Gene Family Evolution and Functional Diversification in Plants: Linking Genomic Variation to Phenotype, Adaptation, and Resilience

Gene families are major drivers of plant genome evolution. Through whole-genome duplication, tandem duplication, segmental duplication, and related processes, they generate genetic novelty that can shape development, metabolism, stress responses, adaptation, and ecological interactions. As genomic resources expand across crops, wild relatives, and natural plant communities, there is a growing opportunity to move beyond gene family inventories and address how gene family variation contributes to plant phenotype, environmental responses, and resilience.The central conceptual lens of this Research Topic is that gene families constitute the functional and evolutionary modules through which plant adaptation and phenotypic innovation emerge. Building on this framework, the primary goal is to deepen our understanding of how gene family variation and regulatory dynamics shape plant phenotypes, adaptation, and performance across diverse environments. This Topic integrates insights from comparative and functional genomics to elucidate mechanisms linking genetic architecture to phenotypic outcomes. Contributions investigating variation across natural populations, wild relatives, and domesticated species are particularly encouraged, especially when they provide insight into adaptive processes and trait evolution. Ultimately, this collection aims to deliver conceptual advances that support applications in plant breeding and ecosystem resilience.This Research Topic specifically focuses on studies where gene families are treated as the central analytical unit of evolutionary or functional inference, rather than as secondary annotations or descriptive genomic features. We particularly encourage hypothesis-driven work that connects gene family variation, evolutionary trajectories, and expression-level dynamics, to phenotypes across developmental stages and environmental gradients, and that advances understanding of plant adaptation, diversity, and crop or ecosystem performance. Submissions should explicitly demonstrate how variation in gene family structure (e.g., duplication, loss, expansion, contraction, or regulatory divergence) is mechanistically or statistically linked to phenotypic variation, adaptive traits, or environmental responses. Topic editors: Dhia Bouktila, Muhammet Sakiroglu Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82592/gene-family-evolution-and-functional-diversification-in-plants-linking-genomic-variation-to-phenotype-adaptation-and-resilience