Rapid improvement of domestication traits in an orphan crop by genome editing. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lemmon, Zachary; Reem, Nathan; Dalrymple, Justin; Soyk, Sebastian; Swartwood, Kerry; Rodriguez-Leal, Daniel; Van Eck, Joyce; Lippman, Zachary
• Is Part Of: Nature plants. Volume 4:Number 10(2018)
• Page Start: 766
• Page End: 770
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: Plants -- Periodicals; 580.5; 580 21
• DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0259-x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2055-0278

Abstract

Abstract Genome editing holds great promise for increasing crop productivity, and there is particular interest in advancing breeding in orphan crops, which are often burdened by undesirable characteristics resembling wild relatives. We developed genomic resources and efficient transformation in the orphanSolanaceae crop 'groundcherry' (Physalis pruinosa ) and used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease (Cas9) (CRISPR–Cas9) to mutate orthologues of tomato domestication and improvement genes that control plant architecture, flower production and fruit size, thereby improving these major productivity traits. Thus, translating knowledge from model crops enables rapid creation of targeted allelic diversity and novel breeding germplasm in distantly related orphan crops. A study developed genomic resources and efficient transformation in the orphan crop groundcherry, and managed to improve productivity traits by editing the orthologues of tomato domestication and improvement genes using CRISPR–Cas9.