Inplantomics

The recent visit of INPLANTOMICS coordination mission to Ghent University (UGent) featured fruitful exchanges with Prof. Stefaan Werbrouck (Laboratory of Applied In Vitro Plant Biotechnology), and Prof. Caroline De Tender (MicroSoil Lab, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology).
The mission focused on preparing for the final meeting, reviewing financial and budgetary aspects of the UGent contribution. This visit was also the occasion to discuss the scientific progress and results achieved and strengthen our collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering. This meeting further reinforced our commitment to sustaining strong scientific partnerships and exploring future joint research opportunities beyond the current project.

Following the plenary conference “CRISPR-Cas–based genome editing technologies for crop improvement”, held on 15 January 2026 at the Radisson Hotel, Sfax, the INPLANTOMICS organizing committee warmly thanks all speakers and participants for their valuable presence and engagement. The conference featured high-quality scientific presentations that provided deep insights into recent advances, challenges, and applications of genome editing for crop improvement. We sincerely acknowledge Prof. Stefaan Werbrouck (Ghent University, Belgium), Prof. Vittoria Brambilla (University of Milan, Italy), Prof. Holger Puchta (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany), Dr. Goetz Hensel (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany), Prof. Laurens Pauwels (Ghent University, Belgium), Dr. Vladimir Nekrasov (Rothamsted Research, UK), and Dr. Robert Eric Hoffie (IPK Gatersleben, Germany) for sharing their outstanding expertise and contributing to the scientific success of this event.

🌾 Roundtable on Crop Improvement Using CRISPR-Cas Technology: Opportunities and Challenges.
We had a rich and insightful roundtable discussion focused on the key opportunities and challenges shaping the future of crop improvement. The exchange highlighted the transformative potential of genome-editing technologies and how these tools can be strategically implemented in our country to address major agricultural constraints. We discussed how genome editing offers powerful solutions to enhance cereal productivity, yield stability, and resilience to environmental stresses, while effectively complementing conventional breeding approaches.
The discussion also emphasized the importance of building local capacity, developing appropriate regulatory frameworks, and fostering strong collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to fully harness genome-editing technologies for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems.
This open and engaging debate was moderated by Prof. Vittoria Brambilla, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, Italy.

We now move to the final talk, delivered by Robert Hoffie, entitled ‘Engineering Virus Resistance in Barley and The Limits of Genome Editing’

We had the pleasure of attending the talk by Vladimir Nekrasov, entitled “Genome editing technology as a tool for gene function studies and crop improvement.” In this presentation, he highlighted how modern genome editing tools—particularly CRISPR/Cas systems—have revolutionized plant research by enabling precise and efficient gene modifications. The talk illustrated how these technologies are powerful not only for dissecting gene function through targeted mutagenesis, but also for accelerating crop improvement by enhancing key agronomic traits such as disease resistance, stress tolerance, and yield. Overall, this presentation clearly demonstrated the central role of genome editing in bridging fundamental plant biology with applied breeding for sustainable agriculture.

We now move to the talk by Laurens Pauwels, entitled:
“Evaluation of transgenerational gene editing efficiency and inheritance of edits in Zea mays.”

We now move to the next speaker, Goetz Hensel, who will present a talk entitled ‘Precision Mutagenesis in Crops for Functional Genomics and Enhancement of Agronomic Traits’.

Moving now to the next speaker, Prof. Holger Puchta, who will present his talk entitled “Crossing Borders: From Plant Gene Editing to Changing Chromosome Numbers.”

We are pleased to announce the second talk of the session, presented by Dr. Vittoria Brambilla.

🔬 Talk title:
“Stem elongation and inflorescence development in rice: from basic research to NGT field trials”

In this presentation, Dr. Brambilla will bridge fundamental research and applied innovation, highlighting how insights into the genetic and molecular control of stem elongation and inflorescence development in rice can be translated into New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) and validated through field trials. This work provides valuable perspectives for improving crop architecture, yield, and adaptation in a changing climate.

We had the pleasure of opening the session with a keynote presentation by Dr. Stefaan Werbrouck, entitled:

🧬 “Next-Generation In Vitro Methods for Regenerating Shoots from Edited Plant Cells”

In this insightful talk, Dr. Werbrouck presented cutting-edge in vitro regeneration strategies that overcome one of the major bottlenecks in plant genome editing: efficient shoot regeneration from edited cells. The presentation highlighted innovative approaches that significantly enhance regeneration efficiency, paving the way for faster and more reliable production of genome-edited plants.

The first conference " Next-Generation in vitro Methods for Regeneration shoots from Edited Plant Cells" was presented by Prof. Stefaan Werbrouk, Faculty Bioscience Engineering Ghent University, Belgium