Base editing in plants: Current status and challenges

Genome editing technologies have revolutionized the field of plant science by enabling targeted modification of plant genomes and are emerging as powerful tools for both plant gene functional analyses and crop improvement. Although homology-directed repair (HDR) is a feasible approach to achieve precise gene replacement and base substitution in some plant species, the dominance of the non-homologous end joining pathway and low efficiency of HDR in plant cells have limited its application. Base editing has emerged as an alternative tool to HDR-mediated replacement, facilitating precise editing of plant genome by converting one single base to another in a programmable manner without a double-stranded break and a donor repair template. In this review, we summarize the latest developments in base-editing technologies as well as their underlying mechanisms. We review current applications of these technologies in plant species. Finally, we address the challenges and future perspectives of this emerging technology in plants.