Multiple challenges in the development of commercial crops using CRISPR/Cas technology

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Genetics
• Biotechnology

Background:

• CRISPR/Cas system offers efficient plant genome editing for agriculture.
• Technical hurdles and plant-specific traits impede widespread CRISPR adoption.
• Edited traits often exhibit recessive inheritance, unlike dominant transgenic traits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify strategies for accelerating the introgression of CRISPR-edited traits into elite crop germplasms.
• To address challenges hindering the agricultural application of CRISPR technology.
• To propose solutions for enhancing the economic viability and adoption of edited crop varieties.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of plant species' natural features (reproductive behavior, ploidy, genetic diversity, generation time) impacting trait introgression.
• Comparison of effort required for producing and selecting edited events versus transgenic equivalents.
• Proposal for utilizing edits on single-copy genes to induce dominant mutations.

Main Results:

• Plant-specific biological features significantly influence the efficiency of integrating edited traits.
• Production and selection of edited events are as resource-intensive as transgenic events.
• Recessive nature of most edited alleles presents a challenge for trait introgression.

Conclusions:

• Suggests using dominant mutations in single-copy genes to expedite the introgression of CRISPR-edited traits.
• Proposes public funding for edited variety development, particularly for technically feasible traits.
• Emphasizes the urgent need for these actions to mitigate climate change impacts on crop production.