Scientists Use Prime Editing in Potato and Moss

Researchers from Université Paris-Saclay in France reported successful use of Prime Editing in potato and spreading earthmoss (Physcomitrium patens), a model organism widely used for plant research. Their findings are published in Plant Science.

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has revolutionized plant research and precision crop breeding. Though it has been proven to be an efficient tool for disruptive targeted mutagenesis, its use in the introduction of precise and predictable nucleotide substitutions still needs improvement. However, the development of Prime Editing technology has allowed the simultaneous generation of nucleotide transitions and transversions as well as short defined indels.

The research team tested the use of Prime Editing in model organisms spreading earthmoss and potato, which has a complex genome. Results showed that for both plants, the editing rates were lower than with other CRISPR-Cas9-based techniques, but the researchers were able to successfully introduce nucleotide transversions into targeted genes through Prime Editing. Furthermore, the analysis of potential off-target mutation sites in spreading earthmoss suggested very high targeting fidelity.

Read the research article in Plant Science.