Genome-editing techniques are promising tools in plant breeding. To facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the use of genome editing, EU-SAGE developed an interactive, publicly accessible online database of genome-edited crop plants as described in peer-reviewed scientific publications.
The aim of the database is to inform interested stakeholder communities in a transparent manner about the latest evidence about the use of genome editing in crop plants. Different elements including the plant species, traits, techniques, and applications can be filtered in this database.
Regarding the methodology, a literature search in the bibliographic databases and web pages of governmental agencies was conducted using predefined queries in English. Identifying research articles in other languages was not possible due to language barriers. Patents were not screened.
Peer-reviewed articles were screened for relevance and were included in the database based on pre-defined criteria. The main criterium is that the research article should describe a research study of any crop plant in which a trait has been introduced that is relevant from an agricultural and/or food/feed perspective. The database does neither give information on the stage of development of the crop plant, nor on the existence of the intention to develop the described crop plants to be marketed.
This database will be regularly updated. Please contact us via the following webpage in case you would like to inform us about a new scientific study of crops developed for market-oriented agricultural production as a result of genome editing

Displaying 54 results

Traits related to biotic stress tolerance

Rapid detection of toxigenic Fusarium verticillioides, a phytopathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium ear and stalk rot and poses a threat to maize yields. This accurate and portable detection equipment has great potential for detection of the pathogen, even in areas lacking proper lab equipment.
( Liang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Food Science and Technology
North Minzu University
School of Food Science and Engineering, China
Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Belgium
Bacterial resistance: improved resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae, which causes bacterial blight, a devastating rice disease resulting in yield losses.
(Oliva et al., 2019)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
University of Missouri
University of Florida
Iowa State University
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA
Université Montpellier, France
Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Nagoya University, Japan
Viral resistance: Resistance to Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), a major threat to the production of tomato.
(Ishikawa et al., 2022)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
Takii and Company Limited, Japan
Fungal resistance: Reduced susceptibility to necrotrophic fungi. Necrotrophic fungi, such as Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria solani, cause severe damage in tomato production.
(Ramirez Gaona et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Wageningen University &
Research, The Netherlands
Takii &
Company Limited, Japan
Nematodal resistance: decreased susceptibility against root-knot nematodes, showing fewer gall and egg masses.
(Noureddine et al., 2023)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université Côte d’Azur
Université de Toulouse, France
Kumamoto University, Japan

Traits related to abiotic stress tolerance

Enhanced responses to abscisic acid (ABA), which plays an important role in drought stress responses in plants. Improved drought tolerance through stomatal regulation and increased primary root growth under non-stressed conditions.
( Ogata et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Drought tolerance.
( Njuguna et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Improved lodging resistance.
( Wakasa et al., 2024 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
Institute of Crop Sciences, Japan
Increased tolerance to salinity stress. Improved rice yields in saline paddy fields by root angle modifications to adapt to climate change.
( Kitomi et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)
Tohoku University
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Advanced Analysis Center
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan

Traits related to improved food/feed quality

Increased NH4+ and PO43− uptake, and photosynthetic activity under high CO2 conditions in rice. Largely increased panicle weight. Improved grain appearance quality or a decrease in the number of chalky grains.
( Iwamoto et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Japan
Complete abolition of glycoalkaloids, causing a bitter taste and toxic to various organisms.
( Nakayasu et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kobe University, Japan
Increased flavonoid content, functioning as allelochemicals and insect deterrents.
( Lam et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
The University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shenzhen
Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Nanjing Forestry University, China
Kyoto University, Japan
Increased amylose content. Cereals high in amylose content (AC) and resistant starch (RS) offer potential health benefits and reduce risks of diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and certain colon and rectum cancers.
( Sun et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
University of California, USA
University of Liege, Belgium
Negligible levels of the possibly toxic steroidal glykoalkaloids (SGAs), but enhanced levels of steroidal saponins, which has pharmaceutically useful functions.
( Akiyama et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Kobe University
Riken Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Osaka University, Japan
Reduction of harmful ingredients: toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs).
(Sawai et al., 2014)
SDN1
TALENs
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Chiba University, Japan
High gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content. GABA plays a key role in plant stress responses, growth, development and as a nutritional component of grain can also reduce the likelihood of hypertension and diabetes. Increased amino acid content. Higher seed weight and seed protein content.
( Akama et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Shimane University
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Yokohama City University, Japan
Increased gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) accumulation by 7 to 15 fold while having variable effects on plant and fruit size and yield. GABA is a nonproteogenic amino acid and has health-promoting functions.
( Nonaka et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Seedless tomatoes for industrial purposes and direct eating quality.
( Ueta et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Tokushima University, Japan
Reduced steroidal glycoalkaloids.
( Yasumoto et al., 2019 )

TALENs
Osaka University
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Kobe University, Japan
Carotenoid accumulation to solve the problem of vitamin A deficiency that is prevalent in developing countries.
( Endo et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ishikawa Prefectural University, Japan
Increased carotenoid, lycopene, and β-carotene.
( Hunziker et al., 2020 )

BE
University of Tsukuba
Kobe University
Institute of Vegetable and Floricultural Science
NARO, Japan
High-quality sugar production by rice (98% sucrose content). Carbohydrates are an essential energy-source. Sugarcane and sugar beet were the only two crop plants used to produce sugar.
( Honma et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, China
Faculty of Engineering
Kitami Institute of Technology
NagoyaUniversity
Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan
Carnegie Institution for Science, USA
Increased sugar content without decreased fruit weight. Sugar content is one of the most important quality traits of tomato.
( Kawaguchi et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Nagoya University
Kobe University
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Altered fatty acid composition. High oleic/low linoleic acid rice. Oleic acid has potential health benefits and helps decrease lifestyle disease.
( Abe et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan
Improved fatty acid composition. The content and abundance of fatty acids play an important role in nutritional and processing applications of oilseeds.
( Okuzaki et al., 2018 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Tamagawa University
Osaka Prefecture University
Tamagawa University, Japan

Traits related to increased plant yield and growth

Altered plant architecture to inrease yield: increased node number on the main stem and branch number.
(Bao et al., 2019)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
Duy Tan University, Vietnam
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan
Improved nitrogen use efficiency, growth and yield in low nitrogen environment.
( Liu et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Range of beneficial phenotypes: additional tillers and smaller culms and panicles.
(Cui et al., 2020)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
China National Rice Research Institute
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
Yangzhou University, Nagoya University, Japan
Regulating fruit ripening, one of the most important concerns in the study of fleshy fruit species.
( Ito et al., 2015 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
National Food Research Institute, Japan
Reduction of plant height through accumulation of ceramides. Plant height is an important agronomic trait of rice, it directly affects the yield potential and lodging resistance.
( Wang et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Nanchang University
Henan Agricultural University, China
Hokkaido University, Japan
Increased grain yield under phosphorus-deficient conditions.
( Ishizaki et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Japan
Increased tiller number and grain yield.
( Cui et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
The University of Tokyo
Kyoto University
National Institute of Crop Science, Japan
Improves complex traits such as yield and drought tolerance.
( Lorenzo et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Center for Plant Systems Biology
Ghent University
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium
Elongated, occasionally peanut-like shaped fruit.
( Zheng et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Nagoya University
Kanazawa University, Japan
Huazhong Agricultural University, China
Production of enlarged, dome-shaped leaves. Enlarged fruits with increased pericarp thickness due to cell expansion.
( Swinnen et al., 2022 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vives, Belgium
Université de Bordeaux, France

Traits related to industrial utilization

Tailoring poplar lignin without yield penalty. Reduced recalcitrance.
( De Meester et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology
VIB Metabolomics Core, Belgium
Restoring cytoplasmic sterility.
( Kazama et al., 2019 )
SDN2
TALENs
Tohoku University
Tamagawa University
The University of Tokyo
National Institute of Genetics
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tamagawa University
Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan
Doubled haploids with increased leaf size. Doubled haploid technology is used to obtain homozygous lines in a single generation. This technique significantly accelerates the crop breeding trajectory.
( Impens et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Belgium
Reduced lignin content and increased sugar release upon saccharification.
( De Meester et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium
Significantly longer seed dormancy period, may result in reduced pre-harvest sprouting of grains on spikes.
( Abe et al., 2019 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Crop Science
Okayama University
Yokohama City University
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan
Production of herbicide-sensitive strain to prevent volunteer infestation. Volunteer rice grows when cultivated rice seed fall into fields, overwinter and spontaneously germinate the next spring.
( Komatsu et al., 2020 )

BE
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)
Graduate School of Science
Technology and Innovation, Japan
35% reduction in lignin. Fourfold increase in cellulose-to-glucose conversion upon limited saccharification. Efficient saccharification is hindered by the presence of lignin in the secondary-thickened cell walls.
( de Vries et al., 2021 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Ghent University
VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Belgium
Glycoproteins without plant-specific glycans. Plants or plant cells can be used to produce pharmacological glycoproteins, for example antibodies or vaccines. However these proteins carry N-glycans with plant-typical residues [β(1,2)-xylose and core α(1,3)-fucose]. This plant-specific glycans can greatly impact the immunogenicity, allergenicity, or activity of the protein.
( Mercx et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Université catholique de Louvain
Université de Liège, Belgium
Fertility restoration of cytoplasmic male sterility.
( Suketomo et al., 2020 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Tohoku University, Japan
Jointless tomatoes. Pedicel abscission is an important agronomic factor that controls yield and post-harvest fruit quality. In tomato, floral stems that remain attached to harvested fruits during picking mechanically damage the fruits during transportation, decreasing the fruit quality for fresh-market tomatoes and the pulp quality for processing tomatoes.
( Roldan et al., 2017 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), France
University of Liège, Belgium
Confer male and female sterility to prevent the risk of trasgene flow from transgenic plants to their wild relatives.
( Shinoyama et al., 2020 )
SDN1
TALENs
Fukui Agricultural Experiment Station
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)
Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Yokohama City University, Japan
Altai State University, Russia

Traits related to herbicide tolerance

Imazamox
( Shimatani et al. 2017 )

BE
Kobe University
University of Tsukuba
Meijo University, Japan
Herbicide resistance
( Shimatani et al. 2018 )

BE
Kobe University, Japan
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Glyphosate & hppd inhibitor herbicides, for example tembotrione
( D'Halluin et al., 2013 )
SDN2
CRISPR/Cas
Bayer CropScience N.V, Belgium
Herbicide tolerance: ALS-inhibiting
(Okuzaki et al., 2004)

ODM
Tohoku University, Japan
Resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides.
( Okuzaki et al., 2003 )

ODM
Tohoku University, Japan

Traits related to product color/flavour

Flower color modification due to reduced anthocyanin content. Flower color is one of the most important traits in ornamental flowers.
( Nishihara et al. (2018) )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Japan
Color modification: yellow. Ipomoea nil exhibits a variety of flower colours, except yellow.
(Watanabe et al., 2018)
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Tsukuba
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan

Traits related to storage performance

The fruit remains green and shows higher firmness as well as no early fermentation. This results in extended shelf-life which could reduce food loss and contribute to food security.
( Nonaka et al., 2023 )
SDN1
CRISPR/Cas
University of Tsukuba, Japan