Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding/Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China.
Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops of Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China.
J Exp Bot. 2023 Oct 13;74(19):6158-6175. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad313.
The development of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) system has provided precise and efficient strategies to edit target genes and generate transgene-free crops. Significant progress has been made in the editing of protein-coding genes; however, studies on the editing of non-coding DNA with regulatory roles lags far behind. Non-coding regulatory DNAs, including those which can be transcribed into long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and miRNAs, together with cis-regulatory elements (CREs), play crucial roles in regulating plant growth and development. Therefore, the combination of CRISPR/Cas technology and non-coding regulatory DNA has great potential to generate novel alleles that affect various agronomic traits of crops, thus providing valuable genetic resources for crop breeding. Herein, we review recent advances in the roles of non-coding regulatory DNA, attempts to edit non-coding regulatory DNA for crop improvement, and potential application of novel editing tools in modulating non-coding regulatory DNA. Finally, the existing problems, possible solutions, and future applications of gene editing of non-coding regulatory DNA in modern crop breeding practice are also discussed.
成簇规律间隔短回文重复/CRISPR 相关蛋白（CRISPR/Cas）系统的发展为编辑靶基因和生成无转基因作物提供了精确和高效的策略。在编辑蛋白质编码基因方面已经取得了重大进展；然而，对具有调控作用的非编码 DNA 的编辑研究却远远落后。非编码调控 DNA，包括那些可以转录成长链非编码 RNA（lncRNA）和 miRNA 的，以及顺式调控元件（CREs），在调节植物生长和发育方面起着至关重要的作用。因此，CRISPR/Cas 技术与非编码调控 DNA 的结合具有产生影响作物各种农艺性状的新型等位基因的巨大潜力，从而为作物育种提供了有价值的遗传资源。在此，我们综述了非编码调控 DNA 的作用的最新进展，尝试编辑非编码调控 DNA 以改善作物，以及新型编辑工具在调节非编码调控 DNA 方面的潜在应用。最后，还讨论了非编码调控 DNA 的基因编辑在现代作物育种实践中的现有问题、可能的解决方案和未来应用。
