Induced Genetic Variations in Fruit Trees Using New Breeding Tools: Food Security and Climate Resilience

Abstract

Fruit trees provide essential nutrients to humans by contributing to major agricultural outputs and economic growth globally. However, major constraints to sustainable agricultural productivity are the uncontrolled proliferation of the population, and biotic and abiotic stresses. Tree mutation breeding has been substantially improved using different physical and chemical mutagens. Nonetheless, tree plant breeding has certain crucial bottlenecks including a long life cycle, ploidy level, occurrence of sequence polymorphisms, nature of parthenocarpic fruit development and linkage. Genetic engineering of trees has focused on boosting quality traits such as productivity, wood quality, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent technological advances in genome editing provide a unique opportunity for the genetic improvement of woody plants. This review examines application of the CRISPR-Cas system to reduce disease susceptibility, alter plant architecture, enhance fruit quality, and improve yields. Examples are discussed of the contemporary CRISPR-Cas system to engineer easily scorable PDS genes, modify lignin, and to alter the flowering onset, fertility, tree architecture and certain biotic stresses.

Characterization and Control of Thielaviopsis punctulata on Date Palm in Saudi Arabia

“…Thus, exploring native BCAs and/or their natural antagonistic products can also be a potential substitute for conventional fungicides to curtail black scorch disease. However, as a part of the long-term IDM approach, more recent genome editing and biotechnological approaches can provide fair control and can target fungal pathogens in date palm [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Biotechnological Advances to Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops

“…Then, recurrent backcrossing with the elite ancestor is required to maintain the genetic potential of the elite cultivar besides preserving the recently imported resistance allele ( Figure 2 a). Typically, the entire procedure requires several generations to fix the resistance allele in the elite background [ 90 ]. Thus, the required time to release a new crop variety takes on average 12–15 years [ 91 ], depending on the crop.…”

Spontaneous, Artificial, and Genome Editing-Mediated Mutations in Prunus

“…Additionally, genetic diversity is foremost for breeding programs, as it allows for crops to successfully adapt to environmental changes [ 2 ]. As a result, over the past few decades, a bunch of strategies have been proposed to increase genetic diversity in fruit trees [ 3 ]. One of the genetic resources that generates diversity in orchards is mutation.…”

“…Mutations drive the drift of evolution and plant breeding [ 6 ]. Moreover, it is said that mutation is at the bottom of cutting-edge plant breeding techniques [ 3 ]. This phenomenon occurs in living organisms naturally through repairing genetic materials, i.e., DNA & RNA damaged by physical, chemical, and biological agents [ 2 , 7 ].…”

“…It is reported that although some of the mutations are corrected through DNA proofreading and repair processes, some of them are transmitted into the next generation [ 16 ]. In addition, mutagenesis is a process in breeding by means of mutagens which can be inherited [ 3 ]. Therefore, it is predicted that the mutagenesis methods, i.e., insertional and site-directed mutagenesis, will be used extensively in mutation classical breeding studies owing to their precise results [ 2 ].…”