In a recent study published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, a team of Chinese researchers with Pengcheng Wang as a leading author from the Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China, presented a successful attempt to simultaneously edit several loci in the genome of cotton. For this purpose, the scientists have used two sgRNA molecules located in one vector. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is an allotetraploid species with a complex genome whose genes are often presented in several copies. The subject of editing were two genes: Discosoma red fluorescent protein2 (DsRed2) and GhCLA1. DsRed2 is an exogenous gene previously introduced into the genome of the studied cotton and conferring red organ and tissue color, whereas GhCLA1 represents endogenous gene responsible for the development of chloroplasts. The created T0 generation showed inactivation of the DsRed2 gene and consequently loss of the red coloration. At the same time, 75% of the plants showed albino phenotype indicating loss of the function of the GhCLA1 gene. The obtained results demonstrate the successful application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology for simultaneous editing of several loci using one vector in allotropoid species with a complex genome organization such as cotton.
Source: Crop Biotech Update
Reference article:
Wang, P., Zhang, J., Sun, L., Ma, Y., Xu, J., Liang, S., Deng, J., Tan, J., Zhang, Q., Tu, L., Daniell, H., Jin, S. and Zhang, X. (2017) High efficient multisites genome editing in allotetraploid cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) using CRISPR/Cas9 system. Plant Biotechnol. J., https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12755
