We sincerely welcome Dr. Olga Maria Duarte Silva from Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Professor Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Plant Science. Dr. Silva work is devoted to the quality, safety, mode of action and regulatory issues of the CPLP traditional herbal medicines. Approaches used include metabolomic studies concerning target marker compounds and in vivo and in vitro tools: animal models of diabetes and in vitro screen of mechanistic actions involved in antidiabetic properties, like alfa and beta-glucosidase inhibition; anti-inflammatory activity; in vitro screen of antimicrobial activity against different microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and protozoa) and of antitumor activity against different human cell lines.

We appreciate Dr. Silva for her participation and support.

We sincerely welcome Dr. M. Teresa Sanchez-Ballesta from Lab. Biotechnology and Postharvest Quality. Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Jose Antonio Novais, 10. E-28040 Madrid, Spain, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Plant Science. Dr. Sanchez-Ballesta research focuses on the study of the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of fruit quality during postharvest. The aim of her research to identify molecular markers associated to fruit quality and tolerance to environmental factors during fruit postharvest storage. This includes the isolation and characterization of genes involved in low temperature tolerance mechanisms and the transcription factors that modulate their expression. Moreover, she is interested in the analysis of defense-related proteins functionality.

We appreciate Dr. Sanchez-Ballesta for her participation and support.

We sincerely welcome Prof. Riccardo Velasco from Research Center in Viticulture and Oenology of the Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis, Conegliano, Italy, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Plant Science. Prof. Velasco’s research focuses on the genome projects of fruit species, while previously he worked mainly on cereals. The main projects on the genomics of vines, apple trees and other fruit trees have produced numerous genomes used to support assisted genetic improvement. Applied genomics programs have constituted the most profitable innovation in the field of genetic improvement in vines and apple trees. More recently he has engaged in new generation breeding producing several works in which genes of resistance to major pathogens and protocols dedicated to genome editing have been identified.

We appreciate Prof. Velasco for his participation and support.

We sincerely welcome Prof. Jean Charles Munch, em. from former Chair for Soil Ecology, Technische Universität München, D-85350 Freising, Germany, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Plant Science. Prof. Munch’s research area in soil ecology is functional microbial diversity in soils. The extremely complex and multifaceted communities present in soils are only being fully analyzed now thanks to developments in genomics, metabolomics and proteomics as well as in their functioning and development thanks to the progress in non-destructive physical and chemical soil analysis at several scales, from soil units down to microsites. The aim of his research is to gain an understanding of how to control and make increased use of selected microbial functions.

We appreciate Prof. Munch for his participation and support.

We sincerely welcome Dr. James W. Byng from Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Plant Science. Dr. Byng’s research focuses on the classification of vascular plants, in particular angiosperms. This includes reconstruction of their phylogenetic relationships and preparing morphological revisions and flora treatments. In addition, Dr. Byng is developing automated species recognition (‘deep learning’) technology to expediate identification of herbarium specimens using digitised images. Research groups include, but are not limited to: Syzygium and Eugenia (Myrtaceae), Icacinaceae, Metteniusaceae, Dioscoreales and Malpighiales.

We appreciate Dr. Byng for his participation and support.