Application of genetic modification and genome editing for developing climate‐smart banana

Abstract

Banana is a major staple food crop feeding more than 500 million people in tropical and subtropical countries. Its production is largely constrained by diseases and pests in addition to other factors such as declining soil fertility, narrow genetic diversity in germplasm, and inadequate availability of clean planting material. The impact of climate change, particularly a rise in temperature and drought, is predicted to affect production adversely due to direct effect on plant agronomy and also influence on pathogens, pests, and their interactions with host plants. There is need to develop climate‐smart varieties of banana with multiple and durable resistance to combat abiotic stresses such as extreme temperature and drought, and biotic stresses such as pathogens and pests. Modern breeding tools, including genetic modification and genome editing, can be applied for the improvement of banana bypassing the natural bottlenecks of traditional breeding. Intensive efforts using genetic modification have been made to develop improved banana varieties with resistance to biotic stresses; however, these need to be coupled with tolerance to abiotic stresses. Genome editing, an emerging powerful tool, can be applied for developing sustainable solutions to adapt to climate change by resisting biotic and abiotic stresses. CRISPR/Cas9‐based genome editing has been lately established for banana, paving the way for functional genomics allowing identification of genes associated with stress‐tolerant traits, which could be used for the improvement of banana for adaptation to a changing climate. This article presents an overview of recent advancements and prospective on the application of genetic modification and genome editing for developing climate‐smart banana.

Using Genetic Engineering Techniques to Develop Banana Cultivars With Fusarium Wilt Resistance and Ideal Plant Architecture

“…Previous studies aiming to develop highly efficient, rapid, reproducible, and widely applicable systems for banana genetic transformation and regeneration have used a variety of explant types, banana genotypes, transformation methods, transformation protocols, transformation vectors, and transformation promoters ( Table 2 ). However, even though several varieties of bananas have been genetically transformed and regenerated, the developed methods are variety dependent ( Tripathi et al, 2019 ). Thus, an efficient, stable transformation and regeneration protocol that is applicable to all banana varieties is urgently needed.…”

“…The banana germplasm contains various valuable genes associated with useful agronomic traits such as height, leaf angle, root distribution, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses ( Heslop-Harrison and Schwarzacher, 2007 ). For example, the banana B-genome has long been a target of breeding programs, as these bananas have a high tolerance of abiotic stresses, such as drought ( Tripathi et al, 2019 ). Banana plants are susceptible to drought owing to their shallow roots, large size, and rapid growth ( Nansamba et al, 2020 ).…”

“…With the publication of the banana genome and the development of feasible genetic transformation methods, gene editing systems, such as host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) and CRISPR, have become increasingly used to mutate specific genes, leading to the production of mutant plants without having to insert foreign genes ( Tripathi et al, 2019 ; Wang and Chen, 2020 ).…”

Role of New Plant Breeding Technologies for Food Security and Sustainable Agricultural Development

“…Examples of gene-edited crops at or near the end of the research pipeline are manifold, including fungus-resistant wheat, rice, banana, and cacao; drought-tolerant rice, maize, and soybean; bacterial-resistant rice and banana; salt-tolerant rice; and virus-resistant cassava and banana, among others (Hickey et al 2019;Tripathi, Ntui, and Tripathi 2019;Zaidi et al 2019). Many of these technologies could contribute significantly to sustainable agricultural development and food security.…”

Climate Change Impacts on Water and Agriculture Sectors in Southern Africa: Threats and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

“…Technology, particularly hydrological and water management tools, and models have emerged as essential components of water management. Examples of technologies that are transforming the agriculture and water sectors include the development of smart plants that are more drought tolerant through genetic modification and genome editing [54]. Some plants can also be engineered to use more efficient photosynthetic pathways that fully use the sun's available energy [55].…”