A research team led by Vicent Arbona Mengual from the Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Natural Sciences at Universitat Jaume I has secured a European project under the EIC Pathfinder Challenges programme whose main objective is to generate genetically modified citrus lines with greater resilience to adverse conditions caused by climate change and its exacerbating effects on pests and diseases. The project will focus primarily on sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis ) and mandarin ( Citrus reticulata ).
The project, CitrusAld – Applied Biotechnology for More Resilient and Nutritionally Enhanced Citrus Crops, has received €3.9 million in funding through the EIC Pathfinder programme, following a highly competitive call in which only 30 of the 647 submitted proposals were selected for funding (with only four projects funded under this specific challenge). It will be carried out by a consortium of 11 partners from Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Sweden. The UJI team also includes Miguel González Guzmán, coordinator of the GaMBiT research group – Genetic and Metabolic Integration of Biotic and Abiotic Interactions – together with Rosario Vidal and Beatriz Julián from the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM-UJI).
Citrus fruits are functional foods that combine nutritional value with health-promoting properties thanks to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects. In addition to introducing genetic modifications to improve resilience to climate change, the project also aims to promote the biofortification of citrus fruits in order to enhance their nutritional properties by increasing both naturally occurring compounds (flavonoids and furanocoumarins) and non-native compounds (resveratrol). The latter, a stilbene found in grapes and cocoa, has been selected because of its cardioprotective and anti-ageing properties.
To achieve this, the project will develop a methodology for identifying potential target genes by designing and implementing artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems capable of analysing and integrating large volumes of data in order to identify the most suitable target genes for each modification. The required genetic modifications will be carried out using New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), which are now permitted in Europe, together with the integration of new materials capable of overcoming existing biological barriers and increasing the genetic efficiency of these species. In parallel, the consortium will explore complementary strategies based on RNA interference (RNAi) technology to slow down or silence the expression of specific genes, using novel materials as delivery vehicles into plant tissues.
The consortium is coordinated by Universitat Jaume I and also includes the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research and the Galician University–Business Foundation from Spain; the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) and UNITEC S.p.A. from Italy; the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), and Doriane SAS from France; Computomics GmbH and CYBRES GmbH from Germany; and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences from Sweden.
The EIC Pathfinder Challenges call is part of the European Innovation Council (EIC), which supports highly innovative, high-risk scientific research with the potential to generate entirely new technologies in the future. It funds the early stages of research, when ideas are still being explored in the laboratory and there is not yet a clear commercial application. Its objective is to establish the scientific and technological foundations for breakthroughs that, in the long term, can transform entire sectors or help address major societal challenges. The CitrusAld project will begin in October 2026 and will run for four years (proposal No. 101306995).