Manipulating plant RNA-silencing pathways to improve the gene editing efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 systems.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The CRISPR/Cas9 system, composed of a single-guide RNA for target recognition and a Cas9 protein for DNA cleavage, has the potential to revolutionize agriculture as well as medicine. Even though extensive work has been done to improve the gene editing activity of CRISPR/Cas9, little is known about the regulation of this bacterial system in eukaryotic host cells, especially at the post-transcriptional level.

Results

Here, we evaluate the expression levels of the two CRISPR/Cas9 components and the gene editing efficiency in a set of Arabidopsis mutants involved in RNA silencing. We find that mutants defective in the post-transcriptional gene-silencing pathway display significantly higher Cas9 and sgRNA transcript levels, resulting in higher mutagenesis frequencies t

SUBMITTER: Mao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6161460 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature