Gene Knockout of Beneficial Plant-associated Bacillus spp. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 Double Plasmid System

Bacillus spp. have great agricultural potential as a plant growth promoter and biocontrol agent. However, little is known concerning the bacterial molecular basis for the improvement of plant fitness. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop techniques that can contribute to the elucidation of the genetic basis for the mechanisms involved in beneficial bacterium-plant interactions. In this context, CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 is a powerful tool based on programmable molecular scissors that perform precise incisions in any DNA sequence. CRISPR-Cas9 can alter gene sequences and constitutes a cutting-edge tool to elucidate the role and function of bacterial genes associated with the benefits of plant interactions. The method described here uses a feasible CRISPR-Cas9 system in a double plasmid, one plasmid harboring the Cas9 endonuclease and the other the sgRNA, to promote gene knockout/editing in the Bacillus genus. This approach favors high efficiency in generating mutants for one or more genes in continuous or multiplex editing. Additionally, due to its universality, it can be applied to genera other than Bacillus.