From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter]
Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter) is a staple food crop for 70% of the Ethiopian population and is currently cultivated in several countries for grain and forage production. It is one of the most nutritious grains, and is also more resilient to marginal soil and climate conditi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
|
| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/628 |
| _version_ | 1797539942279151616 |
|---|---|
| author | Muhammad Numan Abdul Latif Khan Sajjad Asaf Mohammad Salehin Getu Beyene Zerihun Tadele Ayalew Ligaba-Osena |
| author_facet | Muhammad Numan Abdul Latif Khan Sajjad Asaf Mohammad Salehin Getu Beyene Zerihun Tadele Ayalew Ligaba-Osena |
| author_sort | Muhammad Numan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter) is a staple food crop for 70% of the Ethiopian population and is currently cultivated in several countries for grain and forage production. It is one of the most nutritious grains, and is also more resilient to marginal soil and climate conditions than major cereals such as maize, wheat and rice. However, tef is an extremely low-yielding crop, mainly due to lodging, which is when stalks fall on the ground irreversibly, and prolonged drought during the growing season. Climate change is triggering several biotic and abiotic stresses which are expected to cause severe food shortages in the foreseeable future. This has necessitated an alternative and robust approach in order to improve resilience to diverse types of stresses and increase crop yields. Traditional breeding has been extensively implemented to develop crop varieties with traits of interest, although the technique has several limitations. Currently, genome editing technologies are receiving increased interest among plant biologists as a means of improving key agronomic traits. In this review, the potential application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) technology in improving stress resilience in tef is discussed. Several putative abiotic stress-resilient genes of the related monocot plant species have been discussed and proposed as target genes for editing in tef through the CRISPR-Cas system. This is expected to improve stress resilience and boost productivity, thereby ensuring food and nutrition security in the region where it is needed the most. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:53:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2f5c9a98c11d47328b59d34c3bac4ba3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:53:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-2f5c9a98c11d47328b59d34c3bac4ba32023-11-21T12:04:48ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-03-0110462810.3390/plants10040628From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter]Muhammad Numan0Abdul Latif Khan1Sajjad Asaf2Mohammad Salehin3Getu Beyene4Zerihun Tadele5Ayalew Ligaba-Osena6Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USANatural and Medical Sciences Research Center, Biotechnology and OMICs Laboratory, University of Nizwa, Nizwa 616, OmanNatural and Medical Sciences Research Center, Biotechnology and OMICs Laboratory, University of Nizwa, Nizwa 616, OmanLaboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USADonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO 63132, USAInstitute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USATef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter) is a staple food crop for 70% of the Ethiopian population and is currently cultivated in several countries for grain and forage production. It is one of the most nutritious grains, and is also more resilient to marginal soil and climate conditions than major cereals such as maize, wheat and rice. However, tef is an extremely low-yielding crop, mainly due to lodging, which is when stalks fall on the ground irreversibly, and prolonged drought during the growing season. Climate change is triggering several biotic and abiotic stresses which are expected to cause severe food shortages in the foreseeable future. This has necessitated an alternative and robust approach in order to improve resilience to diverse types of stresses and increase crop yields. Traditional breeding has been extensively implemented to develop crop varieties with traits of interest, although the technique has several limitations. Currently, genome editing technologies are receiving increased interest among plant biologists as a means of improving key agronomic traits. In this review, the potential application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) technology in improving stress resilience in tef is discussed. Several putative abiotic stress-resilient genes of the related monocot plant species have been discussed and proposed as target genes for editing in tef through the CRISPR-Cas system. This is expected to improve stress resilience and boost productivity, thereby ensuring food and nutrition security in the region where it is needed the most.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/628CRSIPR-Casdrought tolerance<i>Eragrostis tef</i>genome editingstress resilience |
| spellingShingle | Muhammad Numan Abdul Latif Khan Sajjad Asaf Mohammad Salehin Getu Beyene Zerihun Tadele Ayalew Ligaba-Osena From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] Plants CRSIPR-Cas drought tolerance <i>Eragrostis tef</i> genome editing stress resilience |
| title | From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| title_full | From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| title_fullStr | From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| title_short | From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [<i>Eragrostis tef</i> (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| title_sort | from traditional breeding to genome editing for boosting productivity of the ancient grain tef i eragrostis tef i zucc trotter |
| topic | CRSIPR-Cas drought tolerance <i>Eragrostis tef</i> genome editing stress resilience |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/628 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT muhammadnuman fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT abdullatifkhan fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT sajjadasaf fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT mohammadsalehin fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT getubeyene fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT zerihuntadele fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter AT ayalewligabaosena fromtraditionalbreedingtogenomeeditingforboostingproductivityoftheancientgraintefieragrostistefizucctrotter |