The Genetic Diversity, Biotechnological Tools, and Phenotypic Trait Variation of Olea europaea L.: Studies to Support Breeding Programs—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: 30 June 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant biotechnology; biodiversity; plant physiology; plant biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: compatibility between olive cultivars; olive fruit abscission; olive flowering and fruit development under heat stress; olive breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The olive tree is a representative species of the Mediterranean basin, with its origin now scientifically ascertained; however, its domestication process is still unclear. Knowing the origin and spread of a species is important for acquiring information on its evolutionary process and understanding its genetic variability, a fundamental prerequisite for launching biodiversity conservation and genetic improvement programs. From a genetic point of view, these aspects can be addressed both through the study of polymorphisms at the single-gene level and at the whole-genome level. The sequencing of olive genomes is opening the doors to knowledge of the structure of olive tree DNA, the intensive development of markers that allow a deeper scanning of its genetic diversity, and a better understanding of the biology of the species. Plastid markers are then associated with nuclear ones to better define the processes of genetic differentiation. Furthermore, knowledge of the genomic sequence and its orientation is increasingly fundamental for the development of molecular tools to support breeding programs, such as classical mapping and association studies. Therefore, to ensure valid results with these latest techniques, it becomes essential to phenotype the germplasm and study the genotype-by-environment interaction through morphophenological characterization and physiological response to biotic and abiotic stress.
The last frontier in olive trees is cis-genesis and genome editing, which could allow a faster and more effective evolution of genetic improvement in olive trees through an improvement of vitro culture and regeneration protocols.
Therefore, in this Special Issue, articles on genetic diversity, phylogenesis, population structure, polymorphisms analysis, QTL analysis, association mapping, phenotyping studies, and biotechnological tool development carried out with diversified, conventional, and advanced approaches and techniques, able to provide a concrete contribution for the advancement of olive tree breeding, are welcome.
Dr. Samanta Zelasco
Dr. Giora Ben-Ari
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
- • Olea europaea • genetic diversity • genotyping and phenotyping • plant biotechnology • sequencing • mapping • markers • classical and molecular breeding
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