Prime editing efficiently generates W542L and S621I double mutations in two ALS genes in maize

• Main Authors: Yuan-Yuan Jiang, Yi-Ping Chai, Min-Hui Lu, Xiu-Li Han, Qiupeng Lin, Yu Zhang, Qiang Zhang, Yun Zhou, Xue-Chen Wang, Caixia Gao, Qi-Jun Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2020-10-01
• Series: Genome Biology
• Subjects: Prime editing; PE2; pegRNA; CRISPR/Cas9; Maize; ALS
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-020-02170-5
• ISSN: 1474-760X

Abstract Prime editing is a novel and universal CRISPR/Cas-derived precision genome-editing technology that has been recently developed. However, low efficiency of prime editing has been shown in transgenic rice lines. We hypothesize that enhancing pegRNA expression could improve prime-editing efficiency. In this report, we describe two strategies for enhancing pegRNA expression. We construct a prime editing vector harboring two pegRNA variants for W542L and S621I double mutations in ZmALS1 and ZmALS2. Compared with previous reports in rice, we achieve much higher prime-editing efficiency in maize. Our results are inspiring and provide a direction for the optimization of plant prime editors.