Genome-editing techniques are promising tools in plant breeding. To facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the use of genome editing, EU-SAGE developed an interactive, publicly accessible online database of genome-edited crop plants as described in peer-reviewed scientific publications.
The aim of the database is to inform interested stakeholder communities in a transparent manner about the latest evidence about the use of genome editing in crop plants. Different elements including the plant species, traits, techniques, and applications can be filtered in this database.
Regarding the methodology, a literature search in the bibliographic databases and web pages of governmental agencies was conducted using predefined queries in English. Identifying research articles in other languages was not possible due to language barriers. Patents were not screened.
Peer-reviewed articles were screened for relevance and were included in the database based on pre-defined criteria. The main criterium is that the research article should describe a research study of any crop plant in which a trait has been introduced that is relevant from an agricultural and/or food/feed perspective. The database does neither give information on the stage of development of the crop plant, nor on the existence of the intention to develop the described crop plants to be marketed.
This database will be regularly updated. Please contact us via the following webpage in case you would like to inform us about a new scientific study of crops developed for market-oriented agricultural production as a result of genome editing

Genome Editing Technique

Displaying 66 results

Traits related to biotic stress tolerance

Viral resistance: resistance to pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), causing considerable damage to crop plants.
(Yoon et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Seoul National University
National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, South Korea
Viral resistance: resistance to rice tungro spherical virus, causing rice tungro disease (RTD). RTD is a serious threat for rice production in tropical Asia.
(Macovei et al., 2018)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines
Resistance to parasitic weed: Striga spp. The parasitic plant reduces yields of cereal crops worldwide.
(Hao et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Pennsylvania State University, USA
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Senegal
Kenyatta University, Kenya

Fungal resistance: increased resistance to Erysiphe necator, causing powdery mildew in grape cultivar. The pathogen infects all green tissues and berries, leading to dramatic losses in yield and berry quality.
(Malnoy et al., 2016)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy
ToolGen Inc.
Institute for Basic Science
Seoul National University, South Korea
Viral and fungal resistance: Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and powdery mildew (Oidium neolycopersici), diseases which reduce tomato crop yields and cause substantial economic losses each year.
(Pramanik et al., 2021)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Gyeongsang National University
Pusan National University
R&
D Center, Bunongseed Co., South Korea
Bacterial resistance: improved resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae, which causes bacterial blight, a devastating rice disease resulting in yield losses.
(Oliva et al., 2019)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
University of Missouri
University of Florida
Iowa State University
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA
Université Montpellier, France
Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Nagoya University, Japan
Bacterial resistance: Increased resistance to Erwinia amylovora, causing fire blight disease that threatens the apple and a wide range of ornamental and commercial Rosaceae host plants.
(Malnoy et al., 2016)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy
ToolGen Inc.
Institute for Basic Science
Seoul National University, South Korea
Bacterial resistance: enhanced resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae, causing bacterial blight, a devastating rice disease resulting in yield losses.
(Kim et al., 2019)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Sejong University, South Korea
Fungal resistance: enhanced resistance against powdery mildew disease.
(Xu et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyungpook National University
Rural Development Administration
Sunchon National University, South Korea
Lingnan Normal University, China
Viral resistance: increased resistance to turnip mosaic virus (TuMV).
(Lee et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Rural Development Administration
Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, South Korea
North Carolina State University, USA
Rapid detection of toxigenic Fusarium verticillioides, a phytopathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium ear and stalk rot and poses a threat to maize yields. This accurate and portable detection equipment has great potential for detection of the pathogen, even in areas lacking proper lab equipment.
( Liang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Food Science and Technology
North Minzu University
School of Food Science and Engineering, China
Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Belgium
Herbicide resistance: pds (phytoene desaturase), ALS (acetolactate synthase), and EPSPS (5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase)
(Yang et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chonnam National University, South Korea
Fungal and bacterial resistance: increased resistance towards the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psm) and fungal pathogen Alternaria brassicicola.
(Yung Cha et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
Bacterial resistance: Enhanced resistance against hemibiotrophic pathogens M. oryzae and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (but increased susceptibility to Cochliobolus miyabeanus)
(Kim et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Seoul National University
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Pennsylvania State University, USA

Traits related to abiotic stress tolerance

Drought tolerance.
( Njuguna et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Cold tolerance.
( Park et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Institute of Crop Science
Kyungpook National University, South Korea
Regulated circadian clock: circadian clock measures and conveys day length information to control rhythmic hypocotyl growth in photoperiodic conditions, to achieve optimal fitness. Mutants showed longer hypocotyls, lower core circadian clock morning component mRNA and protein levels, and a shorter circadian rhythm. Exposure to high temperature due to global warming.
(Kim et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Institute of Agricultural Science
Korea Polar Research Institute
Seoul National University College of Medicine, South Korea
Increased cuticular wax biosynthesis resulting in enhanced drought tolerance.
( Shim et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Seoul National University
Incheon National University
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Salinity tolerance. Salinity stress is one of the most important abiotic stress factors affecting rice production worldwide.
( Lim et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kangwon National University
Sangji University
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Drought tolerance by modulating lignin accumulation in roots.
( Bang et al, 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Seoul National University, South Korea
Increased drought tolerance. Plants showed lower ion leakage and higher proline content upon abiotic stress.
( Kim et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chungbuk National University
Hankyong National University

Institute of Korean Prehistory, South Korea
Tolerance to salt stress.
( Tran et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
College of Agriculture
Bac Lieu University, Vietnam

Traits related to improved food/feed quality

Reduced phytic acid content in soybean seeds. Monogastric animals are unable to digest phytic acid, making phytic acid phosphorous in animal waste one of the major causes of environmental phosphorus pollution.
( Song et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Dong-A University
Korea Research Institute of Bioscience Biotechnology (KRIBB), South Korea
Reduced nicotine levels. Nicotine is the addictive component in tobacco.
( Jeong et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Nulla Bio Inc.
Gyeongsang National University
Gyeongsang National University 501 Jinju-daero, South Korea
Glucoraphanin(GR)-enriched broccoli. Broccoli contains important nutritional components and beneficial phytochemicals. GR, a major glucosinolate (GSL), protects the body against several chronic diseases.
( Kim et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Sejong University
Jeonbuk National University
Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology
Asia Seed Company Limited, South Korea
Improvement of of functional compounds in tomato fruit, which satisfies the antioxidant properties requirements.
( Kim et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hankyong National University
Chungbuk National University, South Korea
Increased amylose content. Cereals high in amylose content (AC) and resistant starch (RS) offer potential health benefits and reduce risks of diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and certain colon and rectum cancers.
( Sun et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
University of California, USA
University of Liege, Belgium
High amylose content. High-amylose starches are digested slowly which could provide increased satiety and reduced risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer.
( Kim et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyungpook National University
National Institute of Crop Science, South Korea

Traits related to increased plant yield and growth

Optimum increase in phloem-transportation capacity leads to improved sink strength in tomato to increase agricultural crop production.
( Nam et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Wonkwang University, South Korea
Delayed bolting.
( Shin et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Improved spikelet number per panicle led to increased grain yield per plant.
( Ludwig et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines
University of Pavia, Italy
Customize tomato cultivars for urban agriculture: increased compactness and decreased growth cycle of tomato plants.
(Kwon et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cornell University
University of Florida, USA
Wonkwang University, South Korea
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Improves complex traits such as yield and drought tolerance.
( Lorenzo et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Center for Plant Systems Biology
Ghent University
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium
Delayed bolting.
( Shin et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Increased grain yield without side effect.
( Gho et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Generating male sterility lines (MLS). Using MLS in hybrid seed production for monoclinous crops reduces costs and ensures high purity of the varieties because it does not produce pollen and has exserted stigmas. Complete abolition of pollen development.
( Lee et al., 2016 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Transformation of a climbing woody perennial, developing axillary inflorescences after many years of juvenility, into a compact plant with rapid terminal flower and fruit development.
( Varkonyi-Gasic et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
The New Zealand Institute for Plant &
Food Research Limited (Plant &
Food Research), University of Auckland, New Zealand
Production of enlarged, dome-shaped leaves. Enlarged fruits with increased pericarp thickness due to cell expansion.
( Swinnen et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vives, Belgium
Université de Bordeaux, France
Altered root architecture with increased tillers and total grain weight.
( Rahim et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Quaid-e-Azam University
National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC)
The University of Haripur, Pakistan
King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Nile University
Ain Shams University, Egypt
Chonnam National University, South Korea
Increased leaf yield of lettuce by delaying the onset of flowering.
( Choi et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology
Korea University of Science and Technology, South Korea
Reduced seed dormancy: rapid and uniform germination of seeds is important for rice production. Mutant seeds began to germinate 1 day after sowing, while WT seeds needed 2 days.
(Jung et al., 2019)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hankyong National University
Chungbuk National University
Hanyang University, China
Central Luzon State University, Philippines
Enhanced sink strength in tomato, improving fruit setting, and yield contents.
( Nam et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Wonkwang University, South Korea
Control grain size and seed coat color.
( Tra et al., 2021 )

BE
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Dahlem Center of Plant Sciences Freie Universität, Germany
Synthetic Biology, Biofuel and Genome Editing R&
D Reliance Industries Ltd, India

Traits related to industrial utilization

Early-flowering.
( Jeong et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Department of Biological Science
Seoul National University
Chungnam National University
Institute for Basic Science
Kangwon National University
Kyunghee University, South Korea
Improve biofuel production by mediating lignin modification. Lignocellulosic biomasses are an abundant renewable source of carbon energy. Heterogenous properties of lignocellulosic biomass and intrinsic recalcitrance caused by cell wall lignification lower the biorefinery efficiency. Reduced lignin content is desired.
( Lee et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
University of Science and Technology (UST)
Daejeon, South Korea
35% reduction in lignin. Fourfold increase in cellulose-to-glucose conversion upon limited saccharification. Efficient saccharification is hindered by the presence of lignin in the secondary-thickened cell walls.
( de Vries et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium
Bioethanol production: Improved saccharification efficiency without compromising biomass yield.
(Kannan et al., 2017)
SDN1
TALENs
University of Florida
Novozymes North America Inc, USA
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea
Glycoproteins without plant-specific glycans. Plants or plant cells can be used to produce pharmacological glycoproteins, for example antibodies or vaccines. However these proteins carry N-glycans with plant-typical residues [β(1,2)-xylose and core α(1,3)-fucose]. This plant-specific glycans can greatly impact the immunogenicity, allergenicity, or activity of the protein.
( Mercx et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université catholique de Louvain
Université de Liège, Belgium
Generating male sterility lines (MLS). Using MLS in hybrid seed production reduces costs and ensures high purity of the varieties because it does not produce pollen and has exserted stigmas.
( Jung et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hankyong National University
Hanyang University
Sunchon National University
Chungbuk National University
Tomato Research Center, South Korea
Jointless tomatoes. Pedicel abscission is an important agronomic factor that controls yield and post-harvest fruit quality. In tomato, floral stems that remain attached to harvested fruits during picking mechanically damage the fruits during transportation, decreasing the fruit quality for fresh-market tomatoes and the pulp quality for processing tomatoes.
( Roldan et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), France
University of Liège, Belgium
Bio-fuel production: Reduced lignin content, improves cell wall composition for production of bio-ethanol.
(Jung et al., 2016)
SDN1
TALENs
Korea University, South Korea
University of Florida, USA
Tailoring poplar lignin without yield penalty. Reduced recalcitrance.
( De Meester et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology
VIB Metabolomics Core, Belgium
Higher haploid induction rate. Haploid induction allows formation of doubled haploids, which can be used to rapidly fix genetic information.
( Jang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chonnam National University
Pusan National University
Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Delayed flowering time.
( Hong et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, South Korea
Doubled haploids with increased leaf size. Doubled haploid technology is used to obtain homozygous lines in a single generation. This technique significantly accelerates the crop breeding trajectory.
( Impens et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium
Increased monounsaturated fatty acid contents (MUFAs). Due to their higher thermal-oxidative stability and viscosity relative to other common fatty acids, MUFAs are preferred for industrial uses, for example as biolubricants and biodiesel fuels.
( Lee et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Institute of Agricultural Sciences
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Chonnam National University
Plant Engineering Research Institute, South Korea
Reduced lignin content and increased sugar release upon saccharification.
( De Meester et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium

Traits related to herbicide tolerance

Glyphosate & hppd inhibitor herbicides, for example tembotrione
( D'Halluin et al., 2013 )
SDN2
CRISPR/Cas
Bayer CropScience N.V, Belgium

Traits related to product color/flavour

Flower color modification to a pale purplish pink flower color compared to the purple violet wild type.
( Yu et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hanyang University
Chungnam National University, South Korea
Brown color and increased sugar content.
( Kim et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hankyong National University
Korea Polar Research Institute
Seoul National University College of Medicine
Chungbuk National University, South Korea
Reduced citrate content. Citrate is a common primary metabolite which often characterizes fruit flavour.
( Fu et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Zhejiang University, China
University of Florida, USA
The New Zealand Institute for Plant &
Food Research Limited (Plant &
Food Research) Mt Albert
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Tangerine color
( Kim et al., 2022 )
SDN2
CRISPR/Cas
Hankyong National University
Korea Polar Research Institute
Chungbuk National University
Seoul National University College of Medicine
Hankyong National University, South Korea
Fine-tuned anthocyanin biosynthesis.
( )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Northeast Forestry University, Horticultural Sub-academy of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Wonsan University of Agriculture, South Korea

Traits related to storage performance

Enhanced storage potential of ripening fruits.
( Do et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyungpook National University
Sunchon National University
Catholic University of Korea, South Korea
Delayed onset of riping.
( Jeon et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyungpook National University
Sunchon National University, South Korea
Enhancement of flowering time. Petunia has become popular in the floriculture industry, however it is sensitive to ethylene, which causes flower senescence.
( Xu et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kyungpook National University
Kangwon National University, South Korea