Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Plants

Dear Colleagues,

At present, the global community faces the formidable challenges of population growth, food insecurity, and the pervasive impacts of climate change. The latter phenomenon poses a substantial threat to global food security by impeding food production through disruptions in cropping patterns and diminishing crop resilience to both biotic and abiotic stresses. Research widely advocates plant breeding as a pivotal strategy in addressing these challenges. Nonetheless, it is universally acknowledged that plant breeding also contributes to genetic erosion. Consequently, extant food cultivars exhibit suboptimal performance under unprecedented climatic conditions, primarily due to a genetic bottleneck. To address these complex issues, there is an urgent need to harness plant diversity.

The collection, preservation, and characterization of plant genetic resources represent a valid strategy, as it facilitates the exploration of genotypic and phenotypic diversities that are potentially beneficial for breeding endeavors. The limited genetic diversity inherent in our agricultural crops can be expanded by integrating landraces, wild progenitors of cultivated species, as well as underutilized and neglected plant species. Assessing the genetic diversity and population structure of available genetic resources represents a starting point and a crucial topic for crop improvement and food security, allowing their evolution and adaptation to diverse environments to be understood and useful traits for disease resistance and environmental stress tolerance, as well as higher nutitional quality, to be identified. Additionally, such analyses are essential for developing effective conservation strategies and managing genetic resources.

This Special Issue aims to underscore the significance of plant biodiversity and genetic resources in fostering sustainable agricultural production systems. We invite submissions of short communications, original research articles, reviews, and modeling methodologies addressing various aspects of plant genetic diversity, including its utilization in breeding programs, its characterization using omics and biotechnological technologies, and advanced approaches used for its in situ and ex situ conservation.

Dr. Mario Ciaffi
Dr. Enrica Alicandri
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.

• genetic diversity
• population genetics
• population structure
• germplasm characterization
• phenotypic markers
• molecular markers
• genotyping by sequencing
• molecular breeding
• omics and biotechnological technologies
• climate change resilience
• biodiversity conservation
• genetic erosion
• in situ and ex situ conservation strategies
• cereals
• legumes
• horticultural crops
• fruit crops
• plant wild relatives
• endangered species