Site-directed nucleases: a paradigm shift in predictable, knowledge-based plant breeding

Nancy Podevin (1) , Howard V. Davies (2) , Frank Hartung (3) , Fabien Nogué (4) , Josep M. Casacuberta (5)

1 European Food Safety Authority = Autorité européenne de sécurité des aliments
2 The James Hutton Institute
3 SB - Institute for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology
4 IJPB - Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin
5 IRTA - Institute of Research and Technology, Food and Agriculture

Conventional plant breeding exploits existing genetic variability and introduces new variability by mutagenesis. This has proven highly successful in securing food supplies for an ever-growing human population. The use of genetically modified plants is a complementary approach but all plant breeding techniques have limitations. Here, we discuss how the recent evolution of targeted mutagenesis and DNA insertion techniques based on tailor-made site-directed nucleases (SDNs) provides opportunities to overcome such limitations. Plant breeding companies are exploiting SDNs to develop a new generation of crops with new and improved traits. Nevertheless, some technical limitations as well as significant uncertainties on the regulatory status of SDNs may challenge their use for commercial plant breeding.

Mots clés: III EFFECTORS; BREAK REPAIR; CELLS; site-directed nuclease; zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN); transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN); meganuclease; plant breeding; genetically modified organism (GMO); ZINC-FINGER NUCLEASES; DNA-BINDING SPECIFICITY; HOMING ENDONUCLEASES; ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA; TARGETED MUTAGENESIS; GENOME MODIFICATIONS; END RESECTION

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Nancy Podevin, Howard V. Davies, Frank Hartung, Fabien Nogué, Josep M. Casacuberta. Site-directed nucleases: a paradigm shift in predictable, knowledge-based plant breeding. Trends in Biotechnology, 2013, 31 (6), pp.375 - 383. ⟨10.1016/j.tibtech.2013.03.004⟩. ⟨hal-01190553⟩