Researchers have been using biolistics in delivering the genome editing
complex in wheat due to difficulties in Agrobacterium-mediated genetic
transformation in the species. However, scientist Shujuan Zhang from
Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China and colleagues overcome
this limitation by successfully targeting three wheat genes using
CRISPR-Cas9 delivered via Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation.



Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation is considered to be better
than biolistic delivery because the latter produces single and more specific
insertions of the genome editing complex in the genome and does not require
expensive equipment. In the study, seven target sites in genes Pinb, waxy
and DA1 were selected for gene editing. Mutations were detected through
Illumina sequencing. Results showed efficient gene editing in the target,
with 54.17 percent mutation efficiency. Mutations are present in the A and B
genomes but not in the D genome. Off-target mutations were not detected in
the mutant plants. These results show the applicability of
Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation in wheat genome editing and
genetic improvement.



[bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com]