Visiting eggplant from a biotechnological perspective: A review.

• Eggplant is widely cultivated for its fleshy fruits. • Innovative developments in biotechnology have opened new horizons for eggplant. • We reviewed the role of biotechnology in supporting eggplant ideotype. Eggplant is a member of family Solanaceae, and it is commonly cultivated in many parts of the world. Eggplant is susceptible to a number of biotic and abiotic stresses, therefore, there is a continuous demand of varieties with disease and insect pest resistance, better nutraceutical capacity, and adaption to climate change. Biotechnological approaches/tools have helped in the expansion of eggplant ideotype. In this direction, tissue culture techniques for organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis are standardized in eggplant. Also, plant transformation techniques like agrobacterium mediated gene transfer has been established in eggplant. Even if, the information of eggplant from a biotechnology perspective is increasing yet there is a lack of knowledge. Techniques like gene editing have not been tried in eggplant, further, eggplant is still remains unexplored from the molecular farming outlook. In this review, we compile the information regarding tissue culture, genetic engineering, and genome editing advancements so far accomplished in the eggplant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]