Xu named editor of prestigious plant breeding journal
AgriLife Research corn breeder brings expertise to Journal of Plant Registrations
Wenwei Xu, Ph.D., a Texas A&M University Regents Fellow, professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder and geneticist in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Lubbock, has accepted the nomination as editor of the Journal of Plant Registrations, JPR.
The Journal of Plant Registrations is the official registration publication of the Crop Science Society of America. It is the premier international venue for plant breeders, geneticists and genome biologists to publish research describing new and novel plant cultivars, germplasm, parental lines, genetic stock and genomic mapping populations.
“It is an honor to serve as the editor of the Journal of Plant Registrations and a privilege to serve our professional society,” Xu said. “JPR is one of the 13 peer-reviewed scientific journals published by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America. I accepted the nomination, not to add more lines to my resume, but to serve the Society.”
Xu is currently an associate editor of the journal until January. His three-year appointment as the editor will run from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2027.
“As the editor, I plan to work with the current editor, our editorial board, and the society publication staff to provide leadership for the journal, promote scholarship in the science targeted by the journal, promote manuscript submission and peer review to researchers and authors, publish high- quality papers and improve the impact of the journal,” Xu said.
About Xu
Xu earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the Agricultural University of Gansu Province, and his master’s in plant breeding and genetics from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. He earned his doctorate in genetics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
His doctorate and postdoc research included genomics of forage grasses and grain sorghum drought tolerance.
His current corn breeding program focuses on developing inbred lines and germplasm for improved drought and heat tolerance, insect — corn earworm, fall armyworm and spider mites — resistance, mycotoxin resistance, and nutrition values.
Xue uses both conventional and molecular breeding methodologies to transfer desired traits from tropical germplasm and wild species to elite corn germplasm adapted to temperate and subtropical environments.
Hybrids with the multiple stress-tolerant parent lines developed by his corn breeding program have been grown across the southern U.S.
