Addressing the UN sustainable development goals of woody plants through genetic engineering

Abstract

Rapid climate change affects the supply of goods and services needed for a growing world population, reducing crop yields and threatening biodiversity, with potentially catastrophic effects on ecosystems. Particularly at risk are plant species with long life cycles, such as woody species. To address this crisis, there is an urgent need to accelerate breeding pipelines for these species to withstand new environmental conditions and mitigate the effects of climate change. In this article, we highlight examples of genetic engineering in woody species that have the potential to contribute not only to economic development, but also to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic biodiversity, including: the introgression of traits into ecologically important threatened species for large-scale forest restoration, the reduction of air pollution from foliar emissions from bioenergy crops, the acceleration of biomass production to increase CO₂ sequestration, the improvement of bioenergy crops to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and the induction of flowering to reduce the time and resources needed to develop fruit and forest trees varieties with greater resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. These examples are examined not only for their economic potential but also for their environmental and social impacts. This compilation of biotechnological applications in woody species, aims to enrich the debate on the adoption of genetic engineering in these species.