ABSTRACT
The rise of the most appealing genome editing technology, i.e. CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated protein 9), had stimulated researchers to exploit it for its wide implementation in several eukaryotic organisms along with crop plants. The technology has proven to be economical, easy to use and highly efficient, in precise genome editing. Rice – being a primary food crop worldwide – has a lot of scope for improvement in terms of its productivity, quality and resistance/tolerance to environmental stresses. The various abiotic and biotic stresses pose a potential threat and are constantly diminishing rice yields globally. With the advancement of rice genome sequencing technology, the researchers were engaged in decoding and reading genomes, and since then, there has been considerable advancement in the genetic improvement of this crop. Moreover, the recent development in different CRISPR/Cas systems has widened its applicability in several crops, and the research communities are very keen on rescripting and editing of genomes for a better change with desired phenotypes. This chapter entails the strategies and protocols for CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing in rice, refined CRISPR systems, recent development and progress in the use of this technology in rice system, all aspects of transgenic development and complications associated with it and its future scope in the improvement of rice crop.
