© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 101
S.H. Tsang (ed.), Precision Medicine, CRISPR, and Genome Engineering,
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 1016,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-63904-8_6
Chapter 6
CRISPR: From Prokaryotic Immune Systems
to Plant Genome Editing Tools
Anindya Bandyopadhyay, Shamik Mazumdar, Xiaojia Yin,
and William Paul Quick
Abstract The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)
system is a prokaryotic adaptive immune system that has the ability to identify
specific locations on the bacteriophage (phage) genome to create breaks in it, and
internalize the phage genome fragments in its own genome as CRISPR arrays for
memory-dependent resistance. Although CRISPR has been used in the dairy indus-
try for a long time, it recently gained importance in the field of genome editing
because of its ability to precisely target locations in a genome. This system has
further been modified to locate and target any region of a genome of choice due to
modifications in the components of the system. By changing the nucleotide sequence
of the 20-nucleotide target sequence in the guide RNA, targeting any location is
possible. It has found an application in the modification of plant genomes with its
ability to generate mutations and insertions, thus helping to create new varieties
of plants. With the ability to introduce specific sequences into the plant genome
after cleavage by the CRISPR system and subsequent DNA repair through
homology- directed repair (HDR), CRISPR ensures that genome editing can be suc-
cessfully applied in plants, thus generating stronger and more improved traits. Also,
the use of the CRISPR editing system can generate plants that are transgene-free
and have mutations that are stably inherited, thus helping to circumvent current
GMO regulations.
Keywords CRISPR • Cas9 • Cpf1 • Plants • Genome editing • Editing tools
A. Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D. (*) • S. Mazumdar, M.S. • X. Yin, Ph.D. • W.P. Quick, Ph.D.
C4 Rice Center, Genetics and Biotechnology Department, International Rice Research
Institute, DAPO 7777, Manila 1301, Philippines
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]