A multi-purpose toolkit to enable advanced genome engineering in plants

Precise genome editing holds tremendous promise for meeting future food security needs and sustainable agriculture. Čermák et al. describe a set of reagents that facilitate genome editing in plants, based on both TALEN (Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases) and CRISPR/Cas technologies. Precise targeting of enzymes to specific regions of genomes enables many different types of editing. In this paper, the authors describe a “comprehensive, modular system for plant genome engineering that makes it possible to accomplish gene knockouts, replacements, altered transcriptional regulation or multiplexed modification.” Furthermore, these reagents have proven useful in both monocots and dicots. Detailed protocols are available in the Supplemental Information, and a website is available to select vectors and design primers. [The development and application of these reagents was recently mentioned in Science in a profile of the senior author, Daniel Voytas ($)]. Plant Cell 10.1105/tpc.16.00922