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Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025
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Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 5410

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Maoteng Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: cruciferae; QTL mapping; gene editing; oil content; seed yield; molecular breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jinsong Bao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agricultural and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: rice grain quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Humans depend on plants to provide them with food, medicine, and clothing. Being curious about plants allows for unbiased observations to take place to understand the general principles that they perform to provide the substances that humans need. Over the past decade, great advances in research into plants have been achieved, covering every aspect of plant growth and development, beginning from seed germination to the senescence of the plant body. For agricultural plants, such as rice, wheat, maize, rapeseed, soybean, cotton, fruits and vegetables, understanding the molecular mechanisms for the formation of the yield, quality, and resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses is important to improve those traits of agronomical importance. Meanwhile, for model plants, important clues have been found to help us understand the basic biological mechanisms underlying plant growth, development, senescence, and adapting to stresses.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for the timely collection of the most recent advances made in molecular plant sciences and provide readers with a panoramic view of these advances. Review papers covering the topics related to molecular plant sciences are welcome to be submitted to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Maoteng Li
Prof. Dr. Jinsong Bao
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.

Keywords

  • gene cloning and gene functional analysis
  • gene editing
  • QTL mapping
  • multi-omics integration analysis
  • agronomically characteristics
  • plant development
  • metabolic pathway
  • biotic and abiotic stresses

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Review

24 pages, 1532 KB  
Review
DNA Methylation in Rice: Mechanisms, Regulatory Roles, and Beyond
by Ting Li, Wen-Jing Li and Jian-Hong Xu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(17), 8454; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178454 - 30 Aug 2025
Viewed by 798
Abstract
As a crucial aspect of epigenetic research, DNA methylation is fundamental to genomic stability, gene transcription regulation, and chromatin remodeling. Rice is a staple food source for roughly half of the world’s population. Therefore, optimizing rice yield and stress tolerance is vital for [...] Read more.
As a crucial aspect of epigenetic research, DNA methylation is fundamental to genomic stability, gene transcription regulation, and chromatin remodeling. Rice is a staple food source for roughly half of the world’s population. Therefore, optimizing rice yield and stress tolerance is vital for global food security. With the continuous advancement of DNA methylation detection technologies, studies have shown that DNA methylation regulates various rice growth and development processes, including root differentiation and grain development, through the dynamic equilibrium of de novo methylation, maintenance methylation, and demethylation. Furthermore, DNA methylation is crucial in the plant’s response to environmental stressors like high or low temperature, drought and salinity. The patterns of DNA methylation modifications are also closely linked to rice domestication and heterosis formation. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation of the DNA methylation regulatory network holds significant theoretical value for rice genetic improvement and molecular breeding. This review offers a systematic analysis of the molecular mechanisms and detection technologies of DNA methylation, as well as its regulatory roles in rice growth and development, stress responses, and other biological processes, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for rice genetic improvement research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025)
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20 pages, 4430 KB  
Review
Molecular Mechanisms of Herbicide Resistance in Rapeseed: Current Status and Future Prospects for Resistant Germplasm Development
by Decai Liu, Shicheng Yu, Biaojun Ji, Qi Peng, Jianqin Gao, Jiefu Zhang, Yue Guo and Maolong Hu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(17), 8292; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178292 - 26 Aug 2025
Viewed by 798
Abstract
Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is a globally important oilseed crop whose yield and quality are frequently limited by weed competition. In recent years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of herbicide-resistance mechanisms in rapeseed and in the development of herbicide-resistant [...] Read more.
Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is a globally important oilseed crop whose yield and quality are frequently limited by weed competition. In recent years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of herbicide-resistance mechanisms in rapeseed and in the development of herbicide-resistant rapeseed germplasm. Here, we summarize the molecular mechanisms of resistance to three herbicides: glyphosate, glufosinate, and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors. We discuss progress in the identification of new resistance genes and the development of herbicide-resistant rapeseed germplasm, from the initial identification of natural mutants to artificial mutagenesis screening, introduction of exogenous resistance genes, and gene editing. In addition, we describe how synthetic biology and directed protein evolution will contribute to precision-breeding efforts in the near future. This is the first review to systematically integrate non-target resistance mechanisms and the potential applications of multi-omics and AI technologies for breeding of herbicide-resistant rapeseed, together with strategies for managing the risks associated with gene flow, the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds, and the occurrence of volunteer plants resulting from deployment of herbicide-resistant rapeseed. By synthesizing current knowledge and future trends, this review provides guidance for safe, effective, and innovative approaches to the sustainable development of herbicide-resistant rapeseed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025)
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16 pages, 1974 KB  
Review
MicroRNA528 and Its Regulatory Roles in Monocotyledonous Plants
by Hailin Fu, Liwei Zhang, Yulin Hu, Ziyi Liu, Zhenyu Wang, Fafu Shen and Wei Wang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(15), 7334; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26157334 - 29 Jul 2025
Viewed by 388
Abstract
MicroRNA528 (miR528) is a microRNA found only in monocotyledonous (monocot) plants. It has been widely reported that miR528 is involved in the regulation of plant growth and development, such as flowering, architecture, and seed and embryogenic development, in addition to playing a crucial [...] Read more.
MicroRNA528 (miR528) is a microRNA found only in monocotyledonous (monocot) plants. It has been widely reported that miR528 is involved in the regulation of plant growth and development, such as flowering, architecture, and seed and embryogenic development, in addition to playing a crucial role in response to various biotic and abiotic stresses, such as plant pathogens, salt stress, heat/cold stress, water stress, arsenic stress, oxidative stress, heavy-metal stress, and nutrient stress. Given that it is specific to monocot plants, to which the major staple food crops such as rice and wheat belong, a review of studies investigating its diverse functional roles and underlying mechanisms is presented. This review focuses on the processes in which miR528 and its targets are involved and examines their regulatory relationships with significant participation in plant development and stress responses. It is anticipated that more biological functions and evolutionary effects of miRNA targets will be elucidated with the increase in knowledge of miRNA evolution and examination of target mRNAs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025)
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17 pages, 1573 KB  
Review
Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Breeding for Plant Disease Resistance
by Juan Ma, Zeqiang Cheng and Yanyong Cao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(11), 5324; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26115324 - 1 Jun 2025
Viewed by 2150
Abstract
Harnessing state-of-the-art technologies to improve disease resistance is a critical objective in modern plant breeding. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly deep learning and big model (large language model and large multi-modal model), has emerged as a transformative tool to enhance disease detection and omics [...] Read more.
Harnessing state-of-the-art technologies to improve disease resistance is a critical objective in modern plant breeding. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly deep learning and big model (large language model and large multi-modal model), has emerged as a transformative tool to enhance disease detection and omics prediction in plant science. This paper provides a comprehensive review of AI-driven advancements in plant disease detection, highlighting convolutional neural networks and their linked methods and technologies through bibliometric analysis from recent research. We further discuss the groundbreaking potential of large language models and multi-modal models in interpreting complex disease patterns via heterogeneous data. Additionally, we summarize how AI accelerates genomic and phenomic selection by enabling high-throughput analysis of resistance-associated traits, and explore AI’s role in harmonizing multi-omics data to predict plant disease-resistant phenotypes. Finally, we propose some challenges and future directions in terms of data, model, and privacy facets. We also provide our perspectives on integrating federated learning with a large language model for plant disease detection and resistance prediction. This review provides a comprehensive guide for integrating AI into plant breeding programs, facilitating the translation of computational advances into disease-resistant crop breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Reviews in Molecular Plant Science 2025)
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