Genome Editing For Precision Crop Breeding

Part 1 of this volume reviews advances in gene editing techniques such as insertion-based genome edits, base editing, guide RNAs and CRISPR/Cas off targeting. Part 2 surveys applications of gene editing in key cereal and vegetable crops.

Genome editing is rapidly transforming plant research. The technique offers unparalleled precision in breeding without the need to introduce foreign DNA into plants. CRISPR/Cas systems have established themselves as the leading technique in genome editing. This collection takes stock of the wealth of research on these techniques and their potential in crop breeding in improving traits such as yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance and nutrient use efficiency. Part 1 of this volume reviews advances in gene editing techniques such as TALENS and zinc finger nucleases, double-strand break repair techniques, insertion-based genome edits, base editing, guide RNAs, gRNA/Cas9 constructs and CRIST/Cas off targeting. Chapters also discuss advances in screening plants as well as regulatory issues. Part 2 surveys applications of gene editing in key cereal including wheat, barley, maize, rice and sorghum. Other chapters cover crops such brassicas, potato and tomato.

This book serves the teachers, researchers and the students as a handy and concise reference as well as guidebook while designing and planning for use of the advanced technologies for crop improvement. The content of the book is designed to cover the latest genome engineering techniques for crop improvement. The conventional breeding has got its limitations such as non-availability of desired genes within the genepool. In many cases, breeding has been highly used and it has nearly reached its highest limit so far as the productivity and production of crops are concerned. However, with increasing need of food and decreasing resources, including water, land, labour, etc., to feed the growing population, the alternative available ways of increasing crop productivity need to be explored and exploited. Genome engineering has a wide scope that includes technologies such as genetic engineering and transgenesis, RNA technologies, CRISPR, cisgenics and subgenics for better productivity and more efficient biotic and abiotic stress management. Therefore, the book is planned to enlighten the readers with the advanced technologies with examples and case studies, whenever possible. Efforts will be made to emphasize on general efforts on various major food crops; however, it would also be made clear that such efforts could be taken as proofs of concepts and that this could be extrapolated keeping the demand in mind.

Global food security is increasingly challenging in light of population increase, the impact of climate change on crop production, and limited land available for agricultural expansion. Plant breeding and other agricultural technologies have contributed considerably for food and nutritional security over the last few decades. Genetic engineering approaches are powerful tools that we have at our disposal to overcome substantial obstacles in the way of efficiency and productivity of current agricultural practices. Genome engineering via CRISPR/Cas9, Cpf1, base editing and prime editing, and OMICs through genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, phenomics, an metabolomics have helped to discover underlying mechanisms controlling traits of economic importance. Principle and Practices of OMICs and Genome Editing for Crop Improvement provides recent research from eminent scholars from around the world, from various geographical regions, with established expertise on genome editing and OMICs technologies. This book offers a wide range of information on OMICs techniques and their applications to develop biotic, abiotic and climate resilient crops, metabolomics and next generation sequencing for sustainable crop production, integration bioinformatics, and multi-omics for precision plant breeding. Other topics include application of genome editing technologies for food and nutritional security, speed breeding, hybrid seed production, resource use efficiency, epigenetic modifications, transgene free breeding, database and bioinformatics for genome editing, and regulations adopted by various countries around globe for genome edited crops. Both OMICs and genome editing are vigorously utilized by researchers for crop improvement programs; however, there is limited literature available in a single source. This book provides a valuable resource not only for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level but also for researchers, stakeholders, policy makers, and practitioners interested in the potential of genome editing and OMICs for crop improvement programs.

Gene Editing in Plants, Volume 149 aims to provide the reader with an up-to-date survey of cutting-edge research with gene editing tools and an overview of the implications of this research on the nutritional quality of fruits, vegetables and grains. New chapters in the updated volume include topics relating to Genome Engineering and Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges, the Use of CRISPR/Cas9 for Crop Improvement in Maize and Soybean, the Use of Zinc-Finger Nucleases for Crop Improvement, Gene Editing in Polyploid Crops: Wheat, Camelina, Canola, Potato, Cotton, Peanut, Sugar Cane, and Citrus, and Gene Editing With TALEN and CRISPR/Cas in Rice. This ongoing serial contain contributions from leading scientists and researchers in the field of gene editing in plants who describe the results of their own research in this rapidly expanding area of science. Shows the importance of revolutionary gene editing technology on plant biology research and its application to agricultural production Provides insight into what may lie ahead in this rapidly expanding area of plant research and development Contains contributions from major leaders in the field of plant gene editing

Plants are vulnerable to pathogens including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, which cause critical problems and deficits. Crop protection by plant breeding delivers a promising solution with no obvious effect on human health or the local ecosystem. Crop improvement has been the most powerful approach for producing unique crop cultivars since domestication occurred, making possible the main innovations in feeding the globe and community development. Genome editing is one of the genetic devices that can be implemented, and disease resistance is frequently cited as the most encouraging application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in agriculture. Nanobiotechnology has harnessed the power of genome editing to develop agricultural crops. Nanosized DNA or RNA nanotechnology approaches could contribute to raising the stability and performance of CRISPR guide RNAs. This book brings together the latest research in these areas. CRISPR and RNAi Systems: Nanobiotechnology Approaches to Plant Breeding and Protection presents a complete understanding of the RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 techniques for controlling mycotoxins, fighting plant nematodes, and detecting plant pathogens. CRISPR/Cas genome editing enables efficient targeted modification in most crops, thus promising to accelerate crop improvement. CRISPR/Cas9 can be used for management of plant insects, and various plant pathogens. The book is an important reference source for both plant scientists and environmental scientists who want to understand how nano biotechnologically based approaches are being used to create more efficient plant protection and plant breeding systems. Shows how nanotechnology is being used as the basis for new solutions for more efficient plant breeding and plant protection Outlines the major techniques and applications of both CRISPR and RNAi technologies Assesses the major challenges of escalating these technologies on a mass scale

OMICs-based Techniques for Global Food Security Forward-thinking resource discussing how to integrate OMICs and novel genome editing technologies for sustainable crop production OMICS-based Techniques for Global Food Security provides an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of OMICs techniques for crop improvement, details how OMICs techniques can contribute to identifying genes and traits with economic benefits, and explains how to develop crop plants with improved yield, quality, and resistance to stresses through genome editing technologies, providing evidence on the developments of climate resilient crops via applications of genome editing techniques throughout. The text covers the application of OMICs in crop plants, the integration of bioinformatics and multi-OMICs for precision breeding, de-novo domestication, CRISPR/Cas system for crop improvement, hybrid seed production, transgene free breeding, regulation for genome edit crops, bioinformatics and genome editing, and other topics related to OMICs and genome editing. The text also includes a chapter on global regulations for genome edited crops, and explains how these regulations influence novel plant breeding techniques in their adopted countries. Edited by two highly qualified academics, OMICs-based Techniques for Global Food Security covers topics such as: Crops genome sequencing and their application for crop improvement, and functional characterization of cereal genome The role of OMICs-based technologies in plant sciences and utilization of different multi-OMICs approaches for crop improvement Genomic database and genetic resource of cereals, speed breeding for rapid crop improvement, and evolution of genome editing technologies CRISPR system discovery, history, and future perspective, and CRISPR/Cas system for biotic and abiotic stress resistance in cereals Providing a collection of recent literature focusing on developments and applications of OMICs-based technologies for crop improvement, OMICs-based Techniques for Global Food Security is an important read for plant breeders, molecular biologists, researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and students in disciplines for developing crops with high yield and nutritional potential.

Cotton, the most important natural fiber crop, has been improved by conventional breeding—largely through planned hybridization of different cotton genotypes, since the discovery of Mendelian genetics. All these efforts resulted in the development of resilient high yielding cotton varieties. However, the progress through conventional breeding procedures is slow because of long lag periods for developing a variety, little control over the new genetic combinations, unwanted traits and lack of foolproof performance testing system. Genomic assays discovered over the last two decades have made it possible to understand the “language” of the genome by associating the genes with specific traits. Together with the more recently established gene-editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9, the cotton genome can be tailored much more precisely than ever before. In this regard, genetic information has been harnessed, through (i) sequencing of the progenitor and cultivated cotton species, (ii) ongoing mega pan-genome sequencing projects, (iii) genetic and physical mapping, and (iv) introgression of genes from alien sources, that resulted in the development of resilient cotton cultivars. These technologies have been deployed or are attempting to overcome the challenges of water shortage, excessive heat in most cotton growing regions, infectious diseases and infestation of insect pests, as well as rising production cost, for sustainable cotton production beyond 2030. In this book, new knowledge generated by the cotton research community and its application for developing resilient cotton are comprehensively summarized. This book contributed by well-known cotton researchers is a timely collection of the challenges and successes of precision cotton breeding in a changing environment.

CRISPRized Horticultural Crops: Genome Modified Plants and Microbes in Food and Agriculture summarizes applications of CRISPR/Cas systems and its advanced variants e.g., CRISPR/Cpf1, base editing and prime editing, for precise editing of horticultural crops. The book discusses vector transformations methods, epi-genome, deep learning, synthetic biology, and precision breeding for improving yield and quality related attributes in horticultural crops. With coverage of the relevant technologies and their applications, the book also includes bioinformatics and large-scale databases and their potential application in fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants and sections on regulatory concerns related to CRISPR edited crops. Horticultural crops, including fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants are an important component of agriculture production systems and play an important role in sustaining human life. Reviews CRISPR for editing horticultural crops Discusses vector transformation methods, epigenome, deep learning, synthetic biology and precision breeding Includes bioinformatics and large-scale databases Contributes engineering approaches for crop improvement programs

Plant breeders have used mutagenic agents to create variability for their use in crop improvement. However, application of mutagenic agents has its own drawbacks, such as non-specificity and random nature, simultaneous effect on large numbers of genes, and induction of chromosomal aberrations. To overcome these limitations, several genome editing systems have been developed with the aid of cutting-edge technology rooted in the expertise of several research fields. Molecular Plant Breeding and Genome Editing Tools for Crop Improvement is a pivotal reference source that provides an interdisciplinary approach to crop breeding through genetics. Featuring coverage of a broad range of topics including software, molecular markers, and plant variety identification, this book is ideally designed for agriculturalists, biologists, engineers, advocates, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.