Advances in Plant Biotechnology and Biochemistry

Dear Colleagues,

For centuries, humans have relied on plants as a major source of metabolites both to meet the basic energy and nutritional needs of themselves and domesticated animals and to produce unique biologically active molecules with indispensable applications; these applications include the treatment of diseases, the maintenance of health and the assurance of better lifestyles. With the advancement of technology and the improvement of analytical equipment, the number of newly discovered phytochemicals is increasing every year. It is now possible to detect and identify metabolites and intermediate products, which are present in very low concentrations in plant biomass. With the application of high-throughput screening technology, it is now possible to quickly and inexpensively test tens of thousands of metabolites for their biological activity and to identify the most potent candidates for therapeutic applications. Thanks to the development of omics techniques (proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and metabolomics) and their use in combination, we can precisely identify the genes, enzymes, biosynthetic pathways and the underlying regulatory mechanisms responsible for the production and accumulation of target metabolites. Advances in plant biotechnology enable the cultivation of plant cells, tissues and organs under controlled environmental conditions, providing a year-round sustainable source of plant biomass without the limitations of climatic, geographical, soil or ecological factors typical of classical agriculture. By applying the methods of synthetic biology, molecular farming and trait engineering, in combination with advances in genetic transformation and genome editing techniques, it is possible to achieve a significant increase in the production of the target secondary metabolites in modified plants and/or plant cell, tissue or organ cultures.

This Special Issue provides a broad platform for researchers to present their recent in the fields of plant biotechnology, biochemistry, bioprocess engineering, omics and multi-omics analyses. Both research papers and reviews focused on these topics and that deal with the discovery, production and biological assessment of plant-derived molecules are welcome.

Dr. Vasil Georgiev
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sci is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1400 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.

• medicinal and aromatic plants
• plant cell, tissue and organ cultures
• omics and multi-omics
• plant secondary metabolites
• plant biochemistry
• biological activity of plant extracts and phytochemicals