CRISPR/dCas12a-mediated activation of SlPAL2 enhances tomato resistance against bacterial canker disease.

ABSTRACT: Crop protection is essential for maintaining and improving agricultural productivity. While pesticides are commonly used to control pests, they pose several challenges, including environmental harm and health risks. Alternative strategies to pesticides include breeding resistant crop varieties, biological control, and utilizing genome-editing tools like CRISPR/Cas. However, the application of epigenome editing, particularly CRISPR activation (CRISPRa), in plants remains underexplored. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), a key enzyme in the phenylpropanoid pathway, plays a pivotal role in plant defense by producing lignin and other secondary metabolites essential for pathogen resistance. In this study, we engineered tomato plants by fusing the SET-domain of the SlATX1 coding gene, a histone

SUBMITTER: Rivera-Toro DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11940823 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature