Genome editing for grass improvement and future agriculture

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Genetics
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Grasses are vital for global ecosystems, providing forage, turf, and ecological services like carbon sequestration.
• Modern molecular breeding and genome-editing technologies offer advanced strategies for grass improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent research on CRISPR-Cas genome editing for enhancing forage and turf grass growth and quality.
• To highlight emerging grass breeding approaches and assess CRISPR-Cas effectiveness and challenges.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive review of recent scientific literature on CRISPR-Cas applications in grass breeding.
• Assessment of CRISPR-Cas system effectiveness, challenges, and future perspectives in turf and forage grasses.

Main Results:

• CRISPR-Cas technology shows significant potential for improving grass quantity and quality.
• Key limitations include lack of reference genomes, inefficient gene delivery, and polyploidization in grass species.

Conclusions:

• Despite current challenges, the CRISPR-Cas system offers a promising future for advancing grass genetics and breeding.
• Harnessing CRISPR-Cas benefits can lead to improved and sustainable turf and forage grass production.