Transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana with CRISPR/Cas9 -modified AtHMA4 (Heavy-metal ATPase-4) using floral dip to increase Zn2+ tolerance

Abstract

This study utilizes recent plasmid-designing technology to customize guide-RNA plasmids encoded with the CRISPR/Cas9 system in order to artificially increase zinc tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana via the truncation of the Cterminal peptide sequence of the AtHMA4 enzyme. A. thaliana plants were transformed via floral dip in order to grow future generations of plants in hopes of increasing their nutritional value to combat global malnutrition.