CRISPR/Cas9: A magic bullet to deal with plant viruses

Abstract Viral diseases affect crops productivity thereby threatening world food security. For sustainable agriculture, disease resistance should be developed at genetic level. Advancements in the field of genome editing technologies have empowered us to create designer crops with desired traits. CRISPR/Cas is the most promising tool to create site specific modifications. The CRISPR-Cas genome editing platform comprises of a sequence-specific endonuclease such as Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9), and a guide RNA molecules that directs the target specificity of the nucleases. This genome editing platform has been pragmatically harnessed to engineer virus resistance in plants. Specific regions of the viral genome involved in the viral replication can be targeted to restrain the peril of devastating plant viruses. Furthermore the system is amenable to multiplexing to target multiple DNA viruses.