Protein Expression and Gene Editing in Monocots Using Foxtail Mosaic Virus Vectors
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Plant Pathology and Microbiology Publications Plant Pathology and Microbiology 11-2019 Protein expression and gene editing in monocots using foxtail mosaic virus vectors Yu Mei Iowa State University Bliss Beernink Iowa State University Evan E. Ellison University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Eva Konečná University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Anjanasree K. Neelakandan Iowa State University, [email protected] See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/plantpath_pubs Part of the Genetics Commons, and the Plant Pathology Commons The complete bibliographic information for this item can be found at https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ plantpath_pubs/283. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/howtocite.html. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Plant Pathology and Microbiology Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Protein expression and gene editing in monocots using foxtail mosaic virus vectors Abstract Plant viruses can be engineered to carry sequences that direct silencing of target host genes, expression of heterologous proteins, or editing of host genes. A set of foxtail mosaic virus (FoMV) vectors was developed that can be used for transient gene expression and single guide RNA delivery for Cas9‐mediated gene editing in maize, Setaria viridis, and Nicotiana benthamiana. This was accomplished by duplicating the FoMV capsid protein subgenomic promoter, abolishing the unnecessary open reading frame 5A, and inserting a cloning site containing unique restriction endonuclease cleavage sites immediately after the duplicated promoter. The modified oMVF vectors transiently expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) and bialaphos resistance (BAR) protein in leaves of systemically infected maize seedlings. GFP was detected in epidermal and mesophyll cells by epifluorescence microscopy, and expression was confirmed yb Western blot analyses. Plants infected with FoMV carrying the bar gene were temporarily protected from a glufosinate herbicide, and expression was confirmed using a apidr antibody‐based BAR strip test. Expression of these proteins was stabilized by nucleotide substitutions in the sequence of the duplicated promoter region. Single guide RNAs expressed from the duplicated promoter mediated edits in the N. benthamiana Phytoene desaturase gene, the S. viridis Carbonic anhydrase 2 gene, and the maize HKT1 gene encoding a potassium transporter. The efficiency of editing was enhanced in the presence of synergistic viruses and a viral silencing suppressor. This work expands the utility of FoMV for virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS), virus‐mediated overexpression (VOX), and virus‐enabled gene editing (VEdGE) in monocots. Keywords Cas9, CRISPR, gene editing, gene expression, guide RNA, virus Disciplines Genetics | Plant Pathology | Plant Sciences Comments This article is published as Mei, Yu, Bliss M. Beernink, Evan E. Ellison, Eva Konečná, Anjanasree K. Neelakandan, Daniel F. Voytas, and Steven A. Whitham. "Protein expression and gene editing in monocots using foxtail mosaic virus vectors." Plant direct 3 (2019): e00181. doi: 10.1002/pld3.181. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Authors Yu Mei, Bliss Beernink, Evan E. Ellison, Eva Konečná, Anjanasree K. Neelakandan, Daniel F. Voytas, and Steven A. Whitham This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/plantpath_pubs/283 Received: 8 October 2019 | Revised: 8 October 2019 | Accepted: 24 October 2019 DOI: 10.1002/pld3.181 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Protein expression and gene editing in monocots using foxtail mosaic virus vectors Yu Mei1 | Bliss M. Beernink1 | Evan E. Ellison2 | Eva Konečná2 | Anjanasree K. Neelakandan3 | Daniel F. Voytas2 | Steven A. Whitham1 1Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, Abstract IA, USA Plant viruses can be engineered to carry sequences that direct silencing of target host 2 Department of Genetics, Cell Biology genes, expression of heterologous proteins, or editing of host genes. A set of fox- and Development, Center for Genome Engineering, Center for Precision Plant tail mosaic virus (FoMV) vectors was developed that can be used for transient gene Genomics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, expression and single guide RNA delivery for Cas9-mediated gene editing in maize, MN, USA 3Department of Genetics, Development and Setaria viridis, and Nicotiana benthamiana. This was accomplished by duplicating the Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, FoMV capsid protein subgenomic promoter, abolishing the unnecessary open read- IA, USA ing frame 5A, and inserting a cloning site containing unique restriction endonuclease Correspondence cleavage sites immediately after the duplicated promoter. The modified FoMV vec- Steven A. Whitham, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State tors transiently expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) and bialaphos resistance University, 1344 Advanced Teaching and (BAR) protein in leaves of systemically infected maize seedlings. GFP was detected Research Building, 2213 Pammel Dr., Ames, IA 50011, USA. in epidermal and mesophyll cells by epifluorescence microscopy, and expression was Email: [email protected] confirmed by Western blot analyses. Plants infected with FoMV carrying the bar Funding information gene were temporarily protected from a glufosinate herbicide, and expression was This work was supported by the Iowa confirmed using a rapid antibody-based BAR strip test. Expression of these proteins State University Plant Sciences Institute (SAW), the Iowa State University Crop was stabilized by nucleotide substitutions in the sequence of the duplicated pro- Bioengineering Center (SAW), USDA NIFA moter region. Single guide RNAs expressed from the duplicated promoter mediated Hatch project number 3808 (SAW), and Department of Energy grant DE-SC0018277 edits in the N. benthamiana Phytoene desaturase gene, the S. viridis Carbonic anhydrase (DFV). Iowa State University and University 2 gene, and the maize HKT1 gene encoding a potassium transporter. The efficiency of Minnesota are part of a team supporting DARPA's Insect Allies program. of editing was enhanced in the presence of synergistic viruses and a viral silencing suppressor. This work expands the utility of FoMV for virus-induced gene silenc- ing (VIGS), virus-mediated overexpression (VOX), and virus-enabled gene editing (VEdGE) in monocots. KEYWORDS Cas9, CRISPR, gene editing, gene expression, guide RNA, virus This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2019 The Authors. Plant Direct published by American Society of Plant Biologists and the Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Plant Direct. 2019;3:1–16. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pld3 | 1 2 | MEI ET AL. 1 | INTRODUCTION (Draghici & Varrelmann, 2009). The overlapping ORFs 2, 3, and 4 are known as the triple gene block (TGB) with functions in virus move- Plant viruses provide surprisingly versatile technology platforms en- ment and suppression of host defense (Verchot-Lubicz, 2005). ORF5 abling the expression of a wide array of coding and non-coding se- encodes the coat protein (CP), which is indispensable for virus as- quences in plants (Pasin, Menzel, & Daros, 2019). Viruses engineered sembly and cell-to-cell movement (Cruz, Roberts, Prior, Chapman, & to carry heterologous open reading frames (ORFs) can express the Oparka, 1998). In addition to the five ORFs, the FoMV genome has a encoded proteins (VOX). Viruses that carry fragments of plant genes unique ORF5A that initiates 144 nucleotides upstream of the CP, but in sense and antisense orientation cause virus-induced gene silenc- it is not required for replication or for systemic infection of N. benth- ing (VIGS) of the targeted sequence, or microRNA inserts can initiate amiana or barley (Robertson et al., 2000). silencing with high specificity. Most recently, it has been demon- Recently, the FoMV-based viral vectors have been developed for strated that plant viruses or their derivatives can be used to deliver both VIGS and gene expression (Bouton et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2016; CRISPR-Cas reagents consisting of single guide RNAs (gRNAs), DNA Liu & Kearney, 2010; Mei et al., 2016). Two versions of FoMV-based repair templates, and site-specific nucleases such as Cas9 (Ali et VIGS vectors and their applications in maize and other monocots al., 2015; Ali, Eid, Ali, & Mahfouz, 2018; Butler, Baltes, Voytas, & have been reported. Our original FoMV-VIGS vector carried the Douches, 2016; Cody, Scholthof, & Mirkov, 2017; Dahan-Meir et al., insertion site for target gene fragments immediately after the stop 2018; Gao et al., 2019; Gil-Humanes et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2019; codon of ORF5, which worked well for VIGS, but it cannot be used Mahas, Ali, Tashkandi, & Mahfouz, 2019; Wang et al., 2017). These for gene expression (Mei et al., 2016). The FoMV-VIGS vector re- capabilities show that plant viruses can be useful biotechnological ported by Liu et al. (2016) is designed to carry target sequences for