Oilseed crops have become the third most vital source of edible oil worldwide. The demand for vegetable oils is growing steadily due to our expanding population, increasing global affluence, changes in dietary choices, and the need for more renewable plant-derived resources. Since a large proportion of our current vegetable oil supply derives from oilseed crops, substantial improvements in seed oil yield will be required to fulfill this demand. The usefulness and quality characteristics of seed oils are determined by the proportion of its main constituent fatty acids. Brassica oils contain nutritionally desirable linoleic acid, and thermostable oleic acid which make it desirable for cooking oil, and thus, is considered beneficial from a health point of view. Consequently, one of the most important objectives in oilseeds breeding is the genetic modification of seed oil by maximizing the proportion of specific fatty acids.
For crop improvements, in terms of desirable quantitative and qualitative traits, several conventional and molecular approaches have been used in the past, including genetic selection, mutagenic breeding, soma-clonal variations, whole-genome sequencing, physical mapping, and functional genomic tools. But these approaches have several limitations in terms of time consumption, precision and genetic stability of the desirable breeding traits. However, recent advances in genome editing technology using programmable nucleases, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins have opened the door to a new plant breeding era and provided important technical basics for the research in plant functional genes and crop genetic improvement.
In Brassica napus L. genome, most genes have multiple copies, and their functions are seriously redundant, which hinders the progress in genomics research of B. napus. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology is being widely used in the creation of biology mutants and gene function research in crops such as rice, wheat, and other crops and was expected to be a powerful experimental tool in genetic improvement and molecular design breeding of rapeseed. However, the understanding of mutation mode and genetic characteristics of CRISPR/Cas9 is still scarce in oil crops.
In this Research Topic, we seek Full/Mini-Reviews, and Original Research articles that discuss the latest developments in seed oil improvement and where CRISPR has been used to improve oil in B. napus. Moreover, we also welcome the research work focusing on the strategies to improve CRISPR technique for efficient genetic editing in oilseeds, addressing the solution for below given shortcomings:
1. How to eliminate the off-target effects and the frequency with which these occur? Off-target effects lead to genomic instability, disrupt normal gene function, and hinder breeding.
2. How to design specific sgRNAs with multiple copies of homologous genes, which often slow the research progress?
3. What are the factors affecting editing frequency and how to develop and/or obtain homozygous mutants in rapeseed breeding?
Oilseed crops have become the third most vital source of edible oil worldwide. The demand for vegetable oils is growing steadily due to our expanding population, increasing global affluence, changes in dietary choices, and the need for more renewable plant-derived resources. Since a large proportion of our current vegetable oil supply derives from oilseed crops, substantial improvements in seed oil yield will be required to fulfill this demand. The usefulness and quality characteristics of seed oils are determined by the proportion of its main constituent fatty acids. Brassica oils contain nutritionally desirable linoleic acid, and thermostable oleic acid which make it desirable for cooking oil, and thus, is considered beneficial from a health point of view. Consequently, one of the most important objectives in oilseeds breeding is the genetic modification of seed oil by maximizing the proportion of specific fatty acids.
For crop improvements, in terms of desirable quantitative and qualitative traits, several conventional and molecular approaches have been used in the past, including genetic selection, mutagenic breeding, soma-clonal variations, whole-genome sequencing, physical mapping, and functional genomic tools. But these approaches have several limitations in terms of time consumption, precision and genetic stability of the desirable breeding traits. However, recent advances in genome editing technology using programmable nucleases, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins have opened the door to a new plant breeding era and provided important technical basics for the research in plant functional genes and crop genetic improvement.
In Brassica napus L. genome, most genes have multiple copies, and their functions are seriously redundant, which hinders the progress in genomics research of B. napus. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology is being widely used in the creation of biology mutants and gene function research in crops such as rice, wheat, and other crops and was expected to be a powerful experimental tool in genetic improvement and molecular design breeding of rapeseed. However, the understanding of mutation mode and genetic characteristics of CRISPR/Cas9 is still scarce in oil crops.
In this Research Topic, we seek Full/Mini-Reviews, and Original Research articles that discuss the latest developments in seed oil improvement and where CRISPR has been used to improve oil in B. napus. Moreover, we also welcome the research work focusing on the strategies to improve CRISPR technique for efficient genetic editing in oilseeds, addressing the solution for below given shortcomings:
1. How to eliminate the off-target effects and the frequency with which these occur? Off-target effects lead to genomic instability, disrupt normal gene function, and hinder breeding.
2. How to design specific sgRNAs with multiple copies of homologous genes, which often slow the research progress?
3. What are the factors affecting editing frequency and how to develop and/or obtain homozygous mutants in rapeseed breeding?