Applying conventional and cell-type-specific CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in legume plants

A recent study led by Dr Jinpeng Gao, a member of the Sustainable Crop Nutrition group at the Crop Science Centre, provides a comprehensive review of the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in legume plants. The study, a collaboration between scientists in China, France and the UK, summarized recent advancements of genome editing in legumes and highlighted the cell-type-specific CRISPR system in symbiotic nitrogen fixation and beyond. This review article has been published in the journal aBIOTECH.

The advent of genome editing technologies, particularly CRISPR/Cas9, has significantly advanced the generation of legume mutants for reverse genetic studies and understanding the mechanics of the rhizobial symbiosis. The legume–rhizobia symbiosis is crucial for sustainable agriculture, enhancing nitrogen fixation and improving soil fertility. Numerous genes with a symbiosis-specific expression have been identified, sometimes exclusively expressed in cells forming infection threads or in nitrogen-fixing nodule cells. Typically, mutations in these genes do not affect plant growth. However, in some instances, germline homozygous mutations can be lethal or result in complex pleiotropic phenotypes that are challenging to interpret. To address this issue, a rhizobia-inducible and cell-type-specific CRISPR/Cas9 strategy was developed to knock-out genes in specific legume transgenic root tissues.

Overall, the cell-type-specific CRISPR technology enables precise editing of genes and promoter regions in specific plant cell-types, tissues, and organs. This approach reduces pleiotropic effects and can allow the fine-tuning of local and systemic symbiosis signals, optimizing nodulation and growth to ultimately enhance sustainable legume breeding.

With sufficiently high editing efficiencies, this approach, in combination with prime editing, is anticipated to revolutionize plant genetics and to participate in achieving the ambitious goal of transferring symbiotic nitrogen fixation in non-leguminous plants in a foreseeable future.

To read the review please follow this link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42994-024-00190-4

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