Potato Genome Editing Using CRISPR Technologies

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) (2n=4x=48), is a tetraploid and heterozygous crop. This plant is the world's most important food crop after rice, wheat and corn. According to the current pressure of increasing population, potato is believed to be a vital crop to meet the food need of the growing population. Although conventional breeding approaches have improved potato yield, tetrasomic inheritance makes potato research and breeding difficult through traditional crossbreeding. By specific applications of genome editing, one or a few traits can be added to a commercial variety, hence crossbreeding method can be avoided. In recent years, genome editing via the CRISPR-Cas9 system, by providing simple and robust new technologies, has helped plant scientists to accelerate different plant breeding processes. With advances being made, the insertion, expression or silencing of economically important genes is being used to improve potato production and the quality traits of current potato varieties. Furthermore, genome sequence information coupled with established genetic transformation and regeneration procedures make potato a strong candidate for genetic engineering. The purpose of this article, is to review the researches done on potato using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, in order to improve traits and increase crop productivity.