Integrating Multi-Omics Approaches to Develop High-Yielding and Heavy Metals Stress-Resilient Crops
Ibrahim Khan1, Sajjad Asaf1,*, Lubna2, Sang-Mo Kang1, In-Jung Lee1,*
1 Department of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
2 Natural and Medical Science Research Center, University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Oman
* Corresponding Author: Sajjad Asaf. Email: 
; In-Jung Lee. Email: 
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Multi-Omics Insights into Plant Acclimation to Environmental Stress)
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.086203
Received 26 May 2026; Accepted 17 July 2026; Published online 03 August 2026
Abstract
Recent efforts in crop improvement have increasingly focused on elucidating molecular-level regulatory mechanisms to develop high-yielding crops with enhanced tolerance to heavy metals (HMs) stress. Omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, ionomics, and phenomics, provide comprehensive analyses of plant responses to HMs stress. Genomics identifies stress-responsive genes, transcriptomics reveals dynamic changes in gene expression, proteomics evaluates protein abundance and post-translational modifications, and metabolomics characterize stress-related metabolites. Ionomics elucidates essential mineral dynamics involved in detoxification, while phenomics integrate high-throughput imaging with breeding techniques to evaluate stress resilience. Integration of multi-omics approaches provides a systems-level understanding of plant responses by exploring interactions among genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites. Despite these advances, significant challenges remain in data heterogeneity, multi-omics integration, and predictive modeling, while updated insights and future perspectives are needed to improve stress tolerance research in plants. Emerging technologies, including CRISPR-based gene editing for functional validation, spatially resolved omics for cellular and tissue-level insights, and AI for pattern recognition and predictive modeling, are advancing the study of HMs tolerance. This review highlights the application of omics techniques in elucidating the genetic mechanisms of plant responses to HMs stress and their roles in enhancing crop resilience and productivity. Integrating these approaches provides a direct route to breeding HMs-resilient crop varieties, bridging molecular insights with farmer-ready solutions to ensure food security and safety in contaminated regions.
Keywords
Omics; heavy metals stress; food security; CRISPR technology; sustainable agriculture
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