CRISPR/Cas9-Based Genome Editing in Plants

Abstract Recently, genome editing technologies have shown great potential in plants. The newly developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system is a new generation of genome editing tool rapidly replacing the earlier zinc finger nucleases and transcription activator-like effector nucleases systems. Indeed, due to its advantages of simplicity and high efficiency, the CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system is becoming a powerful tool in plant science research. Here, we introduce the technical features of the plant CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system and its applications in plant functional genomics studies and genetic improvement.