A Modified Cas9 Scaffold Allows Extension of the Virus-Induced Gene Editing Technology to the Large Potyvirus Genus.
Merwaiss F, Aragonés V, García A, Daròs JA
Crispr
Tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes you grow could soon be edited for disease resistance or better yields using a virus that delivers the edit and then disappears, leaving no permanent foreign DNA — potentially sidestepping GMO regulations.
Scientists wanted to use common plant viruses as delivery trucks for CRISPR gene-editing, but there was a problem: a key part of the editing tool kept sending accidental 'stop' signals that broke the virus. They redesigned that part to remove all the conflicting signals, letting the virus carry and deliver the editing instructions throughout the whole plant. They tested it in a tobacco relative and in tomatoes, successfully editing all copies of a target gene — and the fix may work across hundreds of virus strains that infect many of our most important food crops.
Key Findings
A re-engineered Cas9 guide RNA scaffold with all stop codons removed across all three reading frames allowed stable expression inside the potyviral genome for the first time.
The tobacco etch virus-derived vector edited all four alleles of the target gene in Nicotiana benthamiana, producing a visually confirmed white-leaf phenotype and heritable edits in progeny.
The vector was successfully demonstrated in tomato, suggesting the approach may generalize across the ~200 species in the Potyvirus genus.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers engineered a modified CRISPR gene-editing tool that can be delivered into plants using potyviruses — the largest family of plant RNA viruses — by redesigning one component to avoid genetic conflicts with the virus's own reading instructions. This expands which crops can be rapidly gene-edited without permanently inserting foreign DNA.
Abstract Preview
Plant viruses are recognized as rapid and effective vectors to deliver CRISPR-Cas reaction components into plants, a strategy termed virus-induced gene editing (VIGE). However, VIGE is limited by t...
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