are particularly relevant in crops destined for industrial processes where color stability of the end-product determines, among other factors, their quality and shelf life (e.g., anthocyanin-derived natural food dyes, fruit and vegetable juices, and red wine).
In this context, understanding the genetic and environmental factors that influence the biosynthesis of anthocyanins and their chemical modifications (i.e., glycosylation, acylation, and methylation), cellular transport, and accumulation in the economically relevant plant parts of crop species may provide opportunities for developing new anthocyanin-rich plant products with specific pigment compositions for the food and agricultural industries, depending on the end-purpose. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight genetic and environmental components affecting anthocyanin pigmentation in crops. Studies concerning the genetic mapping of simply inherited and quantitative trait loci (QTLs); functional and candidate gene analyses, including gene editing and other transgenic approaches; and genomic and transcriptomic analyses of phenotypic variants related to any aspect of anthocyanin metabolism. Similarly, studies that evaluate environmental factors (considered in a broad sense) influencing anthocyanin pigmentation, including biotic and abiotic stressors (e.g., drought, salinity, UV light, extreme temperatures, animal and pathogen attack, etc.), are also welcome. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Manuscripts will be continuously published as they are revised and accepted.
Dr. Pablo F. Cavagnaro
Dr. Philipp W. Simon
Dr. Massimo Iorizzo
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
- anthocyanins
- natural pigments
- inheritance
- genetic mapping
- QTL analysis
- candidate genes
- functional gene analysis
- gene editing
- environmental factors
- biotic and abiotic stresses
