User-friendly tools for robust transcriptional activation of endogenous genes are highly demanded in plants. We previously showed that a dCas9-VP64 system consisting of the deactivated CRISPR- associated protein 9 （d...User-friendly tools for robust transcriptional activation of endogenous genes are highly demanded in plants. We previously showed that a dCas9-VP64 system consisting of the deactivated CRISPR- associated protein 9 （dCasg） fused with four tandem repeats of the transcriptional activator VP16 0/1=64） could be used for transcriptional activation of endogenous genes in plants. In this study, we developed a second generation of vector systems for enhanced transcriptional activation in plants. We tested multiple strategies for dCasg-based transcriptional activation, and found that simultaneous recruitment of VP64 by dCas9 and a modified guide RNA scaffold gRNA2.0 （designated CRISPR-Act2.0） yielded stronger transcrip- tional activation than the dCas9-VP64 system. Moreover, we developed a multiplex transcription activator- likeeffector activation （mTALE-Act） system for simultaneous activation of up to four genes in plants. Our results suggest that mTALE-Act is even more effective than CRISPR-Act2.0 in most cases tested. In addition, we explored tissue-specific gene activation using positive feedback loops. Interestingly, our study revealed that certain endogenous genes are more amenable than others to transcriptional activation, and tightly regulated genes may cause target gene silencing when perturbed by activation probes. Hence, these new tools could be used to investigate gene regulatory networks and their control mechanisms. Assembly of multiplex CRISPR-Act2.0 and mTALE-Act systems are both based on streamlined and PCR-independent Golden Gate and Gateway cloning strategies, which will facilitate transcriptional activation applications in both dicots and monocots.展开更多
The recently developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based techniques have made it possible to reprogram target gene expression without cloning complementary DNA or disturbing geno...The recently developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based techniques have made it possible to reprogram target gene expression without cloning complementary DNA or disturbing genomic sequence in mammalian cells and several multicellular organisms. We previously showed that CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) and CRISPR from Prevotella and Francisella 1 (Cpfl) could induce target mutations, deletions, inversions, and duplications both singly and multiplex in silkworm, Bombyx mori. However, it remains unknown whether the CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) system can be used in B. mori. In this study, we investigated the CRISPRa system, in which a nuclease dead Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) is fused to two transcription activation domains, including VP64 (a tetramer of the herpes simplex VP 16 transcriptional activator domain), and VPR (a tripartite activator, composed of VP64, p65, and Rta). The results showed that both dCas9-VP64 and dCas9-VPR systems could be used in B. mori cells, of which the latter showed significantly higher activity. The dCas9-VPR system showed considerable activity on all five tested target genes, and further analysis revealed that the up-regulation of genes was negatively correlated to their basal expression level. We also observed that this system could be used to upregulate a range of target genes. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that CRISPRa can be a powerful tool to study gene functions in B. mori and perhaps other non-drosophila insects.展开更多
Engineering of a new type of plant base editor for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion within the editing window will greatly expand the scope and potential of base editing in directed evolution and crop ...Engineering of a new type of plant base editor for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion within the editing window will greatly expand the scope and potential of base editing in directed evolution and crop improvement.Here,we isolated a rice endogenous hypoxanthine excision protein,N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase(OsMPG),and engineered two plant A-to-K(K=G or T)base editors,rAKBE01 and rAKBE02,for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion base editing in rice by fusing OsMPG or its mutant mOsMPG to a plant adenine transition base editor,ABE8e.We further coupled either OsMPG or mOsMPG with a transactivation factor VP64 to generate rAKBE03 and rAKBE04,respectively.Testing these four rAKBEs,at five endogenous loci in rice protoplasts,indicated that rAKBE03 and rAKBE04 enabled higher levels of A-to-G base transitions when compared to ABE8e and ABE8e-VP64.Furthermore,whereas rAKBE01 only enabled A-to-C/T editing at one endogenous locus,in comparison with rAKBE02 and rAKBE03,rAKBE04 could significantly improve the A-to-C/T base transversion efficiencies by up to 6.57-and 1.75-fold in the rice protoplasts,respectively.Moreover,although no stable lines with A-to-C transversion were induced by rAKBE01 and rAKBE04,rAKBE04 could enable simultaneous A-to-G and A-to-T transition and transversion base editing,at all the five target loci,with the efficiencies of A-to-G transition and A-to-T transversion editing ranging from 70.97 to 92.31%and 1.67 to 4.84%in rice stable lines,respectively.Together,these rAKBEs enable different portfolios of editing products and,thus,now expands the potential of base editing in diverse application scenario for crop improvement.展开更多
基金This work was supported by startup funds from East Carolina University and University of Maryland-College Park and a Collaborative Funding grant from North Carolina Biotechnology Center and Syngenta Biotechnology （2016-CFG-8003） to Y.Q. This work was also supported by grants, including the Sichuan Youth Science and Technology Foundation （2017JQ0005）, the National Science Foundation of China （31771486）, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities （ZYGX2016J119） to Y.Z.
文摘User-friendly tools for robust transcriptional activation of endogenous genes are highly demanded in plants. We previously showed that a dCas9-VP64 system consisting of the deactivated CRISPR- associated protein 9 （dCasg） fused with four tandem repeats of the transcriptional activator VP16 0/1=64） could be used for transcriptional activation of endogenous genes in plants. In this study, we developed a second generation of vector systems for enhanced transcriptional activation in plants. We tested multiple strategies for dCasg-based transcriptional activation, and found that simultaneous recruitment of VP64 by dCas9 and a modified guide RNA scaffold gRNA2.0 （designated CRISPR-Act2.0） yielded stronger transcrip- tional activation than the dCas9-VP64 system. Moreover, we developed a multiplex transcription activator- likeeffector activation （mTALE-Act） system for simultaneous activation of up to four genes in plants. Our results suggest that mTALE-Act is even more effective than CRISPR-Act2.0 in most cases tested. In addition, we explored tissue-specific gene activation using positive feedback loops. Interestingly, our study revealed that certain endogenous genes are more amenable than others to transcriptional activation, and tightly regulated genes may cause target gene silencing when perturbed by activation probes. Hence, these new tools could be used to investigate gene regulatory networks and their control mechanisms. Assembly of multiplex CRISPR-Act2.0 and mTALE-Act systems are both based on streamlined and PCR-independent Golden Gate and Gateway cloning strategies, which will facilitate transcriptional activation applications in both dicots and monocots.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31530071)the Chongqing Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. Xm2016030)Chongqing Research program of basic Research and Frontier Technology (No.cstc2017jcyjAX0349).
文摘The recently developed clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based techniques have made it possible to reprogram target gene expression without cloning complementary DNA or disturbing genomic sequence in mammalian cells and several multicellular organisms. We previously showed that CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) and CRISPR from Prevotella and Francisella 1 (Cpfl) could induce target mutations, deletions, inversions, and duplications both singly and multiplex in silkworm, Bombyx mori. However, it remains unknown whether the CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) system can be used in B. mori. In this study, we investigated the CRISPRa system, in which a nuclease dead Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) is fused to two transcription activation domains, including VP64 (a tetramer of the herpes simplex VP 16 transcriptional activator domain), and VPR (a tripartite activator, composed of VP64, p65, and Rta). The results showed that both dCas9-VP64 and dCas9-VPR systems could be used in B. mori cells, of which the latter showed significantly higher activity. The dCas9-VPR system showed considerable activity on all five tested target genes, and further analysis revealed that the up-regulation of genes was negatively correlated to their basal expression level. We also observed that this system could be used to upregulate a range of target genes. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that CRISPRa can be a powerful tool to study gene functions in B. mori and perhaps other non-drosophila insects.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.32188102 to L.X),Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Lab(Grant No.B23CJ0208 to L.X)the Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund(Grant No.ZDXM2308 to L.X)National Engineering Research Centre of Crop Molecular Breeding.
文摘Engineering of a new type of plant base editor for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion within the editing window will greatly expand the scope and potential of base editing in directed evolution and crop improvement.Here,we isolated a rice endogenous hypoxanthine excision protein,N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase(OsMPG),and engineered two plant A-to-K(K=G or T)base editors,rAKBE01 and rAKBE02,for simultaneous adenine transition and transversion base editing in rice by fusing OsMPG or its mutant mOsMPG to a plant adenine transition base editor,ABE8e.We further coupled either OsMPG or mOsMPG with a transactivation factor VP64 to generate rAKBE03 and rAKBE04,respectively.Testing these four rAKBEs,at five endogenous loci in rice protoplasts,indicated that rAKBE03 and rAKBE04 enabled higher levels of A-to-G base transitions when compared to ABE8e and ABE8e-VP64.Furthermore,whereas rAKBE01 only enabled A-to-C/T editing at one endogenous locus,in comparison with rAKBE02 and rAKBE03,rAKBE04 could significantly improve the A-to-C/T base transversion efficiencies by up to 6.57-and 1.75-fold in the rice protoplasts,respectively.Moreover,although no stable lines with A-to-C transversion were induced by rAKBE01 and rAKBE04,rAKBE04 could enable simultaneous A-to-G and A-to-T transition and transversion base editing,at all the five target loci,with the efficiencies of A-to-G transition and A-to-T transversion editing ranging from 70.97 to 92.31%and 1.67 to 4.84%in rice stable lines,respectively.Together,these rAKBEs enable different portfolios of editing products and,thus,now expands the potential of base editing in diverse application scenario for crop improvement.
