Prospects for Genome Editing of Potato

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a staple food crop that could play a major role in improving food security in developing nations. The sustainable production of this crop faces many challenges like pests, diseases, abiotic stresses and post-harvest problems. Transgenic technology and gene silencing strategies offered a new hope of solution to the conventional time consuming breeding programmes. However the genetically modified crops are affected by regulatory approvals and safety concerns. In this aspect, gene editing techniques like ZFNs (zinc-finger nucleases), TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases), and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated Cas9), offer better choice for production of transgene and marker free disease resistant potatoes.