Next-Generation Plant Phenomics: Bridging Genomics, AI, and Genetic Resources

Dear Colleagues,

Plant phenotyping continues to be a cornerstone of modern plant science, offering essential insights into how plant traits are shaped by genetics and environmental interactions. With recent breakthroughs in phenomic technologies—from hyperspectral imaging and X-ray analysis to machine learning and automated trait extraction—we are entering a new era where complex traits in crops, forages, and their wild relatives can be measured with unprecedented speed and precision. These advances offer transformative potential for plant breeding, conservation, and the strategic management of GenBank collections.

This Special Issue, “Next-Generation Plant Phenomics: Bridging Genomics, AI, and Genetic Resources”, aims to explore emerging trends and future directions in plant phenotyping. We particularly welcome submissions that address the integration of phenotypic and genomic data, the development of scalable and adaptable phenotyping tools, and innovative approaches to characterising plant diversity under real-world and controlled conditions. Special attention will be given to technologies that enhance our ability to assess large germplasm collections efficiently, facilitate climate-resilient breeding, and improve our understanding of plant adaptation and evolution.

We invite researchers, breeders, and technologists to contribute original research articles, reviews, or perspective pieces that reflect on the technological, methodological, and conceptual advances shaping the future of plant phenomics.

Dr. Kioumars Ghamkhar
Dr. Nelson Nazzicari
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.