Precision Genome Engineering for the Breeding of Tomatoes: Recent Progress and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Currently, poor biodiversity has raised challenges in the breeding and cultivation of tomatoes, which originated from the Andean region of Central America, under global climate change. Meanwhile, the wild relatives of cultivated tomatoes possess a rich source of genetic diversity but have not been extensively used for the genetic improvement of cultivated tomatoes due to the possible linkage drag of unwanted traits from their genetic backgrounds. With the advent of new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs), especially CRISPR/Cas-based genome engineering tools, the high-precision molecular breeding of tomato has become possible. Further, accelerated introgression or de novo domestication of novel and elite traits from/to the wild tomato relatives to/from the cultivated tomatoes, respectively, has emerged and has been enhanced with high-precision tools. In this review, we summarize recent progress in tomato precision genome editing and its applications for breeding, with a special focus on CRISPR/Cas-based approaches. Future insights and precision tomato breeding scenarios in the CRISPR/Cas era are also discussed.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas; gene editing; new plant breeding techniques; precision breeding; precision genome engineering; tomato breeding.