Engineering Drought Tolerance in Crops Using CRISPR Cas systems

K. Kamalova Lola; Mirzakhmedov Mukhammadjon; Ayubov Mirzakamol; Yusupov Abdurakhmon; Mamajonov Bekhzod; Obidov Nurdinjon; Bashirkhonov Ziyodullo; Murodov Anvarjon; Buriev Zabardast; Abdurakhmonov Ibrokhim

doi:10.14719/pst.2524

Authors

K. Kamalova Lola Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5020-9266
Mirzakhmedov Mukhammadjon Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6758-6355
Ayubov Mirzakamol Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1389-9804
Yusupov Abdurakhmon Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0798-8205
Mamajonov Bekhzod Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2947-1680
Obidov Nurdinjon Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2301-9639
Bashirkhonov Ziyodullo Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2180-379X
Murodov Anvarjon Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6202-3703
Buriev Zabardast Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7737-9168
Abdurakhmonov Ibrokhim Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences of, Tashkent, 111215, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9563-0686

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2524

Keywords:

CRISPR/Cas9, drought, DNA, endonuclease, gene, genome editing, sgRNA

Abstract

Drought stress is one of the most considerable threats to global agricultural food security, causing yield losses worldwide. Therefore, the search for effective genetic and molecular methods for developing cultivars that are tolerant or resistant to harsh environments has been more intensive over the last decades. Apart from time-consuming conventional breeding techniques, biotechnologists are now investigating modern genome editing tools for engineering tolerance and resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses in crops. Various genetic engineering techniques such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) were developed based on the discovery of the DNA structure. However, these methods have limitations, with ZFNs being prone to errors due to their limited base pair recognition, and TALENs requiring a complex protein engineering process and struggling to cleave methylated DNA. In recent years, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) and its alternatives have gained popularity in plant biotechnology. Out of the genome editing techniques mentioned earlier, CRISPR/Cas9 is becoming more popular because it's faster and easier to use. Given that drought is now a significant threat to global agriculture due to the drying of arable lands, this review focuses on how we can use CRISPR genome editing to enhance crop tolerance to drought stress and explores its future potential.

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