Opportunities for Products of New Plant Breeding Techniques

Various new plant breeding techniques (NPBT) have a similar aim, namely to produce improved crop varieties that are difficult to obtain through traditional breeding methods. Here, we review the opportunities for products created using NPBTs. We categorize products of these NPBTs into three product classes with a different degree of genetic modification. For each product class, recent examples are described to illustrate the potential for breeding new crops with improved traits. Finally, we touch upon the future applications of these methods, such as cisgenic potato genotypes in which specific combinations of Phytophthora infestans resistance genes have been stacked for use in durable cultivation, or the creation of new disease resistances by knocking out or removing S-genes using genome-editing techniques.

TrendsSeveral NPBTs are currently being implemented and represent a significant step forward for crop improvement compared with traditional breeding.NPBTs make use of a genetic modification step, but the resulting endproducts do not contain any foreign genes. Consequently, NPBT products are genetically similar to, or may be even indistinguishable from, traditionally bred plants.Recent studies show the remarkable potential of NPBTs for the production of innovative crop varieties.