Research progress in gene editing of Brassicaceae crops

Brassicaceae crops are globally important economic plants, whose yield and quality directly affect the supply of edible oil and vegetables. Most of these crops are polyploids with complex genomes and numerous homoeologous gene copies, which demand high efficiency and specificity from gene editing tools, while providing ideal models for studying the rules of polyploid genome editing. Traditional breeding methods, such as crossbreeding and mutation breeding, are constrained by long cycles, low efficiency, and poor specificity, making them insufficient for precise genetic improvement. Gene editing technologies, characterized by precision, efficiency, and targeting specific genomic loci, are core tools for crop breeding. Among these, ZFNs and TALENs rely on protein-DNA recognition and are complicated and costly to design; CRISPR-Cas, which achieves precise recognition through base pairing between guide RNA and target DNA, is simple, efficient, and the most widely used editing tool. Base and prime editors enable single-nucleotide substitutions or small fragment insertions without generating double-strand breaks, making them suitable for directed modification of point mutations. This review summarizes the progress of gene editing in Brassicaceae for bolting/flowering, plant architecture, nutritional quality, tolerance to abiotic stresses (temperature, salinity, drought, heavy metals), and resistance to biotic stresses (diseases, pests). We analyze challenges, including off-target effects, difficulties in polyploid genome editing, and imperfect genetic transformation systems, and discuss future directions integrating gene editing with multi-omics and artificial intelligence. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and technical support for precise molecular breeding of Brassicaceae crops.