Plants (Feb 2020)

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Mutagenesis of <i>RCO</i> in <i>Cardamine hirsuta</i>

  • Claire Lessa Alvim Kamei,
  • Bjorn Pieper,
  • Stefan Laurent,
  • Miltos Tsiantis,
  • Peter Huijser

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9020268
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 2
p. 268

Abstract

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The small crucifer Cardamine hirsuta bears complex leaves divided into leaflets. This is in contrast to its relative, the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which has simple leaves. Comparative studies between these species provide attractive opportunities to study the diversification of form. Here, we report on the implementation of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing methodology in C. hirsuta and with it the generation of novel alleles in the RCO gene, which was previously shown to play a major role in the diversification of form between the two species. Thus, genome editing can now be deployed in C. hirsuta, thereby increasing its versatility as a model system to study gene function and evolution.

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