Editorial of first Plant Biology Issue at Wiley-Blackwell - German Botanical Society (DBG: Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft e. V.)

In January 1999, the German Botanical Society and the Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands launched Plant Biology with the publisher Georg Thieme Verlag, Germany . In the intervening years, several initiatives have been undertaken to improve the quality of Plant Biology, including the implementation of an online editorial office in 2004. The Section Editor system was replaced by an international Editorial Board headed by a single central Editorial Office in Freiburg, Germany under the direction of Heinz Rennenberg who oversees the reviewing process and editorial decisions.

While Plant Biology still covers the entire range of plant sciences, submitted manuscripts must be of general interest, not only addressed to a specialized readership. Plant Biology aims at preferentially publishing short papers (five to six printed pages) that allow reviewing within a short period of time.

This first 2008 issue of Plant Biology is brought out by Wiley-Blackwell, a publisher, with a long history of publishing high quality journals on behalf of learned societies and federations. We feel confident that Wiley-Blackwell will provide excellent publishing services and business expertise.

Jointly we aim at improving the international visibility and recognition of Plant Biology as one of the leading journals in plant sciences. We would like to invite and encourage you to submit your best papers to Plant Biology.

Looking forward to a successful cooperation for Plant Biology,