Resistance Genetics of Forest Trees

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few decades, forests are experiencing an alarming incidence of alien pests and pathogens. Furthermore, global change is threatening the resilience of forest trees against biotic stressors. In this context, the selection of tree genotypes with superior resistance appears as one of the more reliable alternatives to mitigate the economic and ecological impacts of pests and diseases. This selection can be grounded on traditional breeding and more advanced tree biotechnology methods. Deepening the knowledge of tree resistance genetics is pivotal to progress in this field.

This Special Issue welcomes research works in all aspects of resistance genetics of trees and other woody species. Works can include traditional breeding, genetics, genomics, and molecular biology, as well as resistance to microbes, insects, nematodes, or parasitic plants. Works on biochemistry and the physiology of trees can also be welcome if they are proposed from a genetic perspective.

This Special Issue will incorporate both exploratory researches to help to formulate new hypotheses and targeted experiments to address specific questions. Studies using novel analytical tools are encouraged for this issue. Those encompass network analyses, multi-omics integration, big data, and machine learning. More traditional approaches are also welcome, especially when the studies include modern statistical approaches and models that integrate sources of evidence of different nature such as phenomics, next-generation sequencing, geographical surveying methods, climatological and historical data, transgenics, metabolomics, and population genotyping.

We are soliciting research papers, short communications, and review papers. Main subject areas are:

• Quantitative genetics studies, including estimation of heritabilities and modes of inheritance
• QTL analyses
• Population genetics and epidemics
• Landscape genetic analyses
• Comparative genomics and phylogenetics
• Targeted studies on genes involved resistance, in controlled or natural populations, including the use of transgenics and genome editing
• Studies on allelic and polygenic interactions in genetic elements
• Genome-wide association studies and similar approaches
• Transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic studies
• Community genetics analyses, either exploratory or experimental
• Studies of microbiome using metabarcoding or metagenomics
• Network analyses, studies based on Lines of Evidence and meta-analyses

Dr. Juan Antonio Martín
Dr. David Macaya-Sanz
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. Forests 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.

• Resistance
• Breeding
• Genetics
• Genomics
• Pathogen
• Pest