A ground-breaking twist to the CRISPR tool is being put to use to edit plant genomes. The discovery could simplify and speed up the development of novel, genetically stable commercial crop varieties by combining the two.
The genetic scissor can be moved from the root into the shoot with the help of a mobile CRISPR/Cas9 In the next generation of plants, there is no trace of the edits it made. Saving time, money and circumventing limitations in plant breeding will be achieved by this breakthrough.
Climate change is already threatening many crops that feed the world, and it's going to get worse. To future-proof these essential plants for efficient and effective crop yields under challenging conditions, they can be edited with high precision using theCas9 system.
Although it is an enormous step forward for plant breeding, it is not feasible for most plants to use it. The recent development made by the team of scientists has overcome the limitations.
TheRNA is a carrier of theCRISP.
Commercial crop plants need to be genetically stable and transgene free. This is usually accomplished through outcross over many generations or through tedious regeneration processes. Both are hard to grow in many crop plants.
A group of scientists set out to change this. As part of the EU-funded PLAMORF project and German Ministry of Research funded proof of concept project, they are studying transport sequence that enable the movement ofRNAs from roots to shoots The research group identified the so-calledTLS that act as signals for the long-distance movement ofRNAs within plants.
This discovery was combined with the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system. Plants produce "mobile" versions of the CRISPR/Cas9 RNA when they are added to the sequence. A transgene-free, unmodified shoot is then transferred onto the roots of plants containing the mobile CRISPR/Cas9 RNA, which then moves from the root into the shoot, and eventually on into the flowers.
Dr. Friedrich Kragler said that the magic happened in the flowers. The actual 'genetic scissors' are created when the CRISPR/Cas9 RNA moves in and converts into the correspondingProtein. The plant's genetic material is edited in the flowers. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is not included in the genome. The seeds that develop from these flowers carry only the desired edits. In the next generation of plants, there is no trace of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
A system for editing crops.
The possibility to combine different species is exciting. The scientists showed that "editing" in this way doesn't only work when the root and shoots are from the same plant species. They put the shoots of oilseed rape onto the roots of the plant. The edited oilseed rape plants were found by the team.
The novel gene editing system can be used efficiently. Many agricultural important plant species are hard to modify with existing methods.
There is more information about heritable transgene-free genome editing in plants. The DOI is 10.1038/s415822-01585-8.
Journal information: Nature Biotechnology
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