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      Benefits of genome-edited crops: expert opinion

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          Abstract

          Innovation in agriculture is pervasive. However, in spite of the success stories of twentieth century plant breeding, the twenty-first century has ushered in a set of challenges that solutions from the past century are unlikely to address. However, sustained research and the amalgamation of a number of disciplines has resulted in new breeding techniques (NBTs), such as genome editing, which offer the promise of new opportunities to resolve some of the issues. Here we present the results of an expert survey on the added potential benefits of genome-edited crops compared to those developed through genetic modification (GM) and conventional breeding. Overall, survey results reveal a consensus among experts on the enhanced agronomic performance and product quality of genome-edited crops over alternatives. The majority of experts indicated that the regulations for health and safety, followed by export markets, consumers, and the media play a major role in determining where and how NBTs, including genome editing, will be developed and used in agriculture. Further research is needed to gauge expert opinion after the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling establishing that site-specific mutagenic breeding technologies are to be regulated in the same fashion as GM crops, regardless of whether foreign DNA is present in the final variety. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11248-019-00118-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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          Most cited references22

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          Progress and prospects in plant genome editing

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            Mutations in a subfamily of abscisic acid receptor genes promote rice growth and productivity

            Climate change is challenging plant agriculture and our ability to manage food security. Crop growth and yield are controlled by several phytohormones and their overlapping signal networks. We report here an unexpected aspect of the abscisic acid (ABA) signal network that directly impacts rice productivity. Simultaneously mutating the genes encoding the ABA receptors pyrabactin resistance 1-like 1 (PYL1), PYL4, and PYL6 causes improved growth and increased grain yield in rice. Our work thus reveals an important role of these ABA receptors in growth control and a genetic strategy to improve rice yield. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a key phytohormone that controls plant growth and stress responses. It is sensed by the pyrabactin resistance 1 (PYR1)/PYR1-like (PYL)/regulatory components of the ABA receptor (RCAR) family of proteins. Here, we utilized CRISPR/Cas9 technology to edit group I ( PYL1 – PYL6 and PYL12 ) and group II ( PYL7 – PYL11 and PYL13 ) PYL genes in rice. Characterization of the combinatorial mutants suggested that genes in group I have more important roles in stomatal movement, seed dormancy, and growth regulation than those in group II. Among all of the single pyl mutants, only pyl1 and pyl12 exhibited significant defects in seed dormancy. Interestingly, high-order group I mutants, but not any group II mutants, displayed enhanced growth. Among group I mutants, pyl1/4/6 exhibited the best growth and improved grain productivity in natural paddy field conditions, while maintaining nearly normal seed dormancy. Our results suggest that a subfamily of rice PYLs has evolved to have particularly important roles in regulating plant growth and reveal a genetic strategy to improve rice productivity.
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              Applying CRISPR/Cas for genome engineering in plants: the best is yet to come.

              Less than 5 years ago the CRISPR/Cas nuclease was first introduced into eukaryotes, shortly becoming the most efficient and widely used tool for genome engineering. For plants, efforts were centred on obtaining heritable changes in most transformable crop species by inducing mutations into open reading frames of interest, via non-homologous end joining. Now it is important to take the next steps and further develop the technology to reach its full potential. For breeding, besides using DNA-free editing and avoiding off target effects, it will be desirable to apply the system for the mutation of regulatory elements and for more complex genome rearrangements. Targeting enzymatic activities, like transcriptional regulators or DNA modifying enzymes, will be important for plant biology in the future.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Transgenic Research
                Transgenic Res
                Springer Science and Business Media LLC
                0962-8819
                1573-9368
                April 2019
                March 4 2019
                April 2019
                : 28
                : 2
                : 247-256
                Article
                10.1007/s11248-019-00118-5
                8e0b6bd0-ca94-4f07-98be-dd74be3bf8e5
                © 2019

                https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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