CRISPR/Cas-Mediated Genome Editing for the Improvement of Oilseed Crop Productivity

Abstract The demand for vegetable oils is increasing at a rapid pace due to our ever-expanding population, growing global affluence, changing dietary choices, and the need for renewable plant-derived resources. However, oilseed production is negatively impacted by unpredictable environmental conditions caused by climate change, as well as associated increases in disease and pest infestations. Unfortunately, while conventional breeding techniques have been used to provide gains in terms of oilseed yields, they are often imprecise and lengthy processes. Crops derived from transgenic approaches, on the other hand, have proven difficult to get to market due to negative public perception and onerous regulatory requirements. Genome editing, primarily using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) platform, is a relatively recent addition to our plant breeding toolkit that allows the rapid generation of precise targeted genetic changes that can be indistinguishable from spontaneous mutations. In addition, the resulting plants can be made transgene-free with relative ease. While genome editing has been successfully used to modify a plethora of genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the technology is only just taking off in oilseed crop species. This review discusses advances that have been made to-date using CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing of oilseed crops to improve plant productivity under favorable and sub-optimal environmental conditions, leading to increased seed yields or reduced losses. Furthermore, we also examine potential avenues for future enhancements in these traits using this molecular breeding tool.