碱基编辑技术在猪遗传改良中的应用研究进展

Application of single base editing technique in pig genetic improvement: a review

摘要:

猪传统育种周期长、耗资大，亟需利用新技术振兴种业。近年来兴起的CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术在猪遗传改良上表现出巨大潜力，成为研究的热点。单碱基编辑是在CRISPR/Cas9系统基础上发展起来的新型碱基编辑技术，可对单个碱基进行靶向突变。CRISPR/Cas9技术容易操作且设计简单，但该技术会导致DNA双链断裂，使基因结构不稳定，造成基因的随机插入和缺失，故而大大制约了该技术的应用。与CRISPR/Cas9技术不同，单碱基编辑技术不产生双链断裂，因而具有更高的基因编辑精准性和安全性，预期在猪遗传育种应用上具有显著优势。本文综述了CRISPR/Cas9技术的工作原理与不足、单碱基编辑的开发与优势、不同碱基编辑器的原理、应用特点及其在猪遗传改良上的应用，以期对后续开展猪的基因编辑遗传育种实践提供理论参考。

Abstract:

Traditional pig breeding has a long cycle and high cost, and there is an urgent need to use new technologies to revitalize the pig breeding industry. The recently emerged CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique shows great potential in pig genetic improvement, and has since become a research hotspot. Base editor is a new base editing technology developed based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which can achieve targeted mutation of a single base. CRISPR/Cas9 technology is easy to operate and simple to design, but it can lead to DNA double strand breaks, unstable gene structures, and random insertion and deletion of genes, which greatly restricts the application of this technique. Different from CRISPR/Cas9 technique, the single base editing technique does not produce double strand breaks. Therefore, it has higher accuracy and safety for genome editing, and is expected to advance the pig genetic breeding applications. This review summarized the working principle and shortcomings of CRISPR/Cas9 technique, the development and advantages of single base editing, the principles and application characteristics of different base editors and their applications in pig genetic improvement, with the aim to facilitate genome editing-assisted genetic breeding of pig.