Speakers - 2026

Title: Genome editing of plant transporters: A precision strategy for crop nutritional enhancement

Abstract

Enhancing the nutritional quality of crops while maintaining productivity and resilience is a major goal of modern plant biotechnology. Although significant progress has been achieved through conventional breeding and metabolic engineering, the precise manipulation of metabolite and nutrient partitioning within plants remains a key challenge. Transporter engineering has emerged as a powerful strategy to regulate the uptake, translocation, and tissuespecific accumulation of nutrients and specialized metabolites, enabling targeted improvement of edible plant parts without disrupting essential physiological processes. The emergence of CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing has transformed transporter engineering by enabling precise and targeted modification of transporter genes, thereby facilitating the rational manipulation of nutrient and metabolite transport pathways for crop improvement. By engineering transport pathways rather than biosynthetic networks, it is now possible to optimize nutrient allocation, reduce anti-nutritional compounds and enhance micronutrient accumulation while preserving plant growth, defence, and yield. Our work on targeted editing of glucosinolate transporter (GTR1 and GTR2) homologues in oilseed mustard (Brassica juncea) highlights the recent advances in transporter engineering. Genome editing of these transporters successfully redistributed glucosinolates by reducing their accumulation in seeds while retaining protective levels in vegetative tissues, thereby improving seed meal quality without compromising plant defence or productivity. This work demonstrates the potential of transporter engineering to overcome long-standing breeding constraints through precise manipulation of metabolite allocation. Integrating transporter engineering with genome editing, multi-omics, and precision breeding is transforming crop improvement by enabling the development of nutritionally enhanced crops, thereby advancing sustainable agriculture and strengthening global food and nutritional security