Emerging tools and paradigm shift of gene editing in cereals, fruits, and horticultural crops for enhancing nutritional value and food security

Abstract

Gene editing using sequence‐specific nucleases, particularly CRISPR/Cas ribonucleoprotein, has drawn enormous attention in plant research in recent years. Nearly a decade ago, Cas9 protein was initially discovered for a role in adaptive immunity in bacteria. Owing to vast potential, a large number of reports came out in a short span of time, comprising the identification of Cas protein from different bacterial sources, new Cas9 variants with reduced off‐targets, multiplexing, base editing, prime editing, and RNA manipulation in plants. Studies revealed that CRISPR/Cas‐based gene editing can play a major role in ensuring food security via developing resilient commercial crops with improved yield and nutritional value. Use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for creating mutation in genes and regulatory regions of promoter generated a number of alleles with variable phenotypes, which can serve as an excellent genetic resource in the breeding program. In this review, we provide a recent overview of state‐of‐art discoveries in the CRISPR/Cas system comprised of new Cas proteins, modifications of existing Cas9, refinements in CRISPR/Cas‐induced gene editing, applications, and outcome emphasizing on major cereals and horticultural crops. We also highlight the current global policy framework for the regulation of gene‐edited crops.

CRISPR-Cas-Led Revolution in Diagnosis and Management of Emerging Plant Viruses: New Avenues Toward Food and Nutritional Security

“…Due to its simplicity and applicability, CRISPR-Cas tools have been widely used in crop improvement programs via mutations in codon region, promoter editing, gene insertion, prime editing, programmed single base editing, and cell type-specific and conditional mutations ( 188 ). In order to diversify the nutritional and functional traits of crops controlled by polygenes, genes and their controlled traits associated with the metabolic pathway need to be investigated for successful trait improvement without undesirable pleiotropic defects.…”

“…Compared to other breeding practices that usually require 8–10 years, genome editing requires less duration (4–6 years) for product development ( 187 ) ( Figure 1 ). Over the past few years, the CRISPR-Cas system has been proven as a game-changing technology in crop improvement programs in many ways, such as mutations in the coding region, promoter editing, gene insertion, prime editing, programmed single base editing, and cell type-specific and conditional mutations ( 188 ).…”

Gene Editing to Accelerate Crop Breeding

“…Myriad examples of gene editing using the CRISPR-Cas system in crop plants are listed in recent reviews ( Schenke and Cai, 2020 ; Tiwari et al, 2021 ). Most of what I discuss in the subsequent sections is related to accelerating varietal improvement by directly introducing high-value traits into elite lines ( Gao et al, 2020 ).…”

Application of CRISPR/Cas9 System for Efficient Gene Editing in Peanut

“…CRISPR/Cas9-based gene-editing technology has emerged as a powerful alternative for plant breeding due to its precise, efficient, and targeted gene modification to generate intended traits. With versatile gene-editing tools developed, many potential applications have been performed for crop improvement in a variety of plant species [ 5 , 6 ]. One such application in plant breeding is to modify a gene through loss of function mutation by introducing small indels that result in frame-shift mutations or premature stop codons.…”

“…The CRISPR/Cas9 technology has provided a new breeding toolbox to generate genetic variability in plants, making it an excellent complement to conventional breeding. These toolboxes offer a platform for gene editing and the improvement of the crops on which they have been established [ 6 ]. However, the application of CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to peanuts is still limited.…”