Avinash, S. P. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2026

AI-designed nuclease performs robust knock out, base editing and prime editing in plants

Genome-editing applications in biological organisms rely on a limited set of naturally occurring enzymes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming protein design. Here, building on the AI-designed nuclease OpenCRISPR-1, we establish the plant-optimized AI-designed editors (PAiD) as a versatile genome-editing platform in plants. PAiD supports NHEJ-mediated indel generation, adenine and cytosine base editing, and prime editing, with robust performance across multiple loci comparable to SpCas9. These results highlight the translational potential of AI-designed nucleases for plant genome engineering.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Prime editing of an evolutionarily informed PEPC residue enhances photosynthesis and grain nutrition in C₃ rice

C4 photosynthesis evolved through adaptive changes in key metabolic enzymes that enhance carbon fixation efficiency, yet transferring such traits into C3 crops has met limited success. Using precision prime editing, we introduced an evolutionarily conserved single amino acid substitution (Arg[->]Gly) into phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) in rice. Edited plants exhibited enhanced PEPC activity in the presence of the feedback inhibitor malate, increased chlorophyll content, elevated photosynthetic rates under ambient CO2, and increased seed size and weight. Remarkably, seeds from the edited lines showed simultaneous enrichment of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), and protein, hereafter referred to as ZiP rice. This work demonstrates that a single, evolutionarily guided residue change can reprogram core carbon metabolism in a C3 crop, enabling concurrent improvements in photosynthesis and grain nutritional quality.

plant biology↗