CRISPR-mediated genome editing has been applied in several plants using
several types of Cas nucleases. However, these nucleases have not been
directly compared with each other to determine which enzyme is best
performing in terms of efficiency and specificity. Thus, researcher Nicola
Patron from Earlham Institute in the United Kingdom and colleagues take the
liberty in performing this comparison, as they report their findings in
bioRxiv.



Using protoplasts from Arabidopsis and tobacco, identical targets, and
similar experimental conditions, the researchers compared CAas 9 enzymes
from Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes and Cas12a enzymes
from Acidaminococcus sp. and Lachnospiraceae bacterium. Results showed
varied efficiencies of the enzymes in targeted mutagenesis, with Cas9 from
S. aureus being the most efficient at inducing mutations. They also found
correlation between nucleotide content and efficiency of the enzymes,
concluding that 'high-fidelity' variants of Cas9 reduce off-target mutations
in plants.



[www.biorxiv.org]
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