CRISPR-Cas system: a precise tool for plant genome editing

Abstract

Biotic and abiotic stress affects the productivity and quality of the plant; it is necessarily important to develop improved crops that can withstand the environmental conditions. Conventional methods of breeding are very tedious process that require some alternative. The molecular approach of genetic modification emerged out as a precise method for plant breeding in the past few years. Genome is altered by removing, adding or substituting DNA bases in the host genome. Different methods of genome editing have been developed, including transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs), zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas. These nucleases have enabled researchers to manipulate gene of interest in crop plants. Among these CRISPR-Cas has been developed recently and found to be a more efficient tool for genome editing because of its simple design and low cost. In recent years, CRISPR-Cas9 has been utilized for gene knockouts and knock-ins, multiplex gene targeting, and gene regulation in plants. In this review, we provide the use of CRISPR–Cas9 technology in genome editing and its fruitful applications in plants specifically in terms of improvement in quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Designing of an efficient CRISPR–Cas system using bioinformatic tools have also been discussed.