Targeted mutagenesis by CRISPR/Cas9 system in the model legume Medicago truncatula

Journal Article / 2017

Meng, Yingying; Hou, Yaling; Wang, Hui; Ji, Ronghuan; Liu, Bin; Wen, Jiangqi; Niu, Lifang; Lin, Hao

In recent years, several genome-editing technologies based on engineered nucleases have been developed and successfully reported to mutate specific loci in various organisms. Compared to the early developed genomeediting methods, such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), which need substantial protein engineering to each DNA target, the clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system only requires a change in a 20-nt targeting sequence within the singleguide RNA (sgRNA). The advantage of the simplicity of the cloning strategy and less limitations on potential target sites make the CRISPR/Cas9 system the standout choice for targeted genome editing in understanding gene function and developing valuable traits in model plants and food crops (Li et al. 2013; Shan et al. 2013).