Advances in Breeding in Agricultural and Animal Science

Dear Colleagues,

Animals and plants are bred to produce specific characteristics or qualities. Breeding is carried out for a variety of reasons. Consider these points:

• Breeding for companion animals or conservation: Selected breeding is the process of improving a specific quality in animals or plants. For instance, dog breeders select dogs based on their size, coat type, and temperament. Additionally, through conservation breeding, endangered species are reintroduced.
• Breeding for agriculture: Commercial breeding occurs when animals or plants are bred for a specific purpose, such as increased milk yield for cows or disease resistance for crops. Using plant and animal breeding to produce desirable characteristics involves the controlled mating of plants and animals. The quality of meat, the quantity of milk, the growth rate, and disease resistance are all traits to consider when breeding livestock. Plant breeders improve yields, drought resistance, disease resistance, and nutritional content. In addition to plant breeding, agricultural breeding can refer to livestock breeding. It is a discipline where biology, genetics, and agriculture come together.
• Techniques for breeding: Parents are selected from a population based on the ability to identify and choose the best individuals to raise the next generation. Selected breeding is a method of combining genetically different traits by crossing two individuals. Genetic variability can be created by inducing mutations with chemicals or radiation. Using biotechnology, such as CRISPR and other gene-editing techniques, genetic engineering involves directly manipulating an organism's genes. Without phenotypic evaluations, plants or animals can be identified with desired traits through marker-assisted selection (MAS).

Plant breeding has the following specific objectives: to increase grain production, fruit production, or biomass production, which is called yield improvement; to obtain plants that are adapted to non-living stress conditions, such as drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures, which can be achieved by breeding for resistance to these conditions; to enhance the nutritional quality, taste, texture, and other desirable characteristics of products to meet consumers' needs; and to increase the shelf life of agricultural products so that they can be stored for longer.

In animal breeding, there are several specific objectives: It is important to produce animals that grow faster and more efficiently in terms of growth rate and efficiency, as well as to enhance the production of milk, meat, and eggs in quantity or quality. In livestock breeding, disease resistance refers to breeding animals resistant to specific diseases. An animal that exhibits a certain behavior is chosen over one that is docile and easy to handle.

Aspects of economics and business: Plant varieties that are genetically modified or specially bred may be protected by patents or rights. Crops and animals are bred according to market demands or trends.

Genetics and biotechnology have made agricultural breeding a dynamic field that continues to evolve with advances in knowledge and technology. Any breeding program should consider ethical considerations.

Dr. Younes Miar
Dr. Adrienn Széles
Dr. Ramin Bahmani
Dr. Seyed Mohammad Nasir Mousavi
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. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• plant breeding
• animal breeding
• genetic
• biotechnology
• selective breeding
• breeding programs
• crop production
• genotype–environment interaction