Abstract
Genome editing technologies have progressed rapidly and become one of the most important genetic tools in the implementation of pathogen resistance in plants. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of site directed modification methods using meganucleases, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9). Recently, CRISPR/Cas9 has largely overtaken the other genome editing technologies due to the fact that it is easier to design and implement, has a higher success rate, and is more versatile and less expensive. This review focuses on the recent advances in plant protection using CRISPR/Cas9 technology in model plants and crops in response to viral, fungal and bacterial diseases. As regards the achievement of viral disease resistance, the main strategies employed in model species such as Arabidopsis and Nicotiana benthamiana, which include the integration of CRISPR-encoding sequences that target and interfere with the viral genome and the induction of a CRISPR-mediated targeted mutation in the host plant genome, will be discussed. Furthermore, as regards fungal and bacterial disease resistance, the strategies based on CRISPR/Cas9 targeted modification of susceptibility genes in crop species such as rice, tomato, wheat, and citrus will be reviewed. After spending years deciphering and reading genomes, researchers are now editing and rewriting them to develop crop plants resistant to specific pests and pathogens.
Highlights
Plant breeding has been the most successful approach for developing new crop varieties since domestication occurred, making possible major advances in feeding the world and societal development
Crops are susceptible to a large set of pathogens including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, which cause important economic losses (FAO, 2017); the enhancement of plant resistance plays an important role in adjusting crop production to meet global population increases
Two recent works have employed a clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) approach for achieving resistance to begomoviruses (Ali et al, 2015, 2016) (Table 1). Both studies were based on the strategy of expressing the CRISPR/Cas9 system in the host cell nucleus to target and cleave the virus genome during replication
Summary
Genome editing technologies have progressed rapidly and become one of the most important genetic tools in the implementation of pathogen resistance in plants. This review focuses on the recent advances in plant protection using CRISPR/Cas technology in model plants and crops in response to viral, fungal and bacterial diseases. As regards the achievement of viral disease resistance, the main strategies employed in model species such as Arabidopsis and Nicotiana benthamiana, which include the integration of CRISPR-encoding sequences that target and interfere with the viral genome and the induction of a CRISPR-mediated targeted mutation in the host plant genome, will be discussed. As regards fungal and bacterial disease resistance, the strategies based on CRISPR/Cas targeted modification of susceptibility genes in crop species such as rice, tomato, wheat, and citrus will be reviewed.
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