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 44 results

Traits related to biotic stress tolerance

Fungal resistance: stripe rust resistance, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici. In appropriate environmental conditions and susceptible varieties, stripe rust can cause huge grain yield and quality loss.
(Li et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Fudan University
Chinese Academy of Sciences
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
China Agricultural University
Guangzhou University
School of Life Science
Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Ministry of Agriculture
National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Maize
Sichuan Agricultural University
Nanjing Agricultural University, China
Université Paris Cité
Université Paris-Saclay, France
Fungal resistance: increased resistance against the fungus Pyricularia oryzae, causing rice blast, one of the most destructive diseases affecting rice worldwide.
(Távora et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Federal University of Juiz de Fora
Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology
Catholic University of Brasilia
Catholic University of Dom Bosco, Brazil
Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD)
University of Montpellier
Montpellier SupAgro, France
Broad-spectrum disease resistance without yield loss.
( Sha et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Huazhong Agricultural University
Chengdu Normal University
Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Anhui Agricultural University
BGI-Shenzhen
Northwest A&
F University
Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Université de Bordeaux, France
University of California
The Joint BioEnergy Institute, USA
University of Adelaide, Australia
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
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
Nematode resistance: decreased susceptibility against root-knot nematodes, showing fewer gall and egg masses.
(Noureddine et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Côte d’Azur
Université de Toulouse, France
Kumamoto University, Japan
Rapid detection system for Paracoccus marginatus, an insect that can cause huge crop losses.
( Chen et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
UMR ISA, France
Viral resistance: partial resistance to Pepper veinal mottle virus (PVMV) isolate IC, with plants harboring weak symptoms and low virus loads at the systemic level.
(Moury et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
INRA, France
Université de Tunis El-Manar
Université de Carthage, Tunisia
Université Felix Houphouët-Boigny, Cote d’Ivoire
Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, Burkina Faso
Fungal resistance: improved resistance to necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea.
(Jeon et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Stanford University, UK
L’Oreal, France
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
Fungal resistance: Decreased susceptibility to Plasmopara viticola, the causing agent of the grapevine downy mildew.
(Djennane et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université de Strasbourg
Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), France
Viral resistance: resistance to pepper veinal mottle virusin cherry fruit tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme)
(Kuroiwa et al., 2021)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
INRAE
Université Paris-Saclay
Université de Toulouse, France
Bacterial resistance: Strong resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae, causing bacterial blight, a devastating rice disease resulting in yield losses.
(Blanvillain-Baufumé et al., 2017)
SDN1
TALENs
IRD-CIRAD-Université, France

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
Higher tolerance to salt and osmotic stress through reduced stomatal conductance coupled with increased leaf relative water content and Abscisic acid (ABA) content under normal and stressful conditions.
( Bouzroud et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Mohammed V de Rabat, Morocco
Université de Toulouse, France
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil

Traits related to improved food/feed quality

Reduce allergen proteins. Structural and metabolic proteins, like α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors are involved in the onset of wheat allergies (bakers' asthma) and probably Non-Coeliac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS).
( Camerlengo et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Tuscia, Italy
Rothamsted Research, UK
Impasse Thérèse Bertrand-Fontaine, France
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
Increased levels of oleic acid, decreased levels of fatty acids.
( Morineau et al., 2016 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Paris-Saclay, France
Reduced cesium content. The production of radiocesium in food in contaminated soils is a serious health concern.
( Nieves-Cordones et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Montpellier, France

Traits related to increased plant yield and growth

Early-flowering varieties. The timing of flowering is an important event in the life cycle of flowering plants.
( Jiang et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Hunan Agricultural University, China
Université de Strasbourg, France
More flowers in both determinate and indeterminate cultivars and more produced fruit.
( Hu et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université de Toulouse
Université Bordeaux, France
Chongqing University, China
Regulated inflorescence and flower development. More flowers and more fruit produced upon vibration-assisted fertilization.
( Hu et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université de Toulouse, France
Chongqing University, China
Early flowering. Certain mutants also showed following phenotypes: determinate flowering, shorter stature and/or basal branching.
(Bellec et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Paris-Saclay, France
Control meristem size to increase fruit yield.
( Yuste-Lisbona et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Universidad de Almería
Universitat Politècnica de València–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Spain
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics, Germany
Université Paris-Saclay, France
Increased water use efficiency without growth reductions in well-watered conditions.
( Blankenagel et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Technical University of Munich
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
German Research Center for Environmental Health
KWS SAAT SE &
Co.KGaA
Université Technique de Munich
Heinrich Heine University, Germany
LEPSE - Écophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress environnementaux, France
Early flowering. Day-light sensitivity limited the geographical range of cultivation.
( Soyk et al., 2016 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany
Université Paris-Scalay, France
Increased pollen activity, subsequently inducing fruit setting.
( Wu et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
South China Agricultural University
Chongqing University, China
Université de Toulouse, France
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
Larger fruits with more locules and larger shoot apical meristem.
( Song et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
South China Agricultural University, China
University of Toulouse, France
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

Traits related to industrial utilization

Asexual propagation trough seeds. Induction of apomeiosis, mitosis instead of meiosis. This proces leads to the production of genetically identical seeds, serving many applications in plant breeding.
( Khanday et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of California
Innovative Genomics Institute
Iowa State University, USA
Université Paris-Saclay, France
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
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
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
Enabled clonal reproduction trough seeds. Application of the method may enable self-propagation of a broad range of elite F1 hybrid crops.
( Wang et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Université Paris-Saclay, France
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
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
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
Accelerated domestication of African rice landraces by improving domestication traits such as sheed shattering, lodging and seed yield. The acceleration of the development of high-yield African landrace varieties is important considering that Africa has a strong growing population and prone to food shortage.
( Lacchini et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Milan, Italy
University of Montpellier, France

Traits related to herbicide tolerance

Herboxidiene
( Butt et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
Universite Paris-Saclay, France
Chlorsulfuron
( Veillet et al., 2019 )

BE
Université Rennes 1
INRA PACA
Université Paris-Saclay, France
Glyphosate & hppd inhibitor herbicides, for example tembotrione
( D'Halluin et al., 2013 )
SDN2
CRISPR/Cas
Bayer CropScience N.V, Belgium
Chlorsulfuron
( Veillet et al., 2019 )

BE
Université Rennes 1
INRA PACA
Université Paris-Saclay, France

Traits related to product color/flavour

Albino phenotype.
( Charrier et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université d'
Angers, France
Albino phenotype and early flowering.
( Charrier et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université d'
Angers, France