Publications – Publikationen

Van Der Straeten, D., Bulut, M., Cao, D. et al. (2026): Genetic technologies to enhance crop nutritional value under climate

change. Nature 654, 877–891 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10593-6

Criado M., Brisson M., Alix, K., Yann X.C. Bourgeois Y.X.C. et al: (2026): Genomic forecasting for climate-resilient fruit trees

https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71352

Fruit trees – long-lived perennial crops cultivated for their edible fruits or nuts and frequently propagated clonally – are increasingly exposed to climate extremes that threaten their productivity and survival. Yet their capacity to adapt to rapid environmental change remains poorly understood. We argue that fruit trees and their wild relatives are powerful but underused systems for advancing genomic forecasting in perennials, with a focus on genomic offset analyses. Genomic offset estimates the mismatch between current genomic variation and that predicted to be optimal under future climates, offering a promising framework to anticipate maladaptation and guide conservation, breeding, and management strategies. Although its application is expanding rapidly in annual crops and forest trees, its interpretation and predictive value remain actively debated and require stronger empirical validation. Fruit trees are particularly well suited to address these challenges as they combine distinctive biology – including long generation times, clonal propagation and intensive management practices – with expanding genomic resources and common garden networks. Using emblematic Mediterranean and temperate species, we outline a roadmap that combines genomic offset with common-garden networks, high-resolution climate data, and trait-based fitness proxies. Together, these resources position fruit trees as an powerful model to evaluate and refine genomic forecasting into a practical tool for biodiversity-informed breeding and conservation under global change, and better understand plant adaptation and maladaptation processes.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.71352

Kardung M., Ambrogio Y., Cingiz K., Consmüller N., Unkel K., Purnhagen K., Wesseler J. (2026): Comparing the effects of

regulating new genomic techniques on investment decisions in the European Union. European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol 0 (0) (2026) pp. 1–46 https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbag004

We examine the economic impact of regulating new genomic techniques on investment decisions in the EU. Using a real options model, we compare five major regulatory options (nine including sub-options) with the status quo and analyse their effects on plant breeders’ investments. Using the current authorization process for genetically modified organisms for NGTs presents a high investment barrier for companies. The findings indicate that all alternative five options offer opportunities to reduce investment hurdles, depending on the design of the authorization process. Our model and its calibration serve as an example for further advancing the application of real options for regulatory policy analysis.

https://academic.oup.com/erae/advance-article/doi/10.1093/erae/jbag004/8699721

Gamboa, R., Fernandes, J.B., Lian, Q. et al. (2026): The deSUMOylase SPF2 and the cohesin regulators SGO2 and CTF18

suppress crossovers near centromeres. Nat. Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02329-1

Crossovers (COs) ensure proper chromosome segregation during meiosis and generate genetic diversity. COs are non-uniformly distributed along chromosomes and almost universally suppressed in centromere-proximal regions, notably creating an important bottleneck for plant breeding. The mechanism of this CO suppression is still not fully understood, but the chromatin state is a contributing factor. Here we identify three factors that actively limit proximal CO in Arabidopsis thaliana: the cohesion establishment factor CTF18, the centromeric cohesin protector SGO2 and the deSUMOylase SPF2. The mutation of these factors allows both the formation of COs in the centromere-proximal region where they were completely absent in the wild type and the enhancement of their frequency where they were rare. COs can be further increased by combining these mutations together or with mutation in the DNA methylase CMT3, suggesting that multiple mechanisms prevent proximal COs in parallel. The identification of the very conserved CTF18, SGO2 and SPF2 as suppressors of centromere-proximal COs highlights the importance of cohesin turnover in this process and opens up new possibilities for plant breeding.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-026-02329-1

Zhou S., Tang Q., Wang Y, Zhu S. et al. (2026): Characterization of Pm72, a new powdery mildew resistance gene on

chromosome 6AL of Triticum boeoticum accession PI 427741 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2026.05.008Get rights and content

Triticum monococcum ssp. aegilopoides (syn. T. boeoticum) is a wild diploid species that harbors the A^bA^b genome containing many disease resistance genes useful for wheat improvement. Genetic analysis conducted on an F₂ population from a cross between T. boeoticum accessions PI 427741 and PI 427560, which are contrasting in powdery mildew responses, indicated that the resistance in PI 427741 was controlled by two dominant genes, PmNCA6 and another unknown gene. Bulked segregant exome capture sequencing (BSE-Seq) analysis of a segregating F₃ family without PmNCA6 demonstrated a new powdery mildew resistance gene, Pm72, on the long arm of chromosome 6A. Through linkage analysis, Pm72 was mapped to a 1.28-cM genetic interval defined by markers XTb6AL04 and XTb6AL06. According to the reference genome of T. boeoticum accession TA299, the Pm72 locus corresponded to a 940-kb physical region (Chr6A: 635,963,867–636,888,696), containing 21 nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR)-like disease resistance genes. Phenotyping showed that Pm72 confers effective resistance to powdery mildew at both the seedling and the adult-plant stages in the hexaploid wheat background. The co-segregating marker XTb6AL05 was useful for marker-assisted selection of Pm72. The identification of the new powdery mildew resistance gene Pm72 will contribute to its positional cloning and breeding application in wheat.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514126001492?via%3Dihub

Chen Y., Romeis J., Meissle M. (2026): Do genetically engineered plants affect aquatic non-target invertebrates? –

a critical review. Environmental Advances 25, 100726 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2026.100726

Environmental risk assessments (ERAs) of genetically engineered (GE) plants rely on robust, high-quality, and relevant ecotoxicological studies on non-target invertebrates. Although ERAs also consider evidence from published literature, the quality of these studies and their suitability for ERA are often unclear. This review focuses on aquatic invertebrates and comprises 51 articles identified through systematic literature searches. The review provides a detailed critical appraisal of studies and synthesizes recommendations for future research.

Studies using purified Bt proteins reported effects on aquatic species only at very high concentrations, which possibly reflect non-specific toxicity rather than Bt protein-specific effects. Adverse effects reported for Bt plant material were frequently inconsistent. Methodological shortcomings indicate plant-background effects or experimental artifacts rather than Bt protein effects. Studies reporting no effects are difficult to interpret when exposure levels are unknown or test durations are short. Artifacts may arise when test substances are insufficiently characterized, when negative control treatments differ from test treatments in aspects other than the test compound, or when results are inconsistent across treatments and temporal repetitions. For laboratory studies involving GE plants other than Bt, as well as field studies, the available evidence does not indicate adverse effects, although methodological limitations were also identified for those kind of studies. Future research using plant material should be designed to disentangle effects of the gene product from plant background effects. The critical appraisal scheme developed in this review provides guidance for robust test protocols using purified proteins and GE plants and is also applicable to studies on terrestrial non-target species.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266676572600044X?via%3Dihub

Yan, Z., Jing, D., & Wang, Z. (2026): Operationalizing insect resistance management for commercialized Bt crops:

an evidence-to-action framework for post-market stewardship. GM Crops & Food, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2026.2709923

Commercialized Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops require post-market stewardship that translates heterogeneous resistance signals into defensible action. Although previous syntheses have defined field-evolved and practical resistance and summarized global patterns, developers, regulators, and stewardship programs still need an operational structure for distinguishing weak anomalies from evidence warranting confirmation, mitigation, deployment revision, or replacement of compromised components. We synthesize evidence and stewardship experience from Bt maize and Bt cotton into an evidence-to-action framework linking preventive IRM implementation, resistance monitoring, evidence-state assignment, actionability assessment, and proportionate response. The framework classifies outcomes into four states: baseline susceptibility, early-warning signal, confirmed field-evolved resistance, and practical resistance. For each state, we define its operational meaning, minimum verification requirements, and proportionate actions. Representative pest – crop – toxin systems illustrate how field performance, bioassays, mechanistic evidence, deployment history, and refuge context can support earlier, more transparent, and evidence-proportionate stewardship decisions.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2026.2709923

Janga Y.-J., Oha S,-D., Kimb D., Kimc Y.-K. et al. (2026):  Long-term environmental risk assessment of glufosinate-tolerant

GM zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) on non-target arthropod communities. GM CROPS & FOOD | https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2026.2704431

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified (GM) crops is essential for evaluating their potential impact on non-target organisms under field conditions. In this study, a long-term field assessment was conducted to evaluate the ecological effects of glufosinate-tolerant GM zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.; events JG21 and JG21-MS1) on non-target arthropod communities at two geographically distinct living modified organism isolation sites in South Korea (Jeonju and Seogwipo). A total of 528,796 arthropods were collected and classified into three functional groups: pests (45.73%), natural enemies (14.51%), and other arthropods (39.76%). Arthropod community composition exhibited clear regional and temporal variations. Linear mixed-effects model (LMM) analyses indicated that arthropod abundance and diversity indices were primarilyinfluenced by the year and region, whereas treatment effects, defined as differences between GM events and non-GM controls, were not significant. Although occasional statistical differences were detected, post hoc comparisons confirmed that arthropod communities associated with GM treatments were ecologically comparable to those of non-GM controls within each region and year (p > .05). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed clear clustering by region and year, with substantial overlap among treatments. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance showed that year explained the largest proportion of the variation (R2 = 0.640), whereas treatment effects were negligible (R2 = 0.006). Overall, these results provide robust field-based evidence that glufosinate-tolerant and male-sterile GM zoysiagrass does not adversely affect non-target arthropod communities, supporting its environmental safety in perennial agroecosystems

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2026.2704431

EFSA

EFSA (2026): Ardizzone, M., Barizzone, F., Bonatti, M., Branchi, A., Goumperis, T., Kagkli, D. M., Lenzi, P., Lewandowska, A.,

Camargo, A. M., Munoz Guajardo, I. P., Papadopoulou, N., & Raffaello, T. Literature horizon scan for new scientific data on plants, microorganisms and animals, and their products obtained by new genomic techniques (March 2026). EFSA Journal, 24(7), e10230. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10230

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10230

GMO Panel (2026): Assessment of genetically modified soybean DAS-44406 × FG72 (dossier GMFF-2025-34192). EFSA Journal,

24(7), e10268. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10268

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2026.10268