Recent Advancements in CRISPR/Cas-based Genome Editing in Plants

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)- CRISPR-associated protein (Cas)-mediated genome editing is a recently developed gene editing technology, which has transformed functional and applied genomics. This technology is precise, cost-efficient, and rapid than other previously developed genome editing tools such as Meganucleases (MNs), Zinc-Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs). The CRISPR-Cas9 system is widely exploited for developing plants with enhanced tolerance towards various environmental stresses, resistance against pathogens, improved yield and nutritional superiority. The method is robustly applied to alter both DNA and RNA at specific target regions. The availability of well annotated genome sequence and an efficient genetic transformation system may open numerous possibilities to gain desirable traits in crop plants employing CRISPR-Cas-mediated genome editing technology. In this chapter, we summarized the basics of CRISPR-Cas technology, various kinds of CRISPR systems and their associated Cas proteins, application in generating abiotic and biotic stress tolerant crops, and bottlenecks of CRISPR-Cas systems. 

Keywords: Genome editing, CRISPR-Cas, Abiotic stress, Biotic stress, Crop improvement.