Deciphering the Role of CRISPR/Cas9 in the Amelioration of Abiotic and Biotic Stress Conditions

Biotic (disease and insect pest) and abiotic (salt, cold, drought, and alkali) stresses are the crucial factors that impact the plant’s growth and development. They are the key reasons behind reducing agricultural productivity. In this decade, molecular biology and genome-editing technologies flourish exponentially and are being widely used to develop various abiotic and biotic stress-resistant plant varieties. Among the genome-editing technology, CRISPR/Cas is revolutionizing genome engineering by abolishing obstacles in targeted genetic manipulation. Its accuracy, resilience, adaptability, and simplicity expedite the field of genome editing, making it the most effective tool for plant improvement through point mutations, knockouts, base editing, and other related alterations at any desirable gene locus. Though plants have two levels of defense mechanisms named effector-triggered immunity (ETI) and pathogen-associated molecular pattern molecule (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI), they are extremely vulnerable to different pathogens. CRISPR/Cas genome editing technology has been extensively used to edit the targeted gene to enhance the stress tolerance of plants and to develop resistance against various pathogens. In addition, herbicide-resistant plants are also developed using genome editing at several loci to mitigate abiotic stress through weeds due to nutrient-deficit conditions. Abiotic stress-tolerant plant generation through genome editing offers a sustainable approach to enhance productivity despite of adverse environmental conditions. In the present chapter, we have explored the roles of CRISPR/Cas-assisted genome editing against various biotic and abiotic stress conditions that will help in the generation of different crops with high resilience to these environmental conditions.