Genome editing tools based improved applications in macrofungi

Macrofungi commonly referred to as Mushrooms are distributed worldwide and well known for their nutritional, medicinal, and organoleptic properties. Strain improvement in mushrooms is lagging due to paucity of efficient genome modification techniques. Thus, for advanced developments in research and commercial or economical viability and benefit, CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9) emerged as an efficient genome editing tool. The higher efficiency and precision of the desired genetic modification(s) are the most valuable attributes of this recent technology. The present review comprehensively summarizes various conventional methods utilized for strain improvement in mushrooms including hybridization, protoplast fusion, and di-mon mating. Furthermore, the problems associated with these techniques have been discussed besides providing the potential recluses. The significance of CRISPR/Cas9 strategies employed for improvement in various mushroom genera has been deliberated, as these strategies will paves the way forward for obtaining improved strain and effective cultivation methods for enhancing the yield and quality of the fruit bodies.