Exploring C-to-G and A-to-Y Base Editing in Rice by Using New Vector Tools

Targeted G-to-T base editing for generation of novel herbicide-resistance gene alleles in rice

A newly developed rice guanine base editor (OsGTBE) achieves targeted and efficient G-to-T editing (C-to-A in the opposite strand) in rice. Using OsGTBE to edit endogenous herbicide-resistant loci generated several novel alleles conferring herbicide resistance, highlighting its utility in creating valuable germplasm and enhancing genetic diversity..

Diverse nucleotide substitutions in rice base editing mediated by novel TadA variants

CRISPR-mediated base editors have been widely used to correct defective alleles and create novel alleles by artificial evolution for the rapid genetic improvement of crops. The editing capabilities of base editors strictly rely on the performance of various nucleotide modification enzymes. Compared with the well-developed adenine base editors (ABEs), cytosine base editors (CBEs) and dual base editors suffer from unstable editing efficiency and patterns at different genomic loci in rice, significantly limiting their application. Here, we comprehensively examined the base editing activities of multiple evolved TadA8e variants in rice. We found that both TadA-CDd and TadA-E27R/N46L achieved more robust C-to-T editing than previously reported hyperactive hAID∗Δ, and TadA-CDd outperformed TadA-E27R/N46L. A C-to-G base editor (CGBE) engineered with TadA-CDd and OsUNG performed highly efficient C-to-G editing in rice compared with that of TadA-N46P. In addition, a dual base editor constructed with a single protein, TadDE, enabled simultaneous, highly efficient C-to-T and A-to-G editing in rice. Collectively, our results demonstrate that TadA8e derivatives improve both CBEs and dual base editors in rice, providing a powerful way to induce diverse nucleotide substitutions for plant genome editing.

Adenine transversion editors enable precise, efficient A•T-to-C•G base editing in mammalian cells and embryos

Base editors have substantial promise in basic research and as therapeutic agents for the correction of pathogenic mutations. The development of adenine transversion editors has posed a particular challenge. Here we report a class of base editors that enable efficient adenine transversion, including precise A•T-to-C•G editing. We found that a fusion of mouse alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (mAAG) with nickase Cas9 and deaminase TadA-8e catalyzed adenosine transversion in specific sequence contexts. Laboratory evolution of mAAG significantly increased A-to-C/T conversion efficiency up to 73% and expanded the targeting scope. Further engineering yielded adenine-to-cytosine base editors (ACBEs), including a high-accuracy ACBE-Q variant, that precisely install A-to-C transversions with minimal Cas9-independent off-targeting effects. ACBEs mediated high-efficiency installation or correction of five pathogenic mutations in mouse embryos and human cell lines. Founder mice showed 44-56% average A-to-C edits and allelic frequencies of up to 100%. Adenosine transversion editors substantially expand the capabilities and possible applications of base editing technology.

Efficient and heritable A-to-K base editing in rice and tomato

Cytosine and adenosine base editors (CBE and ABE) have been widely used in plants, greatly accelerating gene function research and crop breeding. Current base editors can achieve efficient A-to-G and C-to-T/G/A editing. However, efficient and heritable A-to-Y (A-to-T/C) editing remains to be developed in plants. In this study, a series of A-to-K base editor (AKBE) systems were constructed for monocot and dicot plants. Furthermore, nSpCas9 was replaced with the PAM-less Cas9 variant (nSpRY) to expand the target range of the AKBEs. Analysis of 228 T0 rice plants and 121 T0 tomato plants edited using AKBEs at 18 endogenous loci revealed that, in addition to highly efficient A-to-G substitution (41.0% on average), the plant AKBEs can achieve A-to-T conversion with efficiencies of up to 25.9 and 10.5% in rice and tomato, respectively. Moreover, the rice-optimized AKBE generates A-to-C conversion in rice, with an average efficiency of 1.8%, revealing the significant value of plant-optimized AKBE in creating genetic diversity. Although most of the A-to-T and A-to-C edits were chimeric, desired editing types could be transmitted to the T1 offspring, similar to the edits generated by the traditional ABE8e. Besides, using AKBEs to target tyrosine (Y, TAT) or cysteine (C, TGT) achieved the introduction of an early stop codon (TAG/TAA/TGA) of target genes, demonstrating its potential use in gene disruption.

Genome editing for plant synthetic metabolic engineering and developmental regulation

Plant metabolism and development are a reflection of the orderly expression of genetic information intertwined with the environment interactions. Genome editing is the cornerstone for scientists to modify endogenous genes or introduce exogenous functional genes and metabolic pathways, holding immense potential applications in molecular breeding and biosynthesis. Over the course of nearly a decade of development, genome editing has advanced significantly beyond the simple cutting of double-stranded DNA, now enabling precise base and fragment replacements, regulation of gene expression and translation, as well as epigenetic modifications. However, the utilization of genome editing in plant synthetic metabolic engineering and developmental regulation remains exploratory. Here, we provide an introduction and a comprehensive overview of the editing attributes associated with various CRISPR/Cas tools, along with diverse strategies for the meticulous control of plant metabolic pathways and developments. Furthermore, we discuss the limitations of current approaches and future prospects for genome editing-driven plant breeding.

CRISPR/Cas-mediated plant genome editing: outstanding challenges a decade after implementation

The discovery of the CRISPR/Cas genome-editing system has revolutionized our understanding of the plant genome. CRISPR/Cas has been used for over a decade to modify plant genomes for the study of specific genes and biosynthetic pathways as well as to speed up breeding in many plant species, including both model and non-model crops. Although the CRISPR/Cas system is very efficient for genome editing, many bottlenecks and challenges slow down further improvement and applications. In this review we discuss the challenges that can occur during tissue culture, transformation, regeneration, and mutant detection. We also review the opportunities provided by new CRISPR platforms and specific applications related to gene regulation, abiotic and biotic stress response improvement, and de novo domestication of plants.

Developing a highly efficient CGBE base editor in watermelon

Cytosine and adenosine base editors (CBEs and ABEs) are novel genome-editing tools that have been widely utilized in molecular breeding to precisely modify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) critical for plant agronomic traits and species evolution. However, conventional BE editors are limited to achieve C-to-T and A-to-G substitutions, respectively. To enhance the applicability of base editing technology in watermelon, we developed an efficient CGBE editor (SCGBE2.0) by removing the uracil glycosylase inhibitor (UGI) unit from the commonly used hA3A-CBE and incorporating the uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG) component. Seven specific guide RNAs (sgRNAs) targeting five watermelon genes were designed to assess the editing efficiency of SCGBE. The results obtained from stably transformed watermelon plants demonstrated that SCGBE2.0 could efficiently induce C-to-G mutations at positions C5-C9 in 43.2% transgenic plants (with a maximum base conversion efficiency of 46.1%) and C-to-A mutation at position C4 in 23.5% transgenic plants (with a maximum base conversion efficiency of 45.9%). These findings highlight the capability of our integrated SCGBE2.0 editor to achieve C-to-G/A mutations in a site-preferred manner, thus providing an efficient base editing tool for precise base modification and site-directed saturated mutagenesis in watermelon.

Base editors: development and applications in biomedicine

Base editor (BE) is a gene-editing tool developed by combining the CRISPR/Cas system with an individual deaminase, enabling precise single-base substitution in DNA or RNA without generating a DNA double-strand break (DSB) or requiring donor DNA templates in living cells. Base editors offer more precise and secure genome-editing effects than other conventional artificial nuclease systems, such as CRISPR/Cas9, as the DSB induced by Cas9 will cause severe damage to the genome. Thus, base editors have important applications in the field of biomedicine, including gene function investigation, directed protein evolution, genetic lineage tracing, disease modeling, and gene therapy. Since the development of the two main base editors, cytosine base editors (CBEs) and adenine base editors (ABEs), scientists have developed more than 100 optimized base editors with improved editing efficiency, precision, specificity, targeting scope, and capacity to be delivered in vivo, greatly enhancing their application potential in biomedicine. Here, we review the recent development of base editors, summarize their applications in the biomedical field, and discuss future perspectives and challenges for therapeutic applications.

Getting better all the time - recent progress in the development of CRISPR/Cas-based tools for plant genome engineering

Since their first adaptation for plant genome editing, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated system nucleases and tools have revolutionized the field. While early approaches focused on targeted mutagenesis that relies on mutagenic repair of induced double-strand breaks, newly developed tools now enable the precise induction of predefined modifications. Constant efforts to optimize these tools have led to the generation of more efficient base editors with enlarged editing windows and have enabled previously unachievable C-G transversions. Prime editors were also optimized for the application in plants and now allow to accurately induce substitutions, insertions, and deletions. Recently, great progress was made through precise restructuring of chromosomes, which enables not only the breakage or formation of genetic linkages but also the swapping of promoters.