A gene involved in chlorophyll production (Fvchli) turns out to also control how well strawberry plants defend themselves against a serious bacterial disease. When this gene is disabled using CRISPR, strawberry plants can't close their stomata fast enough to block invading bacteria, making them far more susceptible to infection.
1
Strawberry mutants with 70% gene editing efficiency reduced stomatal closure from 32% to only 16% aperture after ABA treatment, compared to wild-type plants that closed from 32% to 2.3%
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Disease lesion area and incidence positively correlated with CRISPR editing efficiency — more gene disruption meant more disease
3
Scanning electron microscopy confirmed mutant plants had significantly wider stomatal openings at 5 and 12 hours post-infection, enabling extensive bacterial colonization
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