CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) for Multi-Stress Resilience and Prospects for Agricultural Sustainability

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food for nearly half of the world’s population, making it vital for food security and economic stability. Currently, severe climate change poses serious threats to rice production, as both abiotic and biotic stresses cause significant yield losses. To meet these challenges, developing innovative strategies to create resilient rice varieties is crucial. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has become a transformative technology for precise, rapid, and transgene-free improvement of complex stress tolerance traits in rice. This review offers a comprehensive overview of recent advances in CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing aimed at enhancing multi-stress resilience in rice against stresses. It holds significant potential for sustainability by supporting microbiome engineering and biofortification strategies that can sustain long-term global food and nutritional security. It promotes the development of rice cultivars rich in essential nutrients, resistant to diseases, and adaptable to changing climate conditions. Additionally, this review includes evidence from the analysis of homologous genes between Arabidopsis thaliana and rice to identify functionally conserved candidate genes and editing strategies with promising translational potential for developing multi-stress resilient rice cultivars.