Integrative Advances in Plant Regeneration: From Molecular Mechanisms to Genotype-Independent Innovation

Plant regeneration represents a cornerstone of modern plant science, blending fundamental questions in developmental biology with applied goals in biotechnology and crop improvement. Despite notable progress, persistent obstacles—such as genotype-dependence, low regeneration efficiency, and limited translatability across species—continue to pose significant challenges. Classical tissue culture methods have revealed the inherent plasticity of plant cells, while recent integration of single-cell omics, genome engineering, live imaging, and computational biology has provided unprecedented resolution into regulatory, epigenetic, and transcriptional networks underlying totipotency and reprogramming. Yet, linking these discoveries into a unified framework that supports reproducible and scalable regeneration across diverse plant lineages remains an unmet need. Current debates in the field center on identifying universal determinants of regenerative competence and constructing predictive models that connect molecular mechanisms to regenerative outcomes.This Research Topic aims to consolidate the latest multidisciplinary efforts re-defining how plant regeneration can be mechanistically understood and technologically engineered. The goal is to foreground studies that not only elucidate the genetic and biochemical circuits enabling reprogramming but also translate these findings into practical frameworks for improving transformation, propagation, and breeding strategies. Central questions include how core transcriptional pathways can be rationally manipulated, which molecular signatures serve as reliable predictors of regenerative potential across genotypes, and how integrative biotechnological tools—such as CRISPR-based modulation, synthetic promoters, and advanced culture systems—can overcome species-specific barriers. Through this collective effort, the Research Topic seeks to build conceptual and translational bridges that move regeneration science from isolated breakthroughs toward applied, systematic innovation.To gather further insights into the re-engineering of plant regeneration across mechanistic and translational dimensions, we welcome contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:• Breakthrough methods overcoming the regeneration of recalcitrant plants toward biotechnological breeding• Mechanistic and molecular dissection of regeneration and totipotency in plants• Integration of single-cell, spatial, and multi-omics approaches in regeneration research• Genome editing and synthetic biology strategies for controlled regeneration• Development of genotype-independent or species-wide regeneration platforms• Translational pipelines linking basic reprogramming mechanisms to breeding and biotechnology outcomes• Computational modeling and systems frameworks for predictive regeneration biology• Ethical, sustainability, and application-oriented perspectives in plant regeneration technologyArticle types: Original Research, Brief Research Report, Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Methods, Opinion, and Hypothesis and Theory papers. Topic editors: Takashi Okamoto, Tomoko Igawa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82787/integrative-advances-in-plant-regeneration-from-molecular-mechanisms-to-genotype-independent-innovation