By Daniel Kane
Anew tool allows researchers to probe the metabolic processes occurring within the leaves, stems, and roots of a key citrus crop, the clementine. The big picture goal of this research is to improve the yields, flavor and nutritional value of citrus and non-citrus crops, even in the face of increasingly harsh growing conditions and growing pest challenges.
To build the tool, the team led by the University of California San Diego focused on the clementine (Citrus clementina), which is a cross between a mandarin orange and a sweet orange.
The effort is expected to expand well beyond the clementine in order to develop actionable information for increasing the productivity and quality of a wide range of citrus and non-citrus crops. The strategy is to uncover – and then make use of – new insights on how plants respond, in terms of metabolic activities in specific parts of the plant or tree, to environmental factors like temperature, drought and disease.
The tool, and the comprehensive genome-scale model for Citrus clementina, were published July 14, 2025 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The team is led by researchers at UC San Diego, in collaboration with researchers at UC Riverside and the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán.
“Together we created a tool that will open the door for improved crop design and sustainable farming for Citrus clementia and a wide range of citrus and non-citrus crops,” said UC San Diego professor Karsten Zengler, the corresponding author on the new paper.
At UC San Diego, Zengler holds affiliations in the Department of Bioengineering, the Department of Pediatrics, the Center for Microbiome Innovation, and the Program in Materials Science and Engineering.
“Our data-driven modeling approach represents a powerful tool for citrus breeding and farming and for the improvement of crop yield and quality, meeting the escalating demand for high-quality products in the global market,” said Zengler.
The high-resolution genomic tool has been designed and built as a platform technology that can be expanded to help researchers improve a wide range of citrus and non-citrus crops. The actionable information is derived from a wide range of new mechanistic insights into how plant metabolism works within leaves, stems, roots and other tissues of key plant crops.
Source : ucsd.edu