Over the past 50 years, biotechnology has been the major driving force for increasing crop productivity. Particularly, advances in plant genetic engineering technologies have opened up vast new opportunities for plant researchers and breeders to create new crop varieties with desirable traits. Recent development of precise genome modification methods, such as targeted gene knock-out/knock-in and precise gene replacement, moves genetic engineering to another level and offers even more potentials for improving crop production. The work provides an overview of the latest advances on precise genomic engineering technologies in plants. Topics include recombinase and engineered nucleases-mediated targeted modification, negative/positive selection-based homologous recombination and oligo nucleotide-mediated recombination. Finally, challenges and impacts of the new technologies on present regulations for genetic modification organisms (GMOs) will be discussed.

Genome editing is rapidly transforming plant research. The technique offers unparalleled precision in breeding without the need to introduce foreign DNA into plants. CRISPR/Cas systems have established themselves as the leading technique in genome editing. Genome editing for precision crop breeding takes stock of the wealth of research on these techniques and their potential in crop breeding. Chapters in this volume review advances in techniques such as TALENS and zinc finger nucleases, double-strand break repair techniques, insertion-based genome edits, base editing, guide RNAs and gRNA/Cas9 constructs. This collection also surveys applications of gene editing in improving key traits in key cereal crops including barley, maize and sorghum as well as brassicas, tomatoes and perennials. With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, Genome editing for precision crop breeding will be a standard reference for university and other researchers involved in crop breeding, government and other agencies involved in regulating advances in crop breeding (such as genetic modification), crop breeding companies and farmers interested in the latest breeding techniques.