Application of CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing for Abiotic Stress Management in Crop Plants

Abstract

Abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, cold, heat, and heavy metals, extensively reduce global agricultural production. Approaches such as conventional breeding and transgenic breeding have been widely used to cope with these environmental stresses. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat- Cas (CRISPR/Cas) based gene-editing tool has revolutionized due to its simplicity, accessibility, adaptability, flexibility, and wide applicability. This system has a great potential to build up crop varieties with enhanced tolerance against abiotic stresses. In this review, we summarize the most recent findings on understanding the mechanism of abiotic stress response in plants and the application of CRISPR/Cas mediated gene-editing system towards enhanced tolerance to drought, salinity, cold, heat, and heavy metals stresses. Furthermore, in this review, we highlighted the recent advancements in prime editing and base editing tools for crop improvement.

Crisper/Cas: A Potential Tool for Genomes Editing

“…Biotechnology is on the cusp of transformation, with genome editing techniques offering more precise and versatile methods for a range of applications, from biofuel production to the development of novel biopharmaceuticals. Ongoing efforts will focus on refining regulatory and ethical frameworks to ensure the responsible use of genome editing, especially in clinical applications and agriculture (Kumar et al 2023). Ensuring equitable access and addressing dual-use concerns will be central to these frameworks.…”