Multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of the FAD2 gene in rice: a model genome editing system for oil palm.

Background: Genome editing employing the CRISPR/Cas9 system has been widely used and has become a promising tool for plant gene functional studies and crop improvement. However, most of the applied CRISPR/Cas9 systems targeting one locus using a sgRNA resulted in low genome editing efficiency.

Results: Here, we demonstrate the modification of the FAD2 gene in rice using a multiplex sgRNA-CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system.

A rapid RNA extraction method from oil palm tissues suitable for reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR).

Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is the preferred detergent in RNA extraction of oil palm tissues. However, the CTAB-based protocol is time-consuming. In this study, a combination of the CTAB-based method and silica-based purification reduced the extraction time from two days to five hours.