Targeted genome editing in algae using CRISPR/Cas9

The emergence of nuclease guided genome editing tools like FokI-I, TALENS, meganucleases, and CRISPR associated Cas9 could be a revolutionary step for the improvement of different organisms. These tools have helped in performing site-specific editing in an efficient and reliable manner to obtain the desired results. Of all the nucleases, CRISPR/Cas9 is emerging a most favourite arsenal owing to its easy adaptability, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. It has been successfully employed in all the model systems ranging from multicellular organisms to single-celled ones including algae, which are a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms and promising sources for the sustainable biofuel. The CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been used efficiently to generate stable targeted gene mutations in some algal species and has great potential to be explored further for the commercially important algal species to produce sustainable algae biofuel, pharmaceuticals and value-added products. © 2018, Indian Society for Plant Physiology.