The New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science is inviting submissions for a forthcoming Special Issue titled Embryo, Stone, and Fruit Development in Crops: Integrating Breeding, Genetics, and Multi-Omics.
Announcing this, te Roal Society of New Zealand says fleshy fruits are often discussed as though they share a common developmental logic, yet their architectures, and therefore their biological constraints, are fundamentally different.
In drupes, embryo and seed development are tightly coordinated with endocarp differentiation, where the inner pericarp undergoes cell specification, lignification, and programmed cell death to form the stone. In berries, pomes, and other fleshy fruits, embryo-maternal-fruit interactions follow altered differentiation trajectories that determine varied fruit set, size, composition, ripening, and stress resilience.
The Special Issue of the New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science focuses on embryo-maternal-fruit communication as a unifying framework across crops, with a dedicated spotlight on the drupe “pit-to-pulp” axis. Across these diverse fruit systems, a common biological principle emerges: developing seeds act as central hubs for signaling and resource allocation, while maternal tissues interpret these cues to determine fruit growth, reproductive success, and resilience.
The invitation is for mechanistic and translational studies linking genetic variation to regulatory networks, including hormone crosstalk (auxin-GA-ABA-ethylene), transcriptional and epigenetic control, cell-wall and lignification programs, and metabolite transport, integrated with environmental drivers (temperature, water, nutrition).
The society says:
“We especially encourage multi-omics and quantitative approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, spatial, and integrative modeling) along with functional evidence that enable causal insight, trait prediction, and breeding for improved yield, quality, processing traits, and resilience.”
Topics of Interest
Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
Developmental Biology
- Embryo–seed–fruit developmental coordination
- Maternal–embryo communication pathways
- Endocarp differentiation and stone formation
- Fruit tissue specification and developmental patterning
Molecular and Genetic Regulation
- Hormonal cross-talk (auxin, gibberellin, ABA, ethylene, cytokinin)
- Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of fruit development
- Gene regulatory networks controlling seed and fruit traits
Structural and Metabolic Processes
- Cell wall biosynthesis and lignification pathways
- Metabolite transport and nutrient allocation during seed development
- Regulation of fruit composition and ripening
Omics and Systems Biology
- Genomics and quantitative genetics of fruit traits
- Transcriptomics and spatial transcriptomics
- Proteomics and metabolomics
- Multi-omics integration and predictive modelling
Submission information
A preliminary title, indicative author list, affiliations and a short descriptive paragraph outlining the scope of a proposed manuscript should be sent to the Lead Guest Editor Dr Bilal Ahmad, at bilalahmad@caas.cn by 30 April 2026.
Authors will be notified of the result and formally invited for full submission by 31 May 2026. The anticipated manuscript submission deadline is 31 January 2027.
This Instructions for Authors can be found on the journal homepage before a formal submission is made to the New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science through the journal’s online submission system if your Expression of Interest (EOI) is selected.
Source: Royal Society of New Zealand
