Gene Editing: Approaches and Applications for Trait Enhancement in Legume and Oilseeds Crops

With the change in climate, yield and quality traits are being affected in many ways. Furthermore, due to plant pathogenic and insect pest population dynamics, mega-varieties in different crops have become susceptible to different biotic stresses. Improving them through traditional back cross breeding and marker assisted selection is time and labor consuming and is penalized with the linkage drag. On the contrary, genome editing tools offers swift and target-specific improvement of different traits in varieties which are otherwise high-yielding and wider adaptable. Additionally, genome editing tools are employed in functional characterization of genes, regulating the expression of genes involved in metabolic pathways of grain yield per se, nutritional and anti-nutritional components, quality traits etc. Therefore, employing these tools in targeted modification of the plant genome can help in sustaining the agriculture and meeting the increasing food and nutritional demands.

Legumes and oilseeds are nutrient rich sources in the healthy diet of human beings. The majority of them have narrow a genetic base and are challenged with different forms of stresses. Traditional breeding uses the existing genetic variation which resulted from spontaneous and induced mutations, which are rare and random. This is a major limitation in creating genetic variability, effective selection and in achieving desired genetic gain in targeted traits. Genome editing tools are proven to be effective in site-targeted modification of genes governing the trait of interest. Increased availability of genomic resources, functionally characterized genes and SNPs governing economical traits led to the rapid advancement in genome editing in legume and oilseeds crops. Hence, genome-editing aids in accelerated genetic gain in grain yield, quality traits and stress tolerance and can foster the sustainable production of legumes and oil seed crops.

The current Research Topic “Gene Editing: Approaches and Applications for Trait Enhancement in Legume and Oilseeds Crops” invites original research and reviews addressing genome editing of legume and oilseeds crops towards sustainability and nutritional enhancement. The following are the proposed themes, but not limited to:

• Development and standardization of genome editing protocols for legumes and oilseeds
• Genome editing for enhancing grain and oil yield
• Genome editing for improving disease resistance
• Genome editing for improving insect resistance
• Genome editing for improving quality traits in legumes and oilseeds crops
• Progress and prospects in genome editing in different legume and oilseeds crops

Keywords: Legume, oil crops, genome editing, CRISPR/Cas systems, ZFNs, TALENs, meganucleases.

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