About this Research Topic

Background

The demands for stable crop production with higher yields and nutritional quality are increasing due to the rapidly growing world population. To meet global food demand, higher and more sustainable crop yields must be achieved by increasing crop productivity through advanced technologies. Several endogenous plant regulators, including signaling metabolites such as trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), glucose-1-phosphate (G1P), and sucrose, as well as phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), brassinosteroids (BR), and auxin, play an important role in regulating the allocation of carbohydrate or energy in the form of sucrose from the source organs to sink organs for storage deposition and accumulation, and to other crop tissues for growth and development. Moreover, most of these endogenous regulators, particularly the phytohormones, are involved in the modulation of plant cell development. The biosyntheses and actions of these endogenous plant regulators are usually modified by variable environmental signals that generally result in changes in plant growth and cell developmental processes. Plants have developed intrinsic genetic mechanisms that can rapidly integrate and translate a variety of these endogenous and environmental signals into various development and metabolic processes. Therefore, a deeper understanding of how the various endogenous regulators and environmental signals interplay to affect crop development is imperative to improve crop potential for higher sustainable yields and nutritional quality.

Crop improvement is only possible when we have a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms inherent in plants to improve yield and quality in variable environments. The impact of crop improvement must be translated into resilient production systems that secure future harvests by harnessing naturally evolved plant traits and innovative technologies driven by systematic understanding. Genome-based technologies have improved our understanding of the spatial and temporal regulation of genes and pathways, making it easier to rapidly develop traits and breed new crop varieties to increase yield and quality.

This Research Topic will focus on advances in understanding the development of crop source and storage organs and quality improvement. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles on the following subthemes but are not limited to:
• Regulation of cell development and expansion of source or storage/sink organs
• Regulation and control of crop storage components by signaling metabolites (sugars) or/and phytohormones
• Functional analysis of genes involved in signaling pathways that strengthen source-sink interactions
• Spatial and temporal regulation of genes involved in biosynthesis and deposition of storage materials
• Functional analysis of stress-inducible genes involved in phytohormone biosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism
• Genetic mapping and targeted modification of crop yield and quality-related traits

Keywords: Source-sink relationship, plant metabolites, phytohormones, plant organ development, gene regulation, signaling pathway

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