DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT

RESISTANT CROPS
BY CRISPR CAS9 TECHNIQUE
 DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
IMPACTS OF CLIMATE EXTREMES ON CROP PRODUCTION

• Impacts of Climate Extremes on crop production,

agricultural food production is directly affected by
climatic factors, such as rainfall and temperature
leading to conditions like drought.

• These factors regulate crop development and health,

crop yield over time, and annual crop yield.
Environmental extremes are estimated to become
more frequent due to climate change, which can
adversely affect crop yield.
DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT STRESS ON PLANT
ACTIVITY
• Water scarcity elicits various crop responses at the physiological,
molecular, biochemical, and morphological levels, eventually
interrupting crop productively.
• Drought stress reduces plant production at various stages of growth.
Indeed, reduced water supply decreases the germination and growth
rate of crops.
• During plant growth, drought affects plant water–interactions, which
in turn disrupt the entire metabolism (at the molecular and
physiological level), depending on the magnitude and duration of
stress.
DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT STRESS ON PLANT
ACTIVITY
 DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
ROLE OF ABSCISIC ACID (ABA) IN DROUGHT TOLERANCE

• In response to water deficit stress a plants physiological

protective protocol is to stimulate stomatal closure this is caused
by endogenous (ABA) being rapidly produced during drought.

• Abscisic acid (ABA) plays crucial roles in regulating plant

response to drought by controlling stomatal closure and gene
expression to limit water loss via transpiration
DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
ABSCISIC ACID (ABA) MECHANISM OF ACTION

• ABA binds to receptors.

• Form receptive oxygen species(ROS)

• Activate Ca2+ channels

• Intracellular Ca2+ goes up inhibit k* channels

• Membrane depolarization activates K* channels out

• Stomata close
 DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PLANT DROUGHT
TOLERANCE
AREB1 is an essential transcription factor in ABA signaling pathway and
regulates plant response to drought by :

• controlling stomatal closure

• gene expression to limit water loss via transpiration.

AREB 1 (Transcription factor ) binds to specific DNA sequence encodes protein DREB2A Stress Protective Proteins
(stress responsive genes) Transcrption factor
triggers their expression
 CRISPR–CAS9-BASED GENETIC ENGINEERING
• Genome editing, a revolutionary and accurate genetic-engineering technology that can
modify specific target genes of the organism genome, is increasingly used in many fields
including plant science and crop breeding

• Genome editing tools use sequence-definite nucleases to introduce specific variations in

the genome.

• This system uses a Single Guide RNA and omplex Cas endonuclease to produce double-
stranded DNA breaks, which are repaired by the cell's endogenous repair mechanism,
resulting in the expansion of novel mutations.
 DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
CRISPR-BASED TARGETED GENOME EDITING

• The mechanism of targeted genome editing

involves sequence-specific breaks in the target
DNA, with edits incorporated during repair.

• CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic engineering is a

promising mechanism for crop improvement under
drought stress by targeting specific genes that
regulate water use or produce stress hormones.
DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
CRISPR-BASED TARGETED GENOME EDITING
• The CRISPR-Cas9 system uses a guide RNA (gRNA) to direct the Cas9 enzyme to a specific
location in the plant's DNA, where it cuts the DNA, and the plant's repair mechanisms repair the
damage.

• Scientists can modify the targeted gene's function during the repair process and potentially
create a drought-resistant plant.

• For instance, researchers have used CRISPR-Cas9 to modify genes that produce the hormone
abscisic acid (ABA), which regulates a plant's response to water stress.

• Another approach involves modifying genes responsible for producing aquaporins, which are
proteins that allow water to move in and out of plant cells.
DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
BENEFITS
• Due to the advantages of simple design, low cost, high efficiency, good repeatability
and short-cycle, CRISPR-Cas systems have become the most widely used genome
editing technology in molecular biology laboratories all around the world.

• CRISPR-Cas9 has a higher gene-editing efficiency, lower off-target effect.

• CRISPR can play a role in limiting agricultural emissions, making crops more
resilient to a more variable and extreme climate, and using crops and soil microbes to
store more and stabilize carbon.
 DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
CONCLUSION
The CRISPR-Cas system is an efficient, convenient, and cost-effective
genome editing tool through which major crops can be modified for drought
resistance. Furthermore, due to the non-insertion of foreign DNA and lesser
regulatory restrictions, the products of this technology are easily acceptable
by people in society. CRISPR is revolutionizing not only agriculture, but
also industry, the environment, medicine, and other fields.
THANK
YOU!