Plants MDPI

⚡ What if crops could be engineered for resistance with unprecedented precision?

This review examines how genome editing technologies are accelerating the development of disease-resistant plants while overcoming many limitations of conventional breeding 🌱🧬

🔬 Emerging tools such as base editing, prime editing, and transposon-associated systems are opening new possibilities for improving crop resilience and strengthening future food security.

📄 Advances in Genome Editing for Plant Disease Resistance Breeding
✍️ Ciro Gianmaria Amoroso & Giuseppe Andolfo

🔗 Read the full article here: https://brnw.ch/21x3gJV

🌾 Improving grain yield remains one of the most important goals for global food security — and AI is helping accelerate discovery.

🤖 In this study, researchers developed BarleyGC, a YOLOv11-based grain detection model trained on intact barley spikes. Using 1000 spike images, the model achieved 97.1% precision and 96.7% recall for grain detection, enabling rapid and accurate phenotyping.

📊 The AI-derived measurements were then used for QTL analysis, leading to the identification of qGN-2H, a genomic region associated with grain number. The region contains the well-known Vrs1 gene, a major regulator of lateral spikelet development in barley.

🔬 This work highlights how computer vision and machine learning can dramatically speed up crop phenotyping and support breeding programs targeting higher yield potential.

📄 An Effective YOLOv11 Grain Detection Model Trained on Intact Barley Spikes Reveals a QTL Containing a Pivotal Regulator of Lateral Spikelet Formation
✍️ Brittany Clare Thornbury & Chengdao Li

🔗 Read the full article here: https://brnw.ch/21x3bY1

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🥑 Heatwaves are increasingly threatening avocado production worldwide — especially during the sensitive early fruit development stage.

💧 This study demonstrates that overhead evaporative cooling systems can significantly reduce heat stress in avocado orchards. Across three growing seasons, pulsing sprinklers and sprayers lowered foliage temperatures by 6–8 °C and fruitlet temperatures by up to 10 °C during spring heatwaves.

📈 The cooling treatments also improved plant water status and resulted in an average 42% increase in yield over the following three years.

🌡️ As climate change intensifies, practical orchard-scale cooling strategies could become essential tools for protecting fruit quality, reducing water stress, and sustaining avocado productivity.

📄 Evaluating Overhead Sprinklers and Sprayers for Heatwave Protection in Avocado Orchards
✍️ Arnon Dag et al.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://brnw.ch/21x3ahI