ABSTRACT
Presently, sufficient availability of genome sequences data from different crops hastens the progress of breeding for any interested economic data. Plant breeding technologies are driven by modern biotechnology tools to speed up crop improvement programs. Technological advancement is the key to novel biotechnological research. Development of genome editing tools originated with zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and presently, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated CRISPR/Cas has made genome modification more efficient, precise and accurate to target any nucleotide within the gene of interest. Programmable nucleases, such as ZFNs, TALENs and the CRISPR-associated CRISPR/Cas, have revolutionised genome editing in plants, paving the way for novel applications in crop improvement. This chapter describes recent advances in genome editing, covering the underlying principles and molecular mechanisms.
