Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
  • 2 Laboratory of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Morden Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Morden, MB R6M 1Y5, Canada
  • 3 Bioprocess Technology Division, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh
  • 5 Department of Integrative Food, Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
  • 6 Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh
  • 7 Biotechnology Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jln UMS, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Malaysia
Plants (Basel), 2021 Jun 22;10(7).
PMID: 34206201 DOI: 10.3390/plants10071264

Abstract

Protecting food crops from viral pathogens is a significant challenge for agriculture. An integral approach to genome-editing, known as CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR associated protein 9), is used to produce virus-resistant cultivars. The CRISPR/Cas9 tool is an essential part of modern plant breeding due to its attractive features. Advances in plant breeding programs due to the incorporation of Cas9 have enabled the development of cultivars with heritable resistance to plant viruses. The resistance to viral DNA and RNA is generally provided using the Cas9 endonuclease and sgRNAs (single-guide RNAs) complex, targeting particular virus and host plant genomes by interrupting the viral cleavage or altering the plant host genome, thus reducing the replication ability of the virus. In this review, the CRISPR/Cas9 system and its application to staple food crops resistance against several destructive plant viruses are briefly described. We outline the key findings of recent Cas9 applications, including enhanced virus resistance, genetic mechanisms, research strategies, and challenges in economically important and globally cultivated food crop species. The research outcome of this emerging molecular technology can extend the development of agriculture and food security. We also describe the information gaps and address the unanswered concerns relating to plant viral resistance mediated by CRISPR/Cas9.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.