CRISPRized Horticulture Crops

Kamel A. Abd-Elsalam is currently a Research Professor at the Plant Pathology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza. He earned his PhD in molecular plant pathology through a joint program between Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany, and Suez Canal University, Egypt, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Christian Albrechts University. His research focuses on nanobiotechnology applications in agriculture and plant protection, and he has authored numerous peer‑reviewed articles and edited books with major international publishers. His scientific contributions have been recognized nationally and regionally, including awards from the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils for research excellence in biotechnology and the Egyptian State Award for Agricultural Scientific Excellence from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. He has been recognized among the world’s top 2% most influential scientists in nanobiotechnology for three consecutive years (2021–2023), according to global rankings developed by Stanford University. Since 2019, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of two Elsevier book series, Nanobiotechnology for Plant Protection and Genome Modified Plants and Microbes in Food and Agriculture. Aftab Ahmad earned his PhD and completed postdoctoral research in plant molecular biology at the University of Shizuoka, Japan, under the prestigious 21st Century Center of Excellence Program. He also served as a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California Davis, United States. With over a decade of teaching experience in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Dr. Aftab now continues to advance plant genome editing research aimed at improving crop resilience and productivity at the Natural & Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Oman. He has published in leading international peer-reviewed journals such as Frontiers in Plant Science, Journal of Biomedical Science, Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, Journal of Cereal Science, Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, and many more.Baohong Zhang is a THCAS Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at East Carolina University and an internationally recognized leader in genomics and biotechnology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Plant Genetics and Breeding from China Agricultural University and his PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Tech University. For over 20 years, Dr. Zhang has conducted pioneering research in transgenic technologies, genome editing, and functional genomics, supported by major funding agencies such as the NSF, NIH, DoD, and USDA, as well as industry partners including the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and DuPont. He is a prolific author, with several publications listed as Highly Cited Papers by the ISI Web of Science. He is Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, or Guest Editor for multiple international journals, including Functional & Integrative Genomics, Plants, Scientific Reports, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Molecular Biotechnology, Plant Molecular Biology, and Journal of Cotton Research. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Zhang has received numerous honors, including more recently the ECU Achievement in International Research and Creative Activity Award (2017), the Cotton Researcher of the Year (2018), the Lifetime Achievement Research Award (2019), and the Cotton Biotechnology Award (2020).

• Part 1: The CRISPR/Cas toolkit for Horticultural Crops1. Horticultural Crops: Genomic Approaches: A note from Editors2. Evolution of genome editing technologies3. CRISPR / Cas: Effectors, mechanism, and classification4. Bioinformatics tools and databases in genome editing for plants5. Genome editing reagents and their delivery tools6. CRISPR Techniques and their applications in plants7. Base editing and Prime Editing in Horticulture Crops: Potential Applications, Challenges and Prospects8. Multiplex Genome Editing in plants through CRISPR/Cas9. CRISPR Edited Crops: The Future of Food and environment SustainabilityPart 2: CRISPR Mediated Genome Editing in Horticultural Crops10. The CRISPRized Horticultural Crops: How they can transform our food supply11. Precision breeding techniques for horticultural crops12. Deep learning for genomics and epi-genomics in horticulture crops improvement13. Transformation methods in horticulture crops and DNA free genome editing in plants14. CRISPR vegetables: Challenges and opportunities15. CRISPR–Cas9-mediated genome editing in tomato, and Potato16. A CRISPR/Cas Based Improvement of Root and Tuber crops17. Improvement of ornamental plants through CRISPR/Cas18. CRISPR approaches for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering in vegetables and fruits19. CRISPR Cas systems for the improvement of Solanaceous vegetable crops20. Engineering biotic stress resistance in horticultural plants through CRISPR/Cas21. Genome editing for abiotic stress resistance in horticultural crops22. CRISPR/Cas technology for enhancement Genetic Amelioration of Fruits in horticulture crops23. CRISPR–Cas9-mediated genome editing in Banana, apple and grapevine24. CRISPR Applications in Medicinal plants25. CRISPR Edited Floriculture Crops: A Revolutionary Technique to Improve Flower Production, their Color and Longevity26. CRISPR based improvement of Grasses in horticulture27. CRISPR genome editing of woody trees: current status and future TrendsPart 3: Regulation and Commercialization of CRISPR edited crops28. Regulatory, ethical, social, and biosafety concerns in genome edited horticultural crops29. Social, Ethical and Policy issues in CRISPR Edited Crops30. Commercialization of CRISPR edited crops: Opportunities and Challenges31. Global Patent Landscape in CRISPR/Cas