Customizable Molecular Scissors for Tailoring Plant Genomes

The development of TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) and applications in plant genome engineering are featured in one of the chapters of the book titled Genome Editing in Plants: Principles and Applications published by Taylor and Francis Group.

Engineered nucleases have been widely used in various research since their discovery. They have revolutionized gene functional studies and led to new strategies to develop more targeted variations in the genome in a shorter span of time and cheaper cost. The authors describe TALENs as customizable genome editing tools made up of two functional domains. The first is referred to as the DNA binding domain, which is derived from special effector molecules, transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) belonging to plant pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas. The second part is the cleavage domain from FokI endonuclease. The genesis and development of TALENs, as well as their mechanism of action and applications in plants and the limitations and techniques to overcome them, are detailed in the book.