CRISPR has raised the possibility of creating crops of the future through de novo domestication of wild plants as a real solution for realizing food security while also achieving more sustainable agriculture.
In a report published in Cell, Li Jiayang and colleagues map out a breeding route to de novo domestication of wild allotetraploid rice. Unlike cultivated rice varieties which are all diploid, polyploidization has advantages such as genome buffering, vigorousness, and environmental robustness. Using CRISPR, the team altered six agronomically important traits of the allotetraploid variety by editing homologs of the genes controlling these traits in diploid rice. The result was a genetically rich cultivatable variety and a roadmap for creating additional future staple cereals to strengthen world food security.
For more information, see: Yu, H., et al. (2021) A route to de novo domestication of wild allotetraploid rice. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.013
Keywords: CRISPR, wild plants, domestication, food security
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