CRISPR/Cas systems: opportunities and challenges for crop breeding

Increasing crop production to meet the demands of a growing population depends largely on crop improvement through new plant-breeding techniques (NPBT) such as genome editing. CRISPR/Cas systems are NPBTs that enable efficient target-specific gene editing in crops, which is supposed to accelerate crop breeding in a way that is different from genetically modified (GM) technology. Herein, we review the applications of CRISPR/Cas systems in crop breeding focusing on crop domestication, heterosis, haploid induction, and synthetic biology, and summarize the screening methods of CRISPR/Cas-induced mutations in crops. We highlight the importance of molecular characterization of CRISPR/Cas-edited crops, and pay special attentions to emerging highly specific genome-editing tools such as base editors and prime editors. We also discuss future improvements of CRISPR/Cas systems for crop improvement.

Automated summary

Increasing crop production to meet the demands of a growing population largely depends on crop improvement through new plant-breeding techniques such as genome editing, particularly using CRISPR/Cas systems, which can accelerate crop breeding and have wide applications in crop domestication, heterosis, and haploid induction. It is important to study the molecular characteristics of CRISPR/Cas-edited crops and discuss future improvements in crop improvement.