Dear Colleagues,
All stages in the development of a plant, encompassing the entire life cycle of a plant, are initiated at the molecular level and require highly ordered cascades of gene expression changes. These include the transition from vegetative to reproductive development, and the ability of a plant to adapt to environmental stress or to mount a defence response against invading pathogens. Molecular signalling molecules in the form of phytohormones, small regulatory RNAs and transcription factors perform central roles at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels to mediate tightly orchestrated gene expression regulation. This is required to ensure the plant progresses through each phase of development, or responds dynamically to environmental changes or pathogen attack. This Special Issue invites the submission of review articles that describe the molecular regulation of plant development, or the molecular processes of a plant in response to environmental stress or pathogen invasion. Similarly, we invite research papers on molecular signalling molecules (specifically phytohormones, small regulatory RNAs, and transcription factors) that regulate plant development, or that mediate the adaptive response of a plant to environmental stress or pathogenic disease.
This Special Issue will focus on the following specific topics:
- The use of model species to characterise plant development at the molecular level.
- Phytohormones as molecular signals that regulate plant development.
- Small regulatory RNAs (namely microRNAs) as molecular signals that regulate plant development.
- Transcription factors as molecular signals that regulate plant development.
- Molecular mechanisms that direct plant responses to environmental stress.
- Molecular mechanisms that direct plant defence responses to pathogen invasion.
Dr. Andrew L. Eamens and Dr. Joseph L. Pegler
Guest Editors
Manuscripts should be submitted via our online editorial system at https://imr.propub.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to start your submission. Manuscripts can be submitted now or up until the deadline. All papers will go through peer-review process. Accepted papers will be published in the journal (as soon as accepted) and meanwhile listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, reviews as well as short communications are preferred. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office to announce on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts will be thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. Please visit the Instruction for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) in this open access journal is 2500 USD. Submitted manuscripts should be well formatted in good English.