Breeding Approaches to Improve Woody Plants’ Resistance to Pests and Diseases

Tree diseases and pest invasions cause important losses worldwide and negatively impact global food security, agricultural sustainability, and the environment. Improving resistance to pathogens through traditional breeding and other technologies, like genetic transformation and the CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technique, can reduce these losses. Woody plant improvement programs involve the selection of the most desirable trees from natural stands or plantations, breeding or mating of these elite trees, and testing the resulting progeny, increasingly by using GWAS and MAS. This three-step process is then continuously repeated to increase the extent to which each generation (breeding generation) exhibits the desirable traits, that is, to increase the genetic gain. Improving trees for resistance to diseases and pests involves recognizing the pathogen and understanding the relationship between the host and parasite, the genetics of both, and the environmental conditions under which the attack develops. However, improving trees with effective, stable, and broad-spectrum resistance is challenging.

Improving woody plants' resistance to pests and diseases presents major challenges due to their long regeneration cycles and recalcitrance. Breeding trees and other woody plants for disease and pest resistance is crucial for enhancing the long-term health and vitality of forest ecosystems and cultivated tree species. The process typically begins with the identification of specific pathogens that pose a significant risk to tree populations, then seek out trees that display natural resistance to these pathogens, often studying native populations for genetic traits that confer resistance. Through careful selection and controlled crossbreeding, the work aims to propagate these desirable traits in subsequent generations. Modern breeding techniques, including molecular genetics and genomic tools, have revolutionized the process, allowing scientists to pinpoint and manipulate specific genes associated with disease resistance. This precision breeding accelerates the development of resistant varieties and reduces the reliance on traditional, time-consuming methods. New tools like CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technique have emerged, as the most widely used tool for creating plants with desirable traits, such as disease resistance and tolerance to abiotic stresses. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) used to identify genomic variants statistically associated with a risk for a disease or a particular trait, can accelerate woody plant breeding rates for disease resistance, through marker-assisted and genome-wide selection.

Tree and other woody plant diseases and pest invasions cause important losses worldwide and there is clear evidence that climate change is exacerbating these negative impacts. The development of new tools and technologies has opened up new possibilities for implementing faster and more effective breeding programs for trees, although they are still challenging. In this Research Topic, we invite submissions of articles focusing on the new trends and different approaches to improve the resistance of trees to pests and diseases, including forest trees, fruit trees, and woody plants such as grapevines and shrubs. We welcome original research articles, reviews, mini reviews, methods, and opinion articles that contribute to (but are not limited to) the following topics:
• Studies on traditional breeding, screenings of germplasm, and marker-assisted selection (MAS)
• Genetic transformation and CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing tools
• Genome-wide association studies (GWAS)
• Major challenges for improving trees’ resistance to pests and diseases
• Analyses of how breeding and different management choices affect genetic diversity
• Analyses of the effectiveness of MAS, GWAs and CRISPR/Cas9 in breeding programs

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Resistance, breeding, genetic transformation, CRISPR/Cas9, sustainability, food security, climate change, GWAS, MAS, forest trees, fruit trees, woody plants, grapevines, shrubs, pests, diseases

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.