Panomic and Genome-Editing Approaches in Plastome Studies to Enhance Crop Climate Resilience

AbstractIncreasing global temperatures and the associated climate change underscore the urgent need for developing climate-resilient plants. Plant adaptation and tolerance involve complex processes, including the activation and repression of genes that interconnect various stress signaling pathways. Plants contain various types of plastids, each performing distinct functions. Oxygenic photosynthesis, essential for life on Earth, takes place in plastid chloroplasts. Chloroplast genomics is a rapidly evolving field that enhances our understanding of plant biology by elucidating the complex genome within chloroplasts. This knowledge is fundamental to basic plant science and has significant implications for agricultural practices and crop improvement strategies in light of the increasing environmental stress caused by climate change. Integrating data from multiple omics (or panomics) offers insights that aid in enhancing plant stress tolerance. Advances in research tools, particularly genome-editing tools like TALENs and CRISPR-Cas, have the potential to facilitate plastome research. This concise review highlights recent studies on the chloroplast genome among several plant species, aiming to shed light on genome organization and phylogeny to better understand evolutionary processes in plants. Additionally, this work delves into advancements in chloroplast genome-editing techniques, particularly through CRISPR-Cas technology. Furthermore, it addresses the challenges associated with applying CRISPR-Cas technology to chloroplast studies and offers insights into strategies for overcoming these hurdles.