Genetic and biotechnological advances in eggplant improvement for food security
Eggplant, a key strategic horticultural crop within the Solanaceae family, serves as a crucial source of micronutrients, bioactive phytochemicals, and functional foods significantly contributing to food security and sustainable agriculture. Its wide agro-climatic adaptability, economic importance, and versatile culinary applications have driven escalating demand amidst population growth, urbanization, and climate change-induced stresses. However, the genetic improvement of eggplant is hindered by the complex inheritance patterns of critical agronomic traits, including fruit yield, quality attributes, stress tolerance, and morphological diversity. These traits are often governed by polygenic genomic architectures, low heritability, epistasis, and genotype-by-environment interactions, limiting the efficacy of traditional breeding methods. Advancements in high-throughput genetic and genomic studies have paved the way for transformative interventions results configured whole-genome and assemblies, genome-wide associations, and molecular markers enable the dissection of genetic determinants underlying key agronomical traits. Furthermore, functional gene annotation via transcriptomics, and miRNAs cohorts offers unparalleled insights into phenotypic plasticity and molecular adaptation mechanisms underlying these traits. Moreover, the integration of these discoveries with next-generation gene editing technologies, particularly CRISPR-Cas9 systems, has revolutionized targeted trait introgression, enabling rapid development of elite, climate-resilient eggplant genotypes. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent breakthroughs in eggplant genetics and genomics, highlighting cutting-edge genetic and genomic resources catalyzing trait discovery and assisted breeding. Moreover, we discuss how the synergy between omics-driven insights and genome-editing platforms is reshaping breeding paradigms. Altogether, these integrative strategies not only accelerate trait enhancement but also fortify food security frameworks by fostering genetic diversity, adaptive capacity, and nutritional fortification in eggplant production systems.