Recent advances in CRISPR/Cas mediated genome editing for crop improvement

Plant breeding is one of the oldest sustainable agriculture methods used to increase the yield, quality and other biomaterial for human use. Many crops like fruits, vegetables, ornamental flowers, shrubs and trees, have been long cultivated to satisfy human food and aesthetical needs. Conventional breeding technologies like selection, hybridization, mutation through physical and chemical methods, and modern transgenic approaches are often used to improve the desired traits without inducing the pleiotropic effects. But these breeding methods are highly laborious and complicated to enhance crop production. Recently, targeted genome editing through engineered nuclease including zinc finger nuclease, transcription activator like effector nuclease and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) have been used to improve various traits in plants. Genome editing has emerged as a novel alternative approach to classical breeding with higher mutagenic efficiency. Here, we briefly cover the strengths of CRISPRs in comparison with other genome editing techniques. We also discuss its potential applications in genetic improvement of various crops and future prospective.