單鹼基編輯技術可以實現目標基因組位點的鹼基替換,能夠在多種應用場景中發揮作用。然而,脫靶是其商業化應用的主要問題之一。全基因組測序(WGS)可以提供全基因組水平上的直接變異信息,能夠對編輯個體進行脫靶分析和評估,但如何將脫靶變異和背景變異區分開,是一個較難解決的問題。最近,中科院遺傳發育所高彩霞團隊詳細描述了一種無偏WGS方法,可用於精準評估水稻基因組上的鹼基編輯情況。
該方法利用高質量的參考基因組來縮小測序品種與參考序列之間的遺傳差異;利用來自同一植株的種子誘導的愈傷組織來降低植株群體內的異質性;同時對受體植物進行測序,以減少受體基因組和參考基因組的差異;以農桿菌轉化植株作為最佳對照組,以降低組培轉化對基因組的影響。
研究人員詳細描述了實驗的設計和流程,並提供了載體構建、水稻轉化和組織培養的細節,以及一個全面的WGS數據分析流程,以解決不同物種中兩個相關的核心問題:檢測群體的異質性和編輯過程的高背景突變率。研究者使用該方法可以在12-15周內直接而準確地評估鹼基編輯工具和其他基因編輯工具(例如ZFNs、TALENs、CRISPR等)在全基因組上的特異性情況。不過該方法不太適合應用於玉米、小麥等基因組大而複雜的植物上。
研究人員使用該方法對常用的胞嘧啶鹼基編輯器BE3和腺嘌呤鹼基編輯器ABE7.10的特異性進行了評估,發現BE3在全基因組水平上誘導了大量的不依賴sgRNA的脫靶C>T鹼基變異。這些脫靶鹼基變異在基因區域中富集。因此,進一步優化胞嘧啶鹼基編輯器的特異性十分必要。
Nature Protocols, 21 December 2020
An unbiased method for evaluating the genome-wide specificity of base editors in rice
Author
Shuai Jin, Qiang Gao & Caixia Gao*
*: State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Center for Genome Editing, Institute of Geneticsand Developmental Biology, Innovation Academy for Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Abstract
Base editors can achieve targeted genomic base conversion. However, the off-target issue is one of the major concerns in their application. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) at the individual level can provide direct information on genome-wide specificity, but it is difficult to distinguish true off-target single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) induced by base editors from background variation. Here we describe an unbiased WGS method for evaluating the specificity of base editors in rice. In this protocol, we describe the experimental design and provide details of vector construction, rice transformation and tissue culture, as well as a comprehensive WGS data analysis pipeline for overcoming two related core problems in various plant species: high background mutation rates and the heterogeneity of examined populations. Using this protocol, researchers can straight forwardly and accurately assess the genome-wide specificity of base editors and other genome editing tools in 12–15 weeks.
查看全文請戳下方「閱讀原文」!