Regeneration is an important biological process of asexual reproduction of all plants especially forest trees where vegetative propagation is widely used. For example, cuttings, grafting, tissue or organ regeneration, and somatic embryogenesis are common and efficient venues through which the regeneration occurs. The regeneration process is known to be regulated by many regulatory factors involved in growth and developmental processes. In addition, the regeneration involves a series of cytological processes and histological transformation, such as cell totipotency acquisition, de-differentiation, trans-differentiation and re-differentiation, which are accompanied by multileveled gene expression regulation and coordinated changes in transcriptome, proteome and metabolome. Moreover, the regeneration process is also shaped by environmental cues and exogenous hormones. Revealing the underlying regulatory mechanisms of the aforementioned biological processes will provide opportunities to manipulate regeneration more efficiently. The establishment of an efficient plant regeneration system can provide a key technical guarantee for forest genetic improvement by means of gene transformation and clonal forestry. Therefore, deeply excavating the process of forest regeneration to gain an in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms not only is a hot spot in the research on the basic theoretical issues of botany and forestry, but also has important significance for promoting forestry productivity. Due to its importance, regeneration is becoming an important research focus and receive increasing attention in forestry.

To advance the research and our understanding of regeneration in forest trees, we have designed the following topics for a new special issue. We cordially invite submissions of full-length articles, short communication, and reviews/mini reviews and perspectives related to these topics. Please note that the topics we provided may not cover all aspects of this research field. If your topic is related but not listed here, please contact us.  

 The topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

●   Somatic embryogenesis;

●   Adventitious root formation;

●   Cutting and grafting;

●   Tissue and organ regeneration;

●   Totipotency and regeneration;

●    De-differentiation and trans-differentiation during regeneration;

●    Roles of DNA methylation in regeneration;

●    Shoot generation and architectural pattern.

Guest Editors:

Wanfeng Li, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, China

Chongyi Xu, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China