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Targeted genome modification technologies and their applications in crop improvements

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Abstract

Recent advances in genome engineering indicate that innovative crops developed by targeted genome modification (TGM) using site-specific nucleases (SSNs) have the potential to avoid the regulatory issues raised by genetically modified organisms. These powerful SSNs tools, comprising zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated systems, enable precise genome engineering by introducing DNA double-strand breaks that subsequently trigger DNA repair pathways involving either non-homologous end-joining or homologous recombination. Here, we review developments in genome-editing tools, summarize their applications in crop organisms, and discuss future prospects. We also highlight the ability of these tools to create non-transgenic TGM plants for next-generation crop breeding.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of China (2013ZX08002-004 and 2013ZX08010-002) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 201263, 383601, and 31200273).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Kunling Chen & Caixia Gao

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  1. Kunling Chen
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  2. Caixia Gao
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Correspondence to Caixia Gao.

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Communicated by N. Stewart.

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Chen, K., Gao, C. Targeted genome modification technologies and their applications in crop improvements. Plant Cell Rep 33, 575–583 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-013-1539-6

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