PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Devang Mehta
AU  - Alessandra Stürchler
AU  - Matthias Hirsch-Hoffmann
AU  - Wilhelm Gruissem
AU  - Hervé Vanderschuren
TI  - CRISPR-Cas9 interference in cassava linked to the evolution of editing-resistant geminiviruses
AID  - 10.1101/314542
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 314542
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/04/314542.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/04/314542.full
AB  - We used CRISPR-Cas9 in the staple food crop cassava with the aim of engineering resistance to African cassava mosaic virus, a member of a widespread and important family of plant-pathogenic DNA viruses. We found that between 33 and 48% of edited virus genomes evolved a conserved single-nucleotide mutation that confers resistance to CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage. Our study highlights the potential for virus escape from this technology. Care should be taken to design CRISPR-Cas9 experiments that minimize the risk of virus escape.