ADVANCES IN TISSUE CULTURE FOR LEGUME IMPROVEMENT

BIOTECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN BREEDING OF SOLANACEOUS VEGETABLE CROPS: ADVANCES IN IN VITRO CULTURE AND MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION

Solanaceous crops like tomato, brinjal, chilli and potato are vital for global food security. Traditional breeding methods face limitations, including being time-consuming, labour-intensive, and constrained by limited genetic diversity. In vitro and marker-assisted breeding techniques offer solutions to overcome these challenges. In vitro breeding includes embryo rescue, which helps in interspecific hybridization, and anther and microspore culture, which accelerates the production of homozygous plants. Protoplast fusion allows combining genetic material from incompatible species, while in vitro mutagenesis creates genetic variations through induced mutations. These techniques enable the use of wild relatives as sources of desirable traits, especially disease resistance. Marker-assisted breeding uses DNA markers linked to specific traits, enabling precise selection without the influence of environmental factors. Advances in genomics, particularly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), have enhanced marker-assisted selection, improving resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, yield potential, and nutritional qualities. Specifically, in vitro techniques combined with marker-assisted breeding have shown synergistic effects. For instance, embryo rescue has been used to create hybrids between cultivated tomatoes and wild relatives with disease resistance genes. Anther culture facilitates rapid development of doubled haploid lines in eggplants. Protoplast fusion has enabled the transfer of disease resistance from wild species to cultivated eggplants. In vitro mutagenesis has induced drought tolerance in tomatoes. Marker-assisted selection is used to select disease resistance genes in tomatoes and to pyramid multiple resistance genes against late blight in potatoes. Marker-assisted backcrossing efficiently transfers specific genes while retaining the genetic background of the cultivated variety. Genomic selection uses genome-wide markers to predict the breeding value of individuals for complex traits like fruit quality in tomatoes and tuber yield in potatoes, enhancing genetic gain. These integrated approaches accelerate the development of improved solanaceous crop varieties with enhanced resilience and nutritional value.

From Reproduction to Resilience: New Frameworks for Managing Crop Diversity.

Plant breeding has progressed from phenotype-based selection to increasingly precise genetic and agronomic interventions. Advances in molecular breeding, genome engineering, and crop management have improved productivity, but have also promoted the widespread use of genetically uniform cultivars optimized for controlled production systems. While uniformity facilitates predictability and mechanization, it may constrain adaptive capacity under increasingly variable environmental conditions. In parallel, recent developments in digital agriculture, including high-resolution phenotyping, remote-sensing, molecular diagnostics, and AI-assisted decision support, are transforming the ability to monitor and manage biological variation across spatial and temporal scales. In this review, we examine how these technological advances intersect with emerging concepts in crop diversity and reproductive biology. We discuss how digital agriculture enables improved characterization of genotype-environment interactions and consider reproductive mechanisms that expand the accessible breeding space beyond conventional biparental crossing schemes, including haploid induction and multi-parental breeding. These approaches provide opportunities to accelerate trait introgression, generate novel genetic combinations, and overcome reproductive barriers. We argue that digital and diagnostic agriculture provide an informational framework for the deployment and evaluation of genetically heterogeneous plant populations. Together, recent advances suggest that technological precision and biological diversity can be integrated into breeding strategies that improve productivity and resilience.

Plant tissue culture: A key technique in developing transgenic tomato plants for enhanced resistance to Tuta absoluta – A review

Tuta absoluta is a highly destructive pest that poses a serious threat to tomato production worldwide. Tissue culture techniques enable the regeneration of genetically modified (GM) plants that carry genes conferring resistance to specific pests, this allows for the efficient production of disease-free and genetically improved plants. This review highlights the significance of tissue culture techniques—such as callus induction, organogenesis, and somatic embryogenesis—in the development of transgenic tomato plants resistant to T. absoluta. These in vitro methods serve as essential platforms for introducing and regenerating genetically engineered traits. In particular, modern genetic engineering strategies, including the insertion of insecticidal genes, RNA interference (RNAi), and CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing, are discussed as effective tools for enhancing pest resistance. The integration of plant tissue culture with molecular breeding offers several advantages over conventional breeding approaches, including increased precision in genetic modifications, improved resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced yield and quality, accelerated development of new varieties, and better adaptation to environmental stressors. Collectively, these benefits contribute to more efficient, targeted, and sustainable crop improvement. Future research should prioritize the optimization of transformation protocols, the assurance of biosafety, and the comprehensive evaluation of field performance to fully realize the potential of transgenic tomatoes in combating pest infestations.

Genomics assisted breeding for mildew resistance in cucumber: from gene discovery to future innovations

This review highlighted the genetic resources, screening strategies, disease scoring systems, inheritance patterns, resistance-associated QTLs, molecular markers and candidate genes involved in cucumber mildew resistance, and discussed genome-assisted breeding approaches, including QTL mapping, genome-wide association studies, marker-assisted selection, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing, transgenic approaches and high-throughput phenotyping tools for improving resistance breeding efficiency.

Genomics and crop improvement: focus on gene editing and its regulation

The future of crop improvement using GEd technologies lies in the harmonisation or alignment of global policies and regulations to support the trade of agricultural produce and ensure that growers and consumers can benefit from GEd technology.

Integrating genomics, multi-omics, CRISPR and speed breeding for stress-resilient vegetable legume improvement