RNAi and genome editing of sugarcane: Progress and prospects.

Sugarcane, which provides 80% of global table sugar and 40% of biofuel, presents unique breeding challenges due to its highly polyploid, heterozygous, and frequently aneuploid genome. Significant progress has been made in developing genetic resources, including the recently completed reference genome of the sugarcane cultivar R570 and pan-genomic resources from sorghum, a closely related diploid species. Biotechnological approaches including RNA interference (RNAi), overexpression of transgenes, and gene editing technologies offer promising avenues for accelerating sugarcane improvement.

Comparison of genotyping assays for detection of targeted CRISPR/Cas mutagenesis in highly polyploid sugarcane.

Sugarcane ( spp.) is an important biofuel feedstock and a leading source of global table sugar. hybrid cultivars are highly polyploid (2n = 100-130), containing large numbers of functionally redundant hom(e)ologs in their genomes.

The extent of multiallelic, co-editing of LIGULELESS1 in highly polyploid sugarcane tunes leaf inclination angle and enables selection of the ideotype for biomass yield.

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) is a prime feedstock for commercial production of biofuel and table sugar. Optimizing canopy architecture for improved light capture has great potential for elevating biomass yield.

CRISPR/Cas9 mediated targeted mutagenesis of LIGULELESS-1 in sorghum provides a rapidly scorable phenotype by altering leaf inclination angle.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is one of the world's most cultivated cereal crops. Biotechnology approaches have great potential to complement traditional crop improvement.

CRISPR/Cas: a Nobel Prize award-winning precise genome editing technology for gene therapy and crop improvement.

Since it was first recognized in bacteria and archaea as a mechanism for innate viral immunity in the early 2010s, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) has rapidly been developed into a robust, multifunctional genome editing tool with many uses. Following the discovery of the initial CRISPR/Cas-based system, the technology has been advanced to facilitate a multitude of different functions. These include development as a base editor, prime editor, epigenetic editor, and CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR activator (CRISPRa) gene regulators.

Efficient genome editing in wheat using Cas9 and Cpf1 (AsCpf1 and LbCpf1) nucleases.

Genome editing can be used to create new wheat varieties with enhanced performance. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) is a powerful tool for knockout generation, precise modification, multiplex engineering, and the activation and repression of target genes. Targeted mutagenesis via RNA-guided genome editing using type II CRISPR-Cas9 is highly efficient in some plant species, but not in others.

Plant Small Non-coding RNAs and Their Roles in Biotic Stresses.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as critical components of gene regulatory networks across a plethora of plant species. In particular, the 20-30 nucleotide small ncRNAs (sRNAs) play important roles in mediating both developmental processes and responses to biotic stresses. Based on variation in their biogenesis pathways, a number of different sRNA classes have been identified, and their specific functions have begun to be characterized.