According to the World Food Programme, 135 million suffer from acute hunger largely due to man-made conflicts, climate change and economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic could now double that number, putting an additional 130 million people at risk of suffering with acute hunger. Moreover, food insecurity and low dietary quality cause huge public health problems. Malnutrition is responsible for physical and mental development impairments, various infectious diseases, and unacceptably high numbers of premature deaths. Since the Green Revolution, a constant increase in crop productivity have experienced; however, there is concern that yield improvement is not enough. Current rate of annual yield increases for major crops ranges between 0.8-1.2 % which needs to be doubled to feed the ever-increasing human population.
The classical breeding techniques contributed toward the development of superior crop varieties which helped in achieving food security for ever-increasing human population. However, with the passage of time these classical breeding approaches are lagging to meet global food requirements and scientists are working on novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) and other breakthrough agricultural techniques to reduce hunger. Recently, OMICs, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), QTL mapping, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), and genome editing (GE) approaches etc. have proven to be powerful tools that we have at our disposal to overcome substantial obstacles in the way of efficiency and productivity of current agricultural practices. In addition, recently there has been a rapid development of online forums, methods, protocols, and application strategies for genome-based techniques and their applications for crop improvement.
With the help of NPBTs, today we have access to massive gene pools that can be exploited to impart desirable traits in economically important crops. In traditional breeding, the genomes of both the parents are mixed together and randomly re-assorted into the genome of the offspring. Thus, undesirable genes can be transferred along with the desirable genes and at the same time some genes may be lost in the offspring. The generation of thermo-genic male sterile line in rice through CRISPR, QTL mapping for genes controlling yield and quality, marker assisted selection for genes controlling disease resistance and GWAS for gene families controlling heavy metals tolerance are few examples of the application of NPBTs for novel traits developments. In addition, given current global consumption behavior, global food security will be compromised without NPBTs that can help improve farm productivity through genetic improvement.
This Research Topic seeks to cover novel findings on novel plant breeding strategies addressed to improve both biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and resilience of crops, including the application of marker assisted selection, genomic region analysis, mutation breeding, OMICs, epigenetics, genotyping by sequencing, nanotechnology, GWAS and genome editing based techniques for novel traits development in economically important crops. Manuscripts dealing with cutting edge techniques e.g., CRISPR, base editing, prime editing, genotyping by sequencing, integration of bioinformatics and multi-omics for traits important for food security, and providing the mechanistic explanation of genes controlling various molecular, physiological, or biochemical attributes will be the primary target of this research topic. Moreover, works already investigated but providing novel results on molecular mechanisms, functional characterizations of genes, etc. could also be accepted upon providing a clear statement on the actual novelty. We welcome Original Research, Mini Reviews, Reviews, Methods, and Opinion articles within the scope of subjects mentioned above.
According to the World Food Programme, 135 million suffer from acute hunger largely due to man-made conflicts, climate change and economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic could now double that number, putting an additional 130 million people at risk of suffering with acute hunger. Moreover, food insecurity and low dietary quality cause huge public health problems. Malnutrition is responsible for physical and mental development impairments, various infectious diseases, and unacceptably high numbers of premature deaths. Since the Green Revolution, a constant increase in crop productivity have experienced; however, there is concern that yield improvement is not enough. Current rate of annual yield increases for major crops ranges between 0.8-1.2 % which needs to be doubled to feed the ever-increasing human population.
The classical breeding techniques contributed toward the development of superior crop varieties which helped in achieving food security for ever-increasing human population. However, with the passage of time these classical breeding approaches are lagging to meet global food requirements and scientists are working on novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) and other breakthrough agricultural techniques to reduce hunger. Recently, OMICs, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), QTL mapping, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), and genome editing (GE) approaches etc. have proven to be powerful tools that we have at our disposal to overcome substantial obstacles in the way of efficiency and productivity of current agricultural practices. In addition, recently there has been a rapid development of online forums, methods, protocols, and application strategies for genome-based techniques and their applications for crop improvement.
With the help of NPBTs, today we have access to massive gene pools that can be exploited to impart desirable traits in economically important crops. In traditional breeding, the genomes of both the parents are mixed together and randomly re-assorted into the genome of the offspring. Thus, undesirable genes can be transferred along with the desirable genes and at the same time some genes may be lost in the offspring. The generation of thermo-genic male sterile line in rice through CRISPR, QTL mapping for genes controlling yield and quality, marker assisted selection for genes controlling disease resistance and GWAS for gene families controlling heavy metals tolerance are few examples of the application of NPBTs for novel traits developments. In addition, given current global consumption behavior, global food security will be compromised without NPBTs that can help improve farm productivity through genetic improvement.
This Research Topic seeks to cover novel findings on novel plant breeding strategies addressed to improve both biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and resilience of crops, including the application of marker assisted selection, genomic region analysis, mutation breeding, OMICs, epigenetics, genotyping by sequencing, nanotechnology, GWAS and genome editing based techniques for novel traits development in economically important crops. Manuscripts dealing with cutting edge techniques e.g., CRISPR, base editing, prime editing, genotyping by sequencing, integration of bioinformatics and multi-omics for traits important for food security, and providing the mechanistic explanation of genes controlling various molecular, physiological, or biochemical attributes will be the primary target of this research topic. Moreover, works already investigated but providing novel results on molecular mechanisms, functional characterizations of genes, etc. could also be accepted upon providing a clear statement on the actual novelty. We welcome Original Research, Mini Reviews, Reviews, Methods, and Opinion articles within the scope of subjects mentioned above.