About this Research Topic
Oil crops, such as sesame (Sesamum incidicum L.), linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), perilla (Perilla frutescens L.), safflower (Carhtamus tinctorius L.), and oil tea (Camellia oleifera Abel.) are considered minor due to their little contribution into the global vegetable oil production and consumption. However, they are called specialty oil crops, given their higher content of unsaturated fatty acids and specific nutraceuticals. For example, perilla and linseed are rich in linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid essential for human growth, development, and disease prevention, but often deficient in our daily diets. Sesame and linseed are rich in lignans, which have various health-promoting properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-aging, cholesterol-lowering, etc. In recent years, with the improvement of people’s living standards and health consciousness, edible vegetable oil and foods produced from specialty oil crops are favored by more and more consumers.
Specialty oil crops have received little support from scientists, industrials, and policymakers and lagged behind other major oil crops in basic research and genetic improvement. In the past decade, with the development and application of various high-throughput omics techniques (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), genetic and genomic resources (germplasm resources, mutants, genome sequences, molecular markers, genetic maps, global gene expression profiles, web-based bioinformatics databases, etc.) of specialty oil crops are being upgraded. Consequently, molecular research and breeding of these crops have made gratifying progress. However, the genetic basis of important agronomic traits such as yield, biotic and abiotic resistance, and quality of specialty oil crops still needs further investigations. In addition, more genetic and molecular markers for targeted genetic improvement are to be identified and developed. In fact, continuous and in-depth basic research, extensive international scientific cooperation, and the application of new breeding techniques (genomic selection, gene editing, etc.) will strongly promote molecular design breeding of specialty oil crops to meet modern nutritional and health needs.
The present Research Topic aims to build a collection of articles addressing key subjects related to the genetics and genomics of underutilized oil crops. This will advance knowledge of the underlying genetic and biochemical bases of complex agronomic traits in underutilized oil crops. Moreover, it will provide physiological insights and tools for the improvement of these crops. We welcome the submission of Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Opinions articles on the following themes:
.
• Genetic diversity of specialty oil crops;
• Evolution and domestication of specialty oil crops;
• Sequence-based trait mapping in specialty oil crops;
• Omics-data (including microOmics and epigenomics) -based trait analysis in specialty oil crops;
• Genomics and marker-assisted breeding in specialty oil crops;
• Application of breeding based on modern technics (genetic transformation, gene editing, nanotechnology) in specialty oil crops
Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered if they do not provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process.
Specialty oil crops have received little support from scientists, industrials, and policymakers and lagged behind other major oil crops in basic research and genetic improvement. In the past decade, with the development and application of various high-throughput omics techniques (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), genetic and genomic resources (germplasm resources, mutants, genome sequences, molecular markers, genetic maps, global gene expression profiles, web-based bioinformatics databases, etc.) of specialty oil crops are being upgraded. Consequently, molecular research and breeding of these crops have made gratifying progress. However, the genetic basis of important agronomic traits such as yield, biotic and abiotic resistance, and quality of specialty oil crops still needs further investigations. In addition, more genetic and molecular markers for targeted genetic improvement are to be identified and developed. In fact, continuous and in-depth basic research, extensive international scientific cooperation, and the application of new breeding techniques (genomic selection, gene editing, etc.) will strongly promote molecular design breeding of specialty oil crops to meet modern nutritional and health needs.
The present Research Topic aims to build a collection of articles addressing key subjects related to the genetics and genomics of underutilized oil crops. This will advance knowledge of the underlying genetic and biochemical bases of complex agronomic traits in underutilized oil crops. Moreover, it will provide physiological insights and tools for the improvement of these crops. We welcome the submission of Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Opinions articles on the following themes:
.
• Genetic diversity of specialty oil crops;
• Evolution and domestication of specialty oil crops;
• Sequence-based trait mapping in specialty oil crops;
• Omics-data (including microOmics and epigenomics) -based trait analysis in specialty oil crops;
• Genomics and marker-assisted breeding in specialty oil crops;
• Application of breeding based on modern technics (genetic transformation, gene editing, nanotechnology) in specialty oil crops
Please note that descriptive studies and those defining gene families or descriptive collection of transcripts, proteins, or metabolites, will not be considered if they do not provide mechanistic and/or physiological insights into the biological system or process.
Keywords: Genetics, Genomics, QTL, Genetic engineering, Oil crop
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
