Jian Fu , Zhongmei Hong , Wenzhong Huang

CRO Service Station, Sanya Tihitar SciTech Breeding Service Inc., Sanya, 572025, China
Author    Correspondence author
Biological Evidence, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0005
Received: 06 Jan., 2024    Accepted: 12 Feb., 2024    Published: 22 Feb., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Fu J., Hong Z.M., and Huang W.Z., 2024, Harnessing genomic tools for Cassava improvement: advances and prospects, Bioscience Evidence, 14(1): 32-38 (doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0005)

As an important staple crop in tropical and subtropical regions, cassava (Manihot esculenta) faces an urgent need to improve yield, nutritional value, and environmental adaptability. In recent years, the rapid development of genomic tools has brought unprecedented opportunities for cassava improvement, greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of breeding. This research explores the integrated application of genomic tools such as high-throughput sequencing, gene editing techniques, and omics methods in cassava breeding, and their profound impact on accelerating specific trait improvement. This research discusses the implementation of high-throughput sequencing and gene editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs, which have led to precise gene modifications for disease resistance and yield improvement. In addition, it also highlights how transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics can help deepen understanding of the physiological response and metabolic pathways of cassava. However, the application of these technologies faces multiple challenges, including high costs, complexity of genomic data, ethical issues of genetic modification, and unpredictability of global environmental change. Despite these obstacles, genomic tools still have promising prospects in transforming cassava breeding, providing possible solutions for food safety in developing regions. This research emphasizes the necessity of collaborative efforts to effectively utilize genomic tools and ensure that the benefits of these technologies can be widely and beneficially applied in different agricultural environments.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta); Cassava improvement; Genomic tools; High-throughput sequencing; Gene editing; Omics technologies