The conventional breeding of crops struggles to keep up with increasing food needs and ever-adapting pests and pathogens. Global climate changes have imposed another layer of complexity to biological systems, increasing the challenge to obtain improved crop cultivars. These dictate the development and application of novel technologies, like genome editing (GE), that assist targeted and fast breeding programs in crops, with enhanced resistance to pests and pathogens. GE does not require crossings, hence avoiding the introduction of undesirable traits through linkage in elite varieties, speeding up the whole breeding process. Additionally, GE technologies can improve plant protection by directly targeting plant susceptibility (S) genes or virulence factors of pests and pathogens, either through the direct edition of the pest genome or by adding the GE machinery to the plant genome or to microorganisms functioning as biocontrol agents (BCAs). Over the years, GE technology has been continuously evolving and more so with the development of CRISPR/Cas. Here we review the latest advancements of GE to improve plant protection, focusing on CRISPR/Cas-based genome edition of crops and pests and pathogens. We discuss how other technologies, such as host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) and the use of BCAs could benefit from CRISPR/Cas to accelerate the development of green strategies to promote a sustainable agriculture in the future.

作物的传统育种努力跟上不断增长的食物需求和不断适应的害虫和病原体。全球气候变化给生物系统带来了另一层复杂性，增加了获得改良作物品种的挑战。这些决定了新技术的开发和应用，如基因组编辑 (GE)，这些技术有助于作物的有针对性和快速育种计划，并增强对害虫和病原体的抵抗力。转基因不需要杂交，因此避免了通过优良品种的连锁引入不良性状，加快了整个育种过程。此外，GE 技术可以通过直接针对植物易感性（S) 害虫和病原体的基因或毒力因子，通过害虫基因组的直接编辑或通过向植物基因组或作为生物防治剂 (BCA) 的微生物添加 GE 机制。多年来，GE 技术一直在不断发展，尤其是随着 CRISPR/Cas 的发展。在这里，我们回顾了 GE 在改善植物保护方面的最新进展，重点关注基于 CRISPR/Cas 的作物、害虫和病原体基因组版本。我们讨论了其他技术，如宿主诱导的基因沉默 (HIGS) 和 BCA 的使用如何从 CRISPR/Cas 中受益，以加快绿色战略的发展，以促进未来的可持续农业。