Scientists at VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology and Flanders
Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) developed
a fast genediscovery pipeline inmaizeto advance breeding programs for
the benefit of humanity and the environment.

 Conventionell plant breedinginvolves crossing varieties with the
desired traits in their genome. Traits such as growth and yield are
often controlled by a complex gene network. To achieve significant
growth improvement, breeders need to combine multiple growth-stimulating
properties. Molecular biology helps link agronomic traits to specific
genes rather than genomic regions, narrowing down the genomic targets
for breeding.

The VIB-UGent and ILVO team developed BREEDIT, a support platform for
breeding using innovative gene editing techniques. It is a pipeline in
which CRISPR-mediated gene editing of multiple genes simultaneously is
combined with different crossing schemes to identify the key genes
involved in trait enhancement. The BREEDIT team developed a strategy to
edit up to 60 genes in all possible combinations. Introducing 12 gRNAs
at once into a Cas9-expressing parent generates a multiplex gene-edited
maize plant. Implementing a crossing scheme with plants containing a
different set of gRNAs leads to a diverse collection of edited maize
plants that can be screened for improved agronomic traits.

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