Genetic Diversity and Functional Genomics in Fruit Breeding

Dear Colleagues,

Novel insights on the genetic determinism of traits of agronomical interest (e.g., fruit quality, yield, resistance to biotic and abiotic stress) are one of the cornerstones for the development of novel cultivars showing enhanced performances. Indeed, the availability of high-throughput genotyping (and often phenotyping) platforms has enabled the setup of functional genomic investigations for the discovery of quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked to traits of interest. Such an approach will both enable the setup of efficient marker–trait association approaches to speed up the selection of novel accessions showing superior traits and provide novel insights on the genetic determinism of the trait under examination.

On this premise, this Special Issue focuses on genetic diversity and functional genomics in fruit crops. We welcome the submission of both reviews and research articles, and we especially encourage the submission of original papers aimed at identifying the molecular markers to be implemented in fruit breeding.

Dr. Mario Di Guardo
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Gentile
Dr. Chiara Catalano
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. 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.

• germplasm
• genomes
• genome-wide association analysis
• QTL analysis
• pedigree-based analysis
• genome selection
• quantitative trait locus
• marker-assisted selection
• plant breeding
• fruit quality
• biotic/abiotic stress resistance