Prime Editing in Plants: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

Prime editors are reverse transcriptase (RT)-based genome editing tools utilizing double strand break (DSB) free mechanisms to decrease off-target editing in genomes and enhance the efficiency of targeted insertions. Multiple prime editors developed within a short span of time are a testament to the potential of this technique for targeted insertions. This is mainly because of the possibility of generation of all types of mutations including deletions, insertions, transitions and transversions. Prime editing reverses several bottlenecks of gene editing technologies that limit the biotechnological applicability to produce designer crops. The current mini review evaluates the status and evolution of prime editing technique in terms of the types of prime editors available till date up to prime editor 5 and twin prime editors, and the developments in plants in a systematic manner. The various factors affecting prime editing efficiency in plants including the effect of temperature, the pegRNA, and RT template amongst others are discussed in detail. We discuss the obstructions, key challenges, available resolutions, and provide future directions and further improvements feasible to elevate the efficiency in plants.

Keywords: CRISPR; Designer crops; Genome editing; Mismatch DNA repair; Precise genetic engineering; Prime editing; pegRNA.