Growth and Development in Horticultural Crops: Mechanisms, Regulation, and Innovation

Horticultural crops play a vital role in ensuring global food security, improving nutritional health, and supporting economic sustainability. However, optimizing their growth, development, yield, and quality continues to face challenges due to changing environmental conditions, resource constraints, and increasing consumer demand for sustainable production. Advances in molecular biology, genomics, and precision agriculture have opened new frontiers for understanding the complex interplay of genetic, physiological, and environmental factors that regulate horticultural crop development. This Research Topic seeks to explore both intrinsic biological mechanisms—such as hormonal control, flowering, fruit set, and developmental transitions—and extrinsic factors like climate change, soil and water limitations, and agronomic practices that influence crop productivity and resilience. By fostering multidisciplinary research, this collection will highlight innovative strategies and emerging technologies that contribute to the development of climate-resilient and resource-efficient horticultural systems. Contributions that utilize cutting-edge tools such as CRISPR-based gene editing, omics-driven analyses, and sustainable cultivation approaches are especially encouraged.

This Research Topic aims to gather high-quality original research and comprehensive reviews that advance our understanding of the biological and environmental mechanisms driving growth and development in horticultural crops. We welcome studies that identify key regulatory genes and pathways, and that utilize state-of-the-art technologies—such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), transcriptomics, single-cell sequencing, and gene editing—to elucidate these processes. The ultimate goal is to bridge laboratory discoveries with practical applications in horticultural production systems.

We welcome submissions of original research articles, reviews, and methodological papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Molecular and genetic regulation of flowering, fruit development, and root–shoot architecture

• Environmental interactions affecting development, including responses to drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and light quality

• Applications of omics technologies, precision agriculture, and gene editing in crop improvement

• Mechanistic studies on hormonal signaling, developmental physiology, and plant architecture modulation

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Horticultural Crops, Plant Growth Regulation, Developmental Physiology, Molecular Breeding, Advanced Technologies

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.