Gene editing and plant domestication vital to safeguard global food security

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 09, 2024
The intensifying effects of the climate crisis are severely threatening the world's food supply, pushing scientists to explore new strategies to ensure agricultural sustainability. Modern crops, bred for high yields and ease of harvesting, lack the genetic diversity to withstand extreme weather patterns and environmental stressors. Researchers emphasize the urgent need to adapt crops to these changing conditions to avert food shortages.

"Agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change, and the intensity and frequency of extreme events is only going to increase," said Professor Sergey Shabala of the University of Western Australia. Shabala, lead author of a study published in *Frontiers in Science*, highlighted that "both sustainable agricultural production and global food security will be critically dependent on our ability to create climate-resilient crops."

Challenges in Modern Agriculture

Current agricultural systems, designed for maximum production, rely heavily on fertilizers and monocultures. While these practices have met global food demands for decades, their environmental and ecological impacts render them unsustainable. Compounding these challenges, climate-induced stresses - such as drought, salinity, and flooding - are drastically reducing yields of staple crops.

High temperatures, even when not fatal to crops, significantly lower productivity. To combat this, farmers often rely on irrigation, which introduces salts into the soil, further hindering crop growth. Meanwhile, extreme flooding events create oxygen-deficient soil conditions that prevent plants from absorbing nutrients, further lowering yields.

"The problem of a sustainable diet has scientific, social, and political facets," explained Shabala. "A broader acceptance of novel technologies and a willingness to accept some cultural shifts is needed. For example, while rice is a staple for much of the world, changing climatic conditions may necessitate a shift to more resilient crops. This, however, would require public acceptance of such changes."

Reintroducing Resilience to Crops

Many wild plants, including ancestors and relatives of today's crops, possess traits that allow them to endure environmental stress. These traits, however, have been bred out of modern crops in favor of higher yields. To address this, researchers propose two main strategies:

1. Gene Editing and Precision Breeding: Genes that provide resilience to environmental stress can be reintroduced into high-yield crops. This approach is particularly effective when related plant species are available as gene sources or when dormant resilience genes exist within a crop's DNA. However, combining multiple traits to create climate-resilient varieties is complex and resource-intensive.

2. Domestication of Wild Plants: An alternative approach is to domesticate stress-tolerant wild plants. While such efforts have succeeded in specific cases where minimal changes were required, the potential for widespread application remains uncertain.

Both strategies depend on innovative gene-editing technologies, precision breeding, and public support for adopting these new crops.

Overcoming Public and Political Challenges

Shabala warned that public perception of new agricultural technologies remains a significant hurdle. "One of the current challenges is to match recent scientific advances with public perception of new technologies," he said. "The issue is highly politicized, with significant commercial interests involved. Due to a lack of specific knowledge, the general public often relies on media opinions rather than understanding the nuances of various technologies."

The study emphasizes the critical need to develop crops that can withstand climate-induced stresses, using advanced tools like cell-based phenotyping and precision breeding. As climate challenges mount, the ability to adapt agriculture to these realities will be crucial for global food security.

Research Report:Adapting crops for climate change: regaining lost abiotic stress tolerance in crops