Sequence-specific Nucleases and Its Application on Genome Targeting in Plants

Abstract: Through gene targeting at specific loci of the genome， we can obtain mutant which have precise mutation at target sequence and clearly identify the gene function. On the other hand， genome targeting by directly substitution or insertion， can minimize the uncertainty caused by the expression of foreign gene which inserted randomly. The traditional gene targeting technique， which rely solely on the cell’s own homologous recombination， is inefficient. And there also are many other issues， like position effects and genetic instability， and so on. By introducing the sequence-specific nucleases (SSN)， we can introduce DNA double strand break at specific genomic loci， stimulate the occurrence of the direct DNA repair events which depend on intracellular “homologous recombination” and “non-homologous end joining”， and dramatically improve the efficiency of gene targeting finally. To date， at the area of genome targeting research， there are different types of sequence-specific nucleases that have been effectively used. And in multiple species different types of target genetic modifications have been achieved. In this review， the principles and structural characteristics of SSN were introduced firstly， and then we discussed the advances and prospects of genome targeting in plants.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2013.11.0014