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 64 results

Traits related to biotic stress tolerance

Highly significant reduction in susceptibility to fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora. Apple is one of the most cultivated fruit crops throughout the temperate regions of the world.
( Pompili et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Università degli Studi di Udine
Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy
Fungal resistance: increased tolerance to Late Blight disease, which could be devastating to tomato yields.
(Maioli et al., 2024)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Torino, Italy
Ingeniero Fausto Elio/n, Spain
Wageningen University &
Research,
Fungal resistance: decreased susceptibility to Ustilago maydis, causing smut. The pathogen causes galls on all aerial parts of the plant, impacting crop yield and quality.
(Pathi et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany
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
Fungal resistance: improved sheath blight resistance. Sheath blight disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani AGI-1A and is one of the three major rice diseases. Sheath blight disease can cause severe yield losses.
(Cao et al., 2021)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Agricultural College of Yangzhou University
Jiangsu Yanjiang Institute of Agricultural Science
Yangzhou University
Testing Center of Yangzhou University
Ministry of Agriculture
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Institutes of Agricultural Science and Technology Development, China
BASF, Germany
Fungal resistance: Reduced susceptibility to necrotrophic fungi. Necrotrophic fungi, such as Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria solani, cause severe damage in tomato production.
(Ramirez Gaona et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Takii &
Company Limited, Japan
Viral resistance: Increased resistance to the barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV), which can cause yield losses as high as 50% upon infection.
(Hoffie et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)
Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany
Fungal resistance: Enhanced resistance against powdery mildew, caused by Oidium neolycopersici, which is a major concern for the productivity of tomato plants.
(Li et al., 2024)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Torino, Italy
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Shanxi Agricultural University, China
Bacterial resistance: enhanced disease resistance to Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis infection.
(García-Murillo et al., 2023)

CRISPR/Cas
Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico
Fungal resistance: Reduced susceptibility to Verticillium longisporum, fungal pathogen that causes stem striping in Brassica napus and leads to huge yield losses.
(Ye et al., 2024)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Institut für Zuckerrübenforschung
Hohenlieth-Hof, NPZ Innovation GmbH, Germany
Aswan University, Egypt
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China
Fungal resistance: resistance to Oidium neolycopersici, causing powdery mildew.
(Nekrasov et al., 2017)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany
Norwich Research Park, UK
Fungal resistance: effective reduction of susceptibility against downy mildew by increasing salicylic acid levels. The pathogen can devastate individual vineyards and in some cases also affect production from entire regions.
(Giacomelli et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Research and Innovation Centre
Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy
Enza Zaden
Hudson River Biotechnology, The Netherlands
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
Fungal resistance: enhanced resistance against rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici and powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici., while also increasing yield.
(Liu et al., 2024)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Southwest University
Yangtze University, China
University of Cologne, Germany
University of Maryland
Fungal resistance: reduced susceptibility to Verticillium longisporum, a pathogen causing Verticillium stem striping. No fungicide treatments are currently available to control this disease.
(Pröbsting et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Institut für Zuckerrübenforschung
NPZ Innovation GmbH, Germany
Viral resistance: reduced viral accumulation and amelioration of virus-induced symptoms by Potato Virus Y.
(Lucioli et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
ENEA
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Italy
National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Hungary
Oomycete resistance: resistance against downly mildew disease (DM). DM is caused by Peronospora belbahrii, a worldwide threat to the basil industry.
(Laura et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops
Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology
Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection
Research Centre for Olive Fruit and Citrus Crops
University of Pisa
Center for Agricultural Experimentation and Assistance
Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Italy
Fungal resistance: increased resistance to both biotrophic and necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi, Bipolaris spot blotch and Fusarium root rot.
(Galli et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Justus Liebig University, Germany
Fungal resistance: Reduced susceptibility to the powdery mildew pathogen (Oidium neolycopersici), a world-wide disease threatening the production of greenhouse- and field-grown tomatoes.
(Santillán Martínez et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Viral resistance: reduced cotton leaf curl viral (CLCuV) load with asymptomatic plants. <br /> CLCuV causes a very devastating and prevalent disease. It causes huge losses to textile and other industries.
(Shakoor et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of the Punjab
University of Gujrat, Pakistan
Pacific Biosciences
CureVac Manufacturing GmbH, Germany
Viral resistance: Resistance to Potato Virus Y (PVY), one of the most devastating viral pathogens causing substantial harvest losses.
(Zhan et al., 2019)

CRISPR/Cas
Hubei University
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
Max‐Planck‐Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Germany
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
Significantly enhanced resistance to V. dahliae, and furthermore also to Verticillium albo-atrum and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol), despite severe growth defects.
( Hanika et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Fungal resistance: increased resistance against powdery mildew, a destructive disease that threatens cucumber production globally.
(Dong et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
University of California Davis, USA
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands

Traits related to abiotic stress tolerance

Enhanced drought tolerance.
( Wang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico
Improved drought tolerance.
( D'Incà., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University Roma Tre
Universit `a di Trieste
IOAG-BIOTECC.R. Casaccia
Sapienza University of Rome
University of Milano
Roma Tre Section
Instituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi (INBB)
National Biodiversity Future Center, Italy
Increased tolerance to drought trough reducing water loss. Tuber development.
( Gonzales et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Centro Nacional de Biotecnología – CSIC
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain
Increased drought-avoidance strategy.
( Maioli et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Torino, Italy
Ingeniero Fausto Elio/n, Spain
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands

Traits related to improved food/feed quality

Altered gliadin levels resulting in improved end-use quality and reduced gluten epitopes associated with celiac disease. Gliadins are important for wheat end-use traits.
( Liu et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China Agricultural University, China
Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops, Italy
Reduced glucosinolate levels. Glucosinolates are anti-nutrients that can cause reduced performance and impairment of kidney and liver functions of livestock.
( Hölzl et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Bonn
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben, Germany
Modified composition: accumulation of fivefold more starch than WT leaves, and more sucrose as well. Architectural changes
(Bezrutczyk et al., 2018)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany
Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Science, USA
Mutant cell lines doubled the accumulation level of anthocyanins biosynthesized. The production of these important pigments was stabilized over time.
( D'Amelia et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Research Council of Italy
University of Naples Federico II
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Italy
Glossy sheat phenotype.
( Gerasimova et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR)
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia

Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany
Reduction of phytic acid (PA) in seeds. PA has adverse effects on essential mineral absorption and thus is considered as an anti-nutritive for monogastric animals.
( Sashidhar et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Germany
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
Removing the major allergen to tackle food allergies.
( Assou et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Leibniz Universität Hannover
Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

Traits related to increased plant yield and growth

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
Altered spike architecture.
( de Souza Moraes et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Norwich Research Park, UK
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Germany
Root growth angle regulation, among the most important determinants of root system architecture. Root growth angle controls water uptake capacity, stress resilience, nutrient use efficiency and thus yield of crop plants.
( Kirschner et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Bonn
University of Cologne
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany
University of Bologna, Italy

Increased total kernel number or kernel weight.
( Kelliher et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Research Triangle Park
University of Georgia, USA
Syngenta Crop Protection, The Netherlands
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
Increased water use efficiency, a promising approach for achieving sustainable crop production in changing climate scenarios.
( Blankenagel et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Technical University of Munich
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Helmholtz Center Munich
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
Induced erect leaf habit and shoot growth for a more efficient light penetration into lower canopy layers.
( Fladung et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics, Germany
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
Increased shatter resistance to avoid seed loss during mechanical harvest.
( Braatz et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany
Increased yield: plants produced more tillers and grains than azygous wild-type controls and the total yield was increased up to 15 per cent.
(Holubova et al., 2018)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Palacký University
Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Czech Republic
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben, Germany
Combine agronomically desirable traits with useful traits present in wild lines. Threefold increase in fruit size and a tenfold increase in fruit number. Fruit lycopene accumulation is improved by 500% compared with the widely cultivated S. lycopersicum.
( Zsögön et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Universidade Federal de Viçosa
Universidade de São Paulo Paulo, Brazil
University of Minnesota, USA
Universität Münster, Germany
Increased seed oil content (SOC). SOC is a major determinant of yield and quality.
( Karunarathna et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany
Zhejiang University, China
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

Traits related to industrial utilization

Establishment of maternal haploid induction. Doubled haploid technology is used to obtain homozygous lines in a single generation. This technique significantly accelerates the crop breeding trajectory.
( Zhong et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China Agricultural University, China
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
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
Removal of methyl iodide emissions. The release of methyl iodide in the athmospere causes ozone depletion and thus represents an important environmental threat.
( Carlessi et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
PlantLab
Institute of Life Sciences
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
University of Pisa
University of Milan, Italy
Generation of a new thermo-sensitive genic male sterile rice line for hybrid breeding of indica rice.
( Barman et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China National Rice Research Institute, China
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Bangladesh
Increasing cross over frequency. Cross over formation during meiosis is essential for crop breeding to introduce favourable alleles controlling important traits from wild relatives into crops.
( de Maagd et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Generate self-compatible diploid potato lines for the application of efficient breeding methods.
( Eggers et al., 2021 )
SDN3
CRISPR/Cas
Solynta
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Early heading: in regions with short growing seasons, early maturing varieties to escape frost damage are required.
(Sohail et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China National Rice Research Institute
Northern Center of China National Rice Research Institute
Zhejiang A&
F University, China
Mir Chakar Khan Rind University
Agriculture Research System Khyber, Pakistan
Ministry of Agriculture, Bangladesh
Agriculture Research Center, Egypt
Establishment of maternal haploid induction. Doubled haploid technology is used to obtain homozygous lines in a single generation. This technique significantly accelerates the crop breeding trajectory.
( Zhong et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China Agricultural University, China
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Nicotine-free tobacco.
( Schachtsiek et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
TU Dortmund University, Germany
Pollen Self-Elimination, which prevents pollen transgene dispersal.
( Wang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)
Northwest A&
F University
Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Lab
Henan Jinyuan Seed Industry Co., China
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico

Traits related to product color/flavour

Increased content of phenylacetaldehyde, sucrose and fructose, which are major contributors to flavor in many foods, including tomato.
( Li et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Florida, USA
Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany
Colour shift. The poinsettia belongs to most economically important potted ornamental plants. Customers are willing to pay higher prices for unusual varieties.
( Nitarska et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Technische Universität Wien, Austria
Klemm+Sohn GmbH &
Co
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany
Anthocyanin-rich and pigmented sweet oranges.
( Salonia et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Research Centre for Olive Fruit and Citrus Crops
University of Catania
Research and Innovation Centre Trento, Italy

Traits related to storage performance

Reduced fruit flesh browning. The browning of eggplant berry flesh after cutting has a negative impact on fruit quality for both industrial transformation and fresh consumption.
( Maioli et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Torino, Italy
Instituto de Biologica Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP)
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain