🧵 1/4 - How do you change a plant without inserting a single foreign gene? New Genomic Techniques like CRISPR/Cas make exactly that possible. A short look at a technique that is reshaping plant breeding.
Healthy Crops
@healthycrops.bsky.social
We are a group of scientists with the goal to achieve significant yield increases for small scale rice producers. For detailed information you can visit our website or LinkedIn page: www.healthycrops.org http://linkedin.com/company/healthycrops
The world’s population is growing, and climate change and plant diseases are affecting global harvests. How can we help to ensure strong yields and food security in the future? The @healthycrops.bsky.social project at @hhu.de invite you to an evening of engaging short presentations.
Team Bürgeruni@teambuergeruni.bsky.social · 5mo agoDie Weltbevölkerung wächst zunehmend, der Klimawandel beeinträchtigt Ernten weltweit – wie gewährleisten wir die Ernährungssicherheit also zukünftig? Das @healthycrops.bsky.social -Projekt der @hhu.de lädt ein zu einem Abend mit spannenden Kurzvorträgen. 1/3
Genome editing can revolutionize agriculture, but only if we ensure it is safe and transparent. Our comment in Nature Biotech highlights why long-read whole genome sequencing should be the standard to confirm that genome-edited plants are free of foreign DNA. 🔗 buff.ly/zrgWbn4
Ensuring effective removal of transgenes before release of genome-edited crops - Nature Biotechnology
Genome editing technology is evolving fast, and many labs worldwide are generating crop plants with improved traits. If transgenes were used to generate the edits, foreign DNA must be effectively…
doi.org
🌾 #LabtoLeaf: Not all rice blight is the same. We created a diagnostic kit that identifies the precise Xoo strain in blight-ridden rice plants. This allows to inform planting strategies and means resistance to be locally matched. Read more on how it works: buff.ly/KjOoRKJ #RiceBlight #PlantScience
Diagnostic kit for rice blight resistance - Nature Biotechnology
Strategic deployment of blight-resistant rice lines is enabled by a molecular diagnostic kit.
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Differentiation of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in vitro and during rice leaf infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.12.680524v1
Just Published: "The TALE PthA4 of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri Indirectly Activates an Expansin Gene CsEXP2 and an Endoglucanase CsEG1 via CsLOB1 to Cause Citrus Canker Symptoms," by Rikky Rai and Nian Wang. Learn more: https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-03-25-0030-R
🌾 Lab to Leaf: Insights in Plant Biology 🌱 🌍 Rice feeds more than half the world. But did you know that over 90% of it is grown in Asia? Using USDA's Rice Outlook (buff.ly/w9IYfTy) you can have a closer look at the yield production of different countries on the globe. #LabtoLeaf #Plantscience #Rice
(1/3) 🌾 Meet Dr. Eliza Loo, group leader at HHU and senior scientists involved in the #HealthyCrops Project. Eliza brings the combination of her enthusiasm for plant-microbe interactions with a strong interdisciplinary skill set of bioinformatics, genetics, and plant physiology to the project.
🌾 #LabtoLeaf: How does rice survive floods? It waits for drier times. The SUB1A gene, discovered in the Indian landrace FR13A, helps rice conserve energy underwater through a survival strategy called quiescence: it pauses growth until floodwaters recede. #PlantScience #Rice
(1/3) 🌿 Meet Dr. Alvaro Pérez-Quintero, one of our researchers at IRD in France. Alvaro’s work focuses on how plant pathogens evolve, specifically how bacteria like Xanthomonas adapt to overcome plant resistance, and how these insights can help us build durable resistance strategies.
New publication from Healthy Crops! Our latest study in Plant Biotechnology Journal reports that our #genome-edited #rice varieties which are resistant to bacterial blight, are free of external DNA and show no yield penalties in multi-location field trials! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Removal of Transgenes and Evaluation of Yield Penalties in Genome Edited Bacterial Blight Resistant Rice Varieties
Bacterial blight (BB) of rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), is one of the major drivers of yield losses in Africa and Asia. Xoo secretes TAL-effectors (TALe) that induce host SWEET ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
(1/3) 🌾 Meet Dr. Michael Gomez Selvaraj, senior scientist at CIAT (@bioversityciat.bsky.social ) in Colombia, and one of our PIs at Healthy Crops. Michael leads CIAT’s plant phenomics platform in Colombia, where he develops cutting-edge tools for monitoring plant traits.
🥳 Healthy Crops was awarded 3rd place in the 2025 @hhu.de Ideas Competition! 🏆 Out of 100+ submissions, our concept to create disease-resistant crops using genome editing was recognized for its innovation and impact! Thanks to everyone supporting our efforts! #GenomeEditing #PlantScience
Wolf Frommer presents work from @healthycrops.bsky.social, a global collaboration to work on bacterial blight of rice. They are transferring transgene-free, genome edited rice to different countries, with legal frameworks in place, to test resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. #2025ISMPMI
Great to see two teams from the Plant Science and #QBIO communities making it to the podium at yesterday’s HHU Ideas Competition by #CEDUS! 🌱🧠 Exciting projects and well deserved — very curious to watch these ideas grow! 🚀👏 @healthycrops.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social
📚 #PaperTrails - How can we better manage crop diseases? In a recent publication, we argue for better pathogen monitoring, clearer resistance reporting & smarter deployment of resistant varieties. Big thanks to @elizaloopi.bsky.social & everyone involved! #plantpathology #bacterialblight #rice
Closing the Information Gap Between the Field and Scientific Literature for Improved Disease Management, with a Focus on Rice and Bacterial Blight | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
A path to sustainably reduce world hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition is to close the crop yield gap and, particularly, lower losses due to pathogens. Breeding resistant crops is key to achievi...
apsjournals.apsnet.org
(1/3) Meet Dr Emily Gichuhi, researcher at KALRO and one of our PIs at Healthy Crops. Her current research focuses on enhancing rice yields under stress conditions, aiming to make rice cultivation more resilient to climate change and improving disease resistance & abiotic stress tolerance in rice.
#LabtoLeaf: What causes blight in rice? The bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) highjacks the plant's sugar transporters to promote its own growth instead. This leads to leaf lesions up to total yield loss, affecting farmers world wide. Read more about it here: buff.ly/uvyDt0u #RiceBlight
🌾 #LabtoLeaf: Not all rice is the same! Oryza sativa, the global staple, from Basmati to Swarna and IR64. Oryza glaberrima, Africa’s resilient rice, rooted in tradition and adapted to tough soils and drought. At #HealthyCrops, we're working with lines like Komboka & IR64. What’s your go-to #rice? 🍚
We’re stepping up our outreach! 🌾 Expect more from us in the next weeks: more about who we are, what we do, and what’s happening in crop science. Whether you're into genes, greenhouses, or ground-breaking research, or just like fun facts, there's something here for you. 👇
We are proud to announce that Wolf B. Frommer (@research-science.bsky.social ), Scientific Leader of Healthy Crops, has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (@nasonline.org)! A tremendous honor recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to plant science! #Science #HealthyCrops
Congratulations to Dr. Bing Yang, recipient of the James B. Eads Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis! 🌱 An internationally recognized expert in plant genome engineering, Bing has made groundbreaking contributions in CRISPR/Cas-based crop resistance. #PlantScience #CRISPR
Congratulations! Great to see this recognition of the contributions of Jeff Dangl, Jonathan Jones & Brian Staskawicz to our understanding of plant immunity.
The Sainsbury Laboratory@thesainsburylab.bsky.social · last yr.TSL is thrilled to celebrate the incredible achievement of @jonathandgjones.bsky.social, now a 2025 Wolf Prize Laureate in Agriculture along with Jeffery Dangl and Brian Staskawicz "for groundbreaking discoveries of the immune system and disease resistance in plants" www.tsl.ac.uk/news/jonatha...
🌾 A major milestone for Healthy Crops! We will transfer our bacterial blight-resistant rice varieties to our team members at KALRO in Kenya. Next steps are field trials under local conditions with the ultimate aim of combating rice diseases! 🚀🌱 #GenomeEditing #PlantScience https://buff.ly/3Xam8Ln
Disease-resistant rice varieties created by means of genome editing
The “Healthy Crops” consortium, an international team of researchers, which includes Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), has – in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock…
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Approach to combating bacterial rice diseases in East Africa Disease-resistant rice varieties created by means of genome editing The “Healthy Crops” consortium, an international team of researchers, which includes Heinrich Heine University ... weiterlesen
🌍🚜 Women farmers in The Gambia struggle with climate adaptation due to their limited access to resources and advice. A study shows: Targeted support is key! 🔍 www.zalf.de/en/aktue... #ClimateChange #Agriculture #Equality
🌾 Postdoc Opportunity! 🌾 Join Prof. Dr. Wolf B. Frommer’s research team at @hhu.bsky.social for an exciting postdoc position in disease resistance in rice! 📩 Apply now! Send your CV & motivation letter to apply_healthycrops@hhu.de RT & share! 🌱 #Postdoc #PlantScience #RiceResearch
🌟 Excited to share "Edit a Genome", developed by the Institute of Molecular Physiology at University of Düsseldorf 🧬✨ This platform offers insights into genome editing techniques, and provides an overview of global regulations in genome editing for crops 🌾 Check it out now! 👇 🔗 www.editagenome.org
Edit a Genome
editagenome.org
