Application of Gene Editing on Functional Characterization of Immunity-Associated Genes and Disease Resistance Breeding in Tomato

Dear Colleagues,

The ever-growing global population and changing climate require the development of resilient crop plants to secure higher yields and better quality through improved biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. The production of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), as one of the most important vegetable crops in the world, is threatened by many pathogens including bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, oomycetes, and insects, which cause various infectious diseases leading to severe economic losses due to reduced yield and quality. To defend against pathogen infection, plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system that includes pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). A large number of tomato candidate immunity-associated genes can be identified using RNA-seq data, but validation of the functional importance of these immunity-associated genes in tomato had been technically challenging before the emergence of genome editing technology, especially the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Genome editing has become a powerful tool for targeted gene editing in many organisms including tomato, revolutionizing basic research in functional genetics and applied research in plant breeding. Therefore, we are launching this Special Issue, the focus of which is captured in the title, Application of Gene Editing on Functional Characterization of Immunity-Associated Genes and Disease Resistance Breeding in Tomato.

We welcome submissions of all article types including original research, methods, reviews, mini-reviews, perspective, and brief research reports that, cover but are not limited to, the following:

• Optimization of genome-editing tools (ZFN, TALENS, CRISPR/Cas, etc.) in studying plant–pathogen interactions in tomato.
• Development of tomato mutant lines through CRISPR/Cas-mediated mutation by way of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), homology-directed repair (HDR), prime editing, and base editing.
• Functional characterization of tomato immunity-associated genes by targeted gene editing.
• Development of elite tomato cultivars with enhanced disease resistance, for instance, by disrupting susceptibility (S) genes using genome editing.

Dr. Ning Zhang
Dr. Qijun Chen
Dr. Zhiqi Jia
Dr. Cristina Crosatti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• genome editing
• plant immunity
• immunity-associated genes
• susceptibility genes (S genes)
• disease resistance
• plant breeding
• tomato