Transformation and Regeneration Advances in Woody Fruit Crops: Enabling Disease and Pest Resistance through Biotechnology

Efficient transformation and regeneration are a major bottleneck to improving woody and perennial fruit crops — and a key reason durable disease and pest resistance so rarely reaches the orchard. This Research Topic puts the enabling technology first: advances in genetic transformation and in vitro regeneration of recalcitrant woody and tree crops, and how these advances support the deployment of resistance traits. The goal is to bring together methodological progress — new transformation systems, regeneration protocols and developmental regulators — alongside the resistance biology it unlocks, so that proven traits move from the lab to field-ready, resilient perennial crops. We particularly welcome work that addresses genotype dependence, low regeneration efficiency, chimerism and long selection timelines, and that demonstrates resistance to pests and pathogens as an outcome.Woody perennials and fruit trees are an important source of income for growers worldwide and contribute valuable nutrients — including vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre — to human diets, yet they are among the hardest plants to improve: long generation cycles, high heterozygosity and clonal propagation slow conventional breeding, while many species remain recalcitrant to genetic transformation and regeneration. Biotechnology can introduce or edit specific resistance traits without disturbing elite genetic backgrounds, but progress is often held back at the tissue-culture and delivery stage — species- and genotype-dependent transformation, poor regeneration from transformed cells, chimerism and slow selection. Recent progress is changing this picture: improved Agrobacterium, biolistic and protoplast systems; developmental regulators such as WUS and BBM to boost regeneration; somatic embryogenesis; genotype-independent and DNA-free approaches; and grafting- or rootstock-mediated delivery. Pairing these enabling advances with CRISPR/Cas editing, cisgenics and RNAi for disease and pest resistance is what will move proof-of-concept work towards deployable, resilient woody and fruit crops.This Research Topic welcomes contributions that advance transformation and regeneration of woody and tree crops and apply them to disease and pest resistance in perennial fruit crops. Themes of interest include, but are not limited to:• New and improved genetic transformation systems for recalcitrant woody and tree crops (Agrobacterium, biolistics, protoplasts, transient and in planta methods)• In vitro regeneration, somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis protocols, and the use of developmental regulators (e.g. WUS, BBM, GRF-GIF) to boost regeneration• Genotype-independent and DNA-free / transgene-free transformation and editing strategies• CRISPR/Cas genome editing, base and prime editing applied to disease and pest resistance in perennials• Cisgenic, intragenic and RNAi strategies for durable resistance in fruit and woody crops• Grafting- and rootstock-mediated delivery of resistance traits and mobile signals• Overcoming chimerism, improving marker-free selection, and ensuring stability and heritability of engineered traits• Identification and functional validation of resistance (R) and susceptibility (S) genes deployed via these systems• Resistance to bacterial, fungal, viral and insect pests, including vector-borne diseases, in perennial fruit crops• Regulatory, biosafety and translational considerations for biotech woody and fruit cropsWe welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Perspectives and Opinion articles. Methods papers reporting reproducible transformation and regeneration protocols, and studies that link these advances to demonstrated pest or disease resistance, are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Vladimir Orbovic, Berta Alquézar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85827/transformation-and-regeneration-advances-in-woody-fruit-crops-enabling-disease-and-pest-resistance-through-biotechnology