Project description:Low rates of homologous recombination have broadly encumbered genetic studies in the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. The CRISPR/Cas9 system of bacteria has recently been developed for targeted mutagenesis of eukaryotic genomes with high efficiency and, importantly, through a mechanism independent of homologous repair machinery. As this new technology has not been developed for use in A. fumigatus, we sought to test its feasibility for targeted gene disruption in this organism. As a proof of principle, we first demonstrated that CRISPR/Cas9 can indeed be used for high-efficiency (25 to 53%) targeting of the A. fumigatus polyketide synthase gene (pksP), as evidenced by the generation of colorless (albino) mutants harboring the expected genomic alteration. We further demonstrated that the constitutive expression of the Cas9 nuclease by itself is not deleterious to A. fumigatus growth or virulence, thus making the CRISPR system compatible with studies involved in pathogenesis. Taken together, these data demonstrate that CRISPR can be utilized for loss-of-function studies in A. fumigatus and has the potential to bolster the genetic toolbox for this important pathogen.
Project description:The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool enables accessible and efficient modifications which (re)ignited molecular research in certain species. However, targeted integration of large DNA fragments using CRISPR/Cas9 can still be challenging in numerous models. To systematically compare CRISPR/Cas9's efficiency to classical homologous recombination (cHR) for insertion of large DNA fragments, we thoroughly performed and analyzed 221 experiments targeting 128 loci in mouse ES cells. Although both technologies proved efficient, CRISPR/Cas9 yielded significantly more positive clones as detected by overlapping PCRs. It also induced unexpected rearrangements around the targeted site, ultimately rendering CRISPR/Cas9 less efficient than cHR for the production of fully validated clones. These data show that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated recombination can induce complex long-range modifications at targeted loci, thus emphasizing the need for thorough characterization of any genetically modified material obtained through CRISPR-mediated gene editing before further functional studies or therapeutic use.
Project description:On-target integration of large cassettes via homology-directed repair (HDR) has several applications. However, the HDR-mediated targeted knock-in suffered from low efficiency. In this study, we made several large plasmids (12.1-13.4 kb) which included the CRISPR/Cas9 system along with a puromycin transgene as part of the large DNA donor (5.3-7.1 kb insertion cassettes) and used them to evaluate their targeted integration efficiency into a transgenic murine embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell line carrying a single copy of a Venus transgene. We established a detection assay by which HDR events could be discriminated from the error-prone non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) events. Improving the plasmid quality could considerably leverage the cell toxicity impediment of large plasmids. The use of the TILD (targeted integration with linearized dsDNA) cassettes did not improve the HDR rate compared to the circular plasmids. However, the direct inclusion of nocodazole into the electroporation solution significantly improved the HDR rate. Also, simultaneous delivery of RNase HII and the donor plasmids into the electroporated cells considerably improved the HDR events. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that using cell synchronization reagents in the electroporation medium can efficiently induce HDR rate in the mammalian genome.
Project description:Recent advances in our ability to design DNA binding factors with specificity for desired sequences have resulted in a revolution in genetic engineering, enabling directed changes to the genome to be made relatively easily. Technologies that facilitate specific and precise genome editing, such as knock-in, are critical for determining the functions of genes and for understanding fundamental biological processes. The CRISPR/Cas9 system has recently emerged as a powerful tool for functional genomic studies in mammals. Rosa26 gene can encode a non-essential nuclear RNA in almost all organizations, and become a hot point of exogenous gene insertion. Here, we describe efficient, precise CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Integration using a donor vector with tGFP sequence targeted in the sheep genomic Rosa26 locus. We succeeded in integrating with high efficiency an exogenous tGFP (turboGFP) gene into targeted genes in frame. Due to its simplicity, design flexibility, and high efficiency, we propose that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in will become a standard method for the generation transgenic sheep.
Project description:BackgroundThe CRISPR/Cas9 system has become an efficient gene editing method for generating cells carrying precise gene mutations, including the rearrangement and deletion of chromosomal segments. However, whether an entire chromosome could be eliminated by this technology is still unknown.ResultsHere we demonstrate the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to eliminate targeted chromosomes. Using either multiple cleavages induced by a single-guide RNA (sgRNA) that targets multiple chromosome-specific sites or a cocktail of multiple sgRNAs, each targeting one specific site, we found that a sex chromosome could be selectively eliminated in cultured cells, embryos, and tissues in vivo. Furthermore, this approach was able to produce a targeted autosome loss in aneuploid mouse embryonic stem cells with an extra human chromosome and human induced pluripotent stem cells with trisomy 21, as well as cancer cells.ConclusionsCRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted chromosome elimination offers a new approach to develop animal models with chromosome deletions, and a potential therapeutic strategy for human aneuploidy diseases involving additional chromosomes.
Project description:RNA-guided genome editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) system has been applied successfully in several plant species. However, to date, there are few reports on the use of any of the current genome editing approaches in grape-an important fruit crop with a large market not only for table grapes but also for wine. Here, we report successful targeted mutagenesis in grape (Vitis vinifera L., cv. Neo Muscat) using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. When a Cas9 expression construct was transformed to embryonic calli along with a synthetic sgRNA expression construct targeting the Vitis vinifera phytoene desaturase (VvPDS) gene, regenerated plants with albino leaves were obtained. DNA sequencing confirmed that the VvPDS gene was mutated at the target site in regenerated grape plants. Interestingly, the ratio of mutated cells was higher in lower, older, leaves compared to that in newly appearing upper leaves. This result might suggest either that the proportion of targeted mutagenized cells is higher in older leaves due to the repeated induction of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), or that the efficiency of precise DSBs repair in cells of old grape leaves is decreased.
Project description:The lamprey represents the oldest group of living vertebrates and has been a key organism in various research fields such as evolutionary developmental biology and neuroscience. However, no knock-in technique for this animal has been established yet, preventing application of advanced genetic techniques. Here, we report efficient generation of F0 knock-in lampreys by CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing. A donor plasmid containing a heat-shock promoter was co-injected with a short guide RNA (sgRNA) for genome digestion, a sgRNA for donor plasmid digestion, and Cas9 mRNA. Targeting different genetic loci, we succeeded in generating knock-in lampreys expressing photoconvertible protein Dendra2 as well as those expressing EGFP. With its simplicity, design flexibility, and high efficiency, we propose that the present method has great versatility for various experimental uses in lamprey research and that it can also be applied to other "non-model" organisms.
Project description:Zinc-finger nuclease, transcription activator-like effector nuclease and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) are becoming major tools for genome editing. Importantly, knock-in in several non-rodent species has been finally achieved thanks to these customizable nucleases; yet the rates remain to be further improved. We hypothesize that inhibiting non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or enhancing homology-directed repair (HDR) will improve the nuclease-mediated knock-in efficiency. Here we show that the in vitro application of an HDR enhancer, RS-1, increases the knock-in efficiency by two- to five-fold at different loci, whereas NHEJ inhibitor SCR7 has minimal effects. We then apply RS-1 for animal production and have achieved multifold improvement on the knock-in rates as well. Our work presents tools to nuclease-mediated knock-in animal production, and sheds light on improving gene-targeting efficiencies on pluripotent stem cells.
Project description:Aspergillus oryzae is an important fungus in food and industrial enzyme production. In A. oryzae, targeted knock-in transformation is primarily limited to homologous recombination (HR)-based systems, in which non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ)-disruptant hosts are required. However, preparation of hosts and transformation templates for such systems is laborious, in addition to other disadvantages. In the present study, we examined alternative targeted knock-in mediated by CRISPR/Cas9, in which a microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ) and single-strand annealing (SSA) repair system was employed. This approach enabled the efficient development of targeted knock-in transformants without host preparation using only a short homology template. We conclude that this new method could be applied to facilitate the transformation of A. oryzae, and will make it easier to acquire targeted knock-in transformants, especially from industrially important non-model strains.
Project description:Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9)-mediated genome editing has become a promising approach for efficient and versatile genetic engineering in various organisms; however, simple and precise nucleotide modification methods in filamentous fungi have been restricted to double crossover type homologous recombination (HR). In this study, we developed a novel genome editing strategy via single crossover-mediated HR in the model filamentous fungus Pyricularia (Magnaporthe) oryzae. This method includes the CRISPR/Cas9 system and a donor vector harboring a single homology arm with point mutations at the CRISPR/Cas9 cleavage site. Using this strategy, we demonstrated highly efficient and freely programmable base substitutions within the desired genomic locus, and target gene disrupted mutants were also obtained via a shortened (100-1000 bp) single homology arm. We further demonstrated that this method allowed a one-step GFP gene knock-in at the C-terminus of the targeted gene. Since the genomic recombination does not require an intact protospacer-adjacent motif within the donor construct and any additional modifications of host components, this method can be used in various filamentous fungi for CRISPR/Cas9-based basic and applied biological analyses.