The Enhancement of Fungal Disease Resistance in Major Staple Crops Using CRISPR-Cas Technology

Fungal pathogens represent a major constraint to global agricultural productivity, causing a wide range of plant diseases that severely affect staple crops such as cereals, legumes, and vegetables. These infections result in substantial yield losses, deterioration of grain and produce quality, and significant economic impacts across the entire agri-food sector. Among phytopathogens, fungi are considered the most destructive, causing a wide range of diseases such as powdery mildew, rusts, fusarium head blight, smut, leaf spot, rots, late blight, and other fungal pathogens. Traditional plant protection methods do not always provide long-term effectiveness and environmental safety, which requires the introduction of innovative approaches to creating sustainable varieties. CRISPR-Cas technology opens up new opportunities for targeted genome editing, allowing the modification or silencing of susceptibility genes and thus increasing plant resistance to fungal infections. This review presents current achievements and prospects for the application of CRISPR-Cas technology to increase the resistance of major agricultural crops to fungal diseases. The implementation of these approaches contributes to the creation of highly productive and resistant varieties, which is crucial for ensuring food security in the context of climate change.