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Gene Targeting Facilitated by Engineered Sequence-Specific Nucleases: Potential Applications for Crop Improvement.
Daisuke Miki1, Rui Wang1,2, Jing Li1,2
1Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology and Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
Plant & Cell Physiology
|February 27, 2021
Summary
Gene targeting (GT) uses engineered nucleases to edit plant genomes for improved crops. While challenging, this technology offers a powerful approach to enhance food security by modifying crop traits.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Global food security is a major challenge requiring enhanced crop agronomic traits.
- Engineered sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) enable targeted gene editing in plants.
- Gene targeting (GT) relies on SSNs to induce DNA breaks for precise genetic modification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current state of SSN-facilitated gene targeting in higher plants.
- To discuss the potential of gene targeting as a tool for crop improvement.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing engineered sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) to create targeted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs).
- Employing homology-directed repair (HDR) pathways with donor templates for precise sequence integration or replacement.
- Analyzing existing studies on SSN-mediated GT in various higher plant species.
Main Results:
- SSN-facilitated GT has been successfully demonstrated in several higher plant species.
- The efficiency of GT in plants remains a significant challenge.
- Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is the predominant repair pathway for DSBs in plants.
Conclusions:
- SSN-facilitated GT is a promising technology for developing improved crop varieties.
- Overcoming the low efficiency of GT is crucial for its widespread application in crop engineering.
- GT holds significant potential for enhancing crop traits to address global food supply needs.
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