The expanding footprint of CRISPR/Cas9 in the plant sciences

Abstract

CRISPR/Cas9 has evolved and transformed the field of biology at an unprecedented pace. From the initial purpose of introducing a site specific mutation within a genome of choice, this technology has morphed into enabling a wide array of molecular applications, including site-specific transgene insertion and multiplexing for the simultaneous induction of multiple cleavage events. Efficiency, specificity, and flexibility are key attributes that have solidified CRISPR/Cas9 as the genome-editing tool of choice by scientists from all areas of biology. Within the field of plant biology, several CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, developed in other biological systems, have been successfully implemented to probe plant gene function and to modify specific crop traits. It is anticipated that this trend will persist and lead to the development of new applications and modifications of the CRISPR technology, adding to an ever-expanding collection of genome-editing tools. We envision that these tools will bestow plant researchers with new utilities to alter genome complexity, engineer site-specific integration events, control gene expression, generate transgene-free edited crops, and prevent or cure plant viral disease. The successful implementation of such utilities will represent a new frontier in plant biotechnology.

Citrus Taste Modification Potentials by Genetic Engineering

“…The best-case scenarios would be upregulated or ectopic expression of the genes conferring "good" taste or repression of the genes controlling "bad" taste leads to enhancement of the overall taste in citrus. Moreover, the development of CRISPR/Cas system has facilitated the precision genome editing in plant, making it possible to generate transgene-free edited crops [75]. Several studies have reported using CRISPR/Cas9 system [76][77][78][79][80][81] or CRISPR/Cas12 system [82] as an efficient tool for genome editing in citrus.…”

Making complex things simpler: modern tools to edit the plant genome

“…К настоящему времени создано несколько различных вариантов гена Cas9, опти мизированного для экспрессии в клетках арабидопсиса, табака, риса, однодольных, двудольных, а также растений в целом (Baltes et al, 2014;Schaeffer, Nakata, 2016;Song et al, 2016). В большинстве исследований оптимизация кодонного состава показала себя достаточно эффективным средством повышения уровня экспрессии Cas9 и увели чения эффективности редактирования, хотя некоторыми исследовательскими группами получены эксперименталь ные данные, свидетельствующие об обратном (Johnson et al, 2015).…”

The Power of CRISPR-Cas9-Induced Genome Editing to Speed Up Plant Breeding

“…Subsequent work reported successful applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 tool for sorghum [13], wheat [59], maize [60], sweet orange [61], tomato [62], potato [63], liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. [64], barley and Brassica oleracea [65], soybean [66], melon [67], and poplar [68]. Summarizing information about transformation/delivery methods and expression systems for CRISPR-Cas9-based applications in plants can be found in recent reviews [69, 70]. It is needed to emphasise that spreading of this technology is highly promoted by the CRISPR research community, providing open access to plasmids, web tools, and active discussion groups (Table 1).…”