Vegetable Genomes and Genetic Breeding

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetables play a vital role in maintaining human health by providing a rich source of essential vitamins, fiber, minerals, and nutrients. The development of new vegetable varieties of a high quality and multiple resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses is becoming increasingly important, especially given the escalating environmental challenges and diverse market demands. To expedite breeding programs, it is crucial to incorporate molecular-marker-assisted and whole-genome selection technologies, which rely on the availability of vegetable genomes.

In recent years, advancements in sequencing technologies have significantly simplified genome assembly and reduced the associated costs. The formation of high-quality genomes has been achieved for most major crops, greatly facilitating functional genomics research and breeding efforts. However, many vegetables, particularly orphan crops, still lack reference-level genomes. Additionally, for some vegetables with published genomes, the existing assemblies fail to encompass the breeding backbone lines that are vital for practical breeding programs. Consequently, there is an ongoing need for genome assembly and data mining across various vegetable varieties and germplasms. Furthermore, the full potential of genome resources in enhancing the genetic breeding of vegetables has yet to be comprehensively explored.

In this upcoming Special Issue, entitled "Vegetable Genomes and Genetic Breeding", we invite submissions of research and review papers focusing on the aforementioned topics, as well as other areas related to genomic and genetic studies of vegetables. Through these contributions, we aim to enrich genomic resources and advance genetic breeding efforts in the field of vegetables

Dr. Kang Zhang
Guest Editor

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. Genes 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 2600 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.

• vegetable
• genomics
• genetic breeding
• functional genomics
• genome assembly
• genome selection
• genetic markers