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Review
. 2021 Jun;40(6):979-998.
doi: 10.1007/s00299-021-02708-2. Epub 2021 May 11.

CRISPR/Cas systems: opportunities and challenges for crop breeding

Sukumar Biswas  1 , Dabing Zhang  1 , Jianxin Shi  2
Affiliations
Review

CRISPR/Cas systems: opportunities and challenges for crop breeding

Sukumar Biswas et al. Plant Cell Rep. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Increasing crop production to meet the demands of a growing population depends largely on crop improvement through new plant-breeding techniques (NPBT) such as genome editing. CRISPR/Cas systems are NPBTs that enable efficient target-specific gene editing in crops, which is supposed to accelerate crop breeding in a way that is different from genetically modified (GM) technology. Herein, we review the applications of CRISPR/Cas systems in crop breeding focusing on crop domestication, heterosis, haploid induction, and synthetic biology, and summarize the screening methods of CRISPR/Cas-induced mutations in crops. We highlight the importance of molecular characterization of CRISPR/Cas-edited crops, and pay special attentions to emerging highly specific genome-editing tools such as base editors and prime editors. We also discuss future improvements of CRISPR/Cas systems for crop improvement.

Keywords: Base editing; CRISPR/Cas9; Crop breeding; Genome editing; Molecular characterization; Prime editing.

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