Research progress in gene editing of Brassicaceae crops.
4 affiliations
- 1Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (East China), State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Engineering Research Center of Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Education of China, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
- 2Beijing Vegetable Research Center (BVRC), Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
- 3State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
- 4College of Horticulture, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, China.
Abstract
Brassicaceae crops are globally important economic plants, whose yield and quality directly affect the supply of edible oil and vegetables. Most of these crops are polyploids with complex genomes and numerous homoeologous gene copies, which demand high efficiency and specificity from gene editing tools, while providing ideal models for studying the rules of polyploid genome editing. Traditional breeding methods, such as crossbreeding and mutation breeding, are constrained by long cycles, low efficiency, and poor specificity, making them insufficient for precise genetic improvement. Gene editing technologies, characterized by precision, efficiency, and targeting specific genomic loci, are core tools for crop breeding. Among these, ZFNs and TALENs rely on protein-DNA recognition and are complicated and costly to design; CRISPR-Cas, which achieves precise recognition through base pairing between guide RNA and target DNA, is simple, efficient, and the most widely used editing tool. Base and prime editors enable single-nucleotide substitutions or small fragment insertions without generating double-strand breaks, making them suitable for directed modification of point mutations. This review summarizes the progress of gene editing in Brassicaceae for bolting/flowering, plant architecture, nutritional quality, tolerance to abiotic stresses (temperature, salinity, drought, heavy metals), and resistance to biotic stresses (diseases, pests). We analyze challenges, including off-target effects, difficulties in polyploid genome editing, and imperfect genetic transformation systems, and discuss future directions integrating gene editing with multi-omics and artificial intelligence. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for precise molecular breeding of Brassicaceae crops.
Related
- Regeneration, genetic transformation, and gene editing in Vaccinium species: current progress and future directions
- Precision Editing of Cis-Regulatory Elements Drives Crops Quantitative Traits Genetic Improvement: From Functional Dissection to Intelligent Design.
- Genome Editing for Earliness and Plant Architecture in Cucurbit Crops: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives
- CRISPR/Cas genome editing strategies to enhance abiotic stress tolerance in sugar crops.
- Non-invasive control of gene editing in vivo by photoswitchable Cas12f and focused ultrasound
BibTeX
@article{wang2026research,
title = {{Research progress in gene editing of Brassicaceae crops.}},
author = {Xiaolong Wang and Bingbing Shangguan and Yanwen Zhang and Tongbing Su and Jialei Ji and Jianjun Zhao and Changwei Zhang and Ying Li and Xilin Hou and Tongkun Liu},
journal = {Biodesign research},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.bidere.2026.100122},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908864},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Research progress in gene editing of Brassicaceae crops.
AU - Xiaolong Wang
AU - Bingbing Shangguan
AU - Yanwen Zhang
AU - Tongbing Su
AU - Jialei Ji
AU - Jianjun Zhao
AU - Changwei Zhang
AU - Ying Li
AU - Xilin Hou
AU - Tongkun Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Biodesign research
DO - 10.1016/j.bidere.2026.100122
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908864
AB - Brassicaceae crops are globally important economic plants, whose yield and quality directly affect the supply of edible oil and vegetables. Most of these crops are polyploids with complex genomes and numerous homoeologous gene copies, which demand high efficiency and specificity from gene editing tools, while providing ideal models for studying the rules of polyploid genome editing. Traditional breeding methods, such as crossbreeding and mutation breeding, are constrained by long cycles, low efficiency, and poor specificity, making them insufficient for precise genetic improvement. Gene editing technologies, characterized by precision, efficiency, and targeting specific genomic loci, are core tools for crop breeding. Among these, ZFNs and TALENs rely on protein-DNA recognition and are complicated and costly to design; CRISPR-Cas, which achieves precise recognition through base pairing between guide RNA and target DNA, is simple, efficient, and the most widely used editing tool. Base and prime editors enable single-nucleotide substitutions or small fragment insertions without generating double-strand breaks, making them suitable for directed modification of point mutations. This review summarizes the progress of gene editing in Brassicaceae for bolting/flowering, plant architecture, nutritional quality, tolerance to abiotic stresses (temperature, salinity, drought, heavy metals), and resistance to biotic stresses (diseases, pests). We analyze challenges, including off-target effects, difficulties in polyploid genome editing, and imperfect genetic transformation systems, and discuss future directions integrating gene editing with multi-omics and artificial intelligence. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for precise molecular breeding of Brassicaceae crops.
SN - 2693-1257
ER -