Title
Designed gRNAs for CRISPR-Cas9 based antifungal resistance in eggplant
Authors
Archana Prajapati, Vikrant Nain & Deepali Singh*
Affiliation
School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida 201312, India; *Corresponding author
Archana Prajapati - E-mail: btphd2018003@gbu.ac.in
Vikrant Nain - E-mail: vikrant@gbu.ac.in
Deepali Singh - E-mail: deepali@gbu.ac.in
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received August 1, 2023; Revised August 31, 2023; Accepted August 31, 2023, Published August 31, 2023
Abstract
Eggplant is an important vegetable crop and is a good source of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. It has been used in ancient medicines for the treatment of multiple diseases. However, the cultivated varieties of eggplant are susceptible to numerous pathogens and pests that have a negative impact on vegetable crops. Increased resistance achieved through resistance genes (R genes) is limited in eggplant breeding due to the fact that R genes are typically specific to a pathogen race and can be quickly surpassed by pathogen evolution. The susceptibility genes (S genes) in plants facilitate pathogen entry and proliferation, thus disabling these genes might be beneficial for providing a broad range and durable resistance against pathogens. Reports on crops such as Arabidopsis, rice, wheat, citrus, and tomatoes have highlighted that the knockout mutants of the S genes are tolerant to multiple different pathogens. The CRISPR/Cas9 system facilitates plant genome editing that can be utilized efficiently for crop improvement. In the current work, we have identified the homologs of candidate S genes DMR1, DMR6, EDR1, and PMR4/5/6 in the eggplant genome and designed and screened putative gRNAs against the identified target loci. The gRNAs were screened and selected on the basis of recognition of the PAM sequence, the MIT score, their minimum free energy, and the secondary structure. Five gRNAs for each gene homolog were selected after an in-depth analysis of all the predicted gRNAs using the above-mentioned criterion.
Keywords
CRISPR/Cas9, fungal pathogens, gRNA, Eggplant
Citation
Prajapati et al. Bioinformation 19(8): 844-848 (2023)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
