<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v2.3 20070202//EN" "journalpublishing.dtd">
<article xml:lang="EN" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" article-type="research-article">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">Front. Plant Sci.</journal-id>
<journal-title>Frontiers in Plant Science</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="pubmed">Front. Plant Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
<issn pub-type="epub">1664-462X</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>Frontiers Media S.A.</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3389/fpls.2022.848723</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Plant Science</subject>
<subj-group>
<subject>Original Research</subject>
</subj-group>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>CRISPR/Cas9-Targeted Mutagenesis of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> Genes Confers Low-Erucic Acid in <italic>Brassica napus</italic></article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name><surname>Liu</surname> <given-names>Yunhao</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="author-notes" rid="fn002"><sup>&#x2020;</sup></xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name><surname>Du</surname> <given-names>Zhuolin</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="author-notes" rid="fn002"><sup>&#x2020;</sup></xref>
<uri xlink:href="http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1626144/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name><surname>Lin</surname> <given-names>Shengli</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>Haoming</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>Shaoping</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
<uri xlink:href="http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/853729/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name><surname>Guo</surname> <given-names>Liang</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c001"><sup>&#x002A;</sup></xref>
<uri xlink:href="http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/822741/overview"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
<name><surname>Tang</surname> <given-names>Shan</given-names></name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"><sup>1</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"><sup>2</sup></xref>
<xref ref-type="corresp" rid="c002"><sup>&#x002A;</sup></xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="aff1"><sup>1</sup><institution>National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University</institution>, <addr-line>Wuhan</addr-line>, <country>China</country></aff>
<aff id="aff2"><sup>2</sup><institution>Hubei Hongshan Laboratory</institution>, <addr-line>Wuhan</addr-line>, <country>China</country></aff>
<author-notes>
<fn fn-type="edited-by"><p>Edited by: Hyun Uk Kim, Sejong University, South Korea</p></fn>
<fn fn-type="edited-by"><p>Reviewed by: Kyeong-Ryeol Lee, Rural Development Administration, South Korea; John Harwood, Cardiff University, United Kingdom</p></fn>
<corresp id="c001">&#x002A;Correspondence: Liang Guo, <email>guoliang@mail.hzau.edu.cn</email></corresp>
<corresp id="c002">Shan Tang, <email>tangshan@mail.hzau.edu.cn</email></corresp>
<fn fn-type="equal" id="fn002"><p><sup>&#x2020;</sup>These authors have contributed equally to this work</p></fn>
<fn fn-type="other" id="fn004"><p>This article was submitted to Crop and Product Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science</p></fn>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>10</day>
<month>02</month>
<year>2022</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection">
<year>2022</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>13</volume>
<elocation-id>848723</elocation-id>
<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>05</day>
<month>01</month>
<year>2022</year>
</date>
<date date-type="accepted">
<day>20</day>
<month>01</month>
<year>2022</year>
</date>
</history>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright &#x00A9; 2022 Liu, Du, Lin, Li, Lu, Guo and Tang.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2022</copyright-year>
<copyright-holder>Liu, Du, Lin, Li, Lu, Guo and Tang</copyright-holder>
<license xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><p>This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.</p></license>
</permissions>
<abstract>
<p>Rapeseed (<italic>Brassica napus</italic>) is an important oilseed crop widely planted in the world, providing substantial edible oil and other nutrients for mankind. The composition of fatty acids affects the edible and processing quality of vegetable oils, among which erucic acid (EA) is potentially to cause health problems. Therefore, low erucic acid (LEA) has always been a breeding trait of <italic>B. napus</italic>. <italic>Fatty acid elongase 1</italic> (<italic>FAE1</italic>) plays a decisive role in the synthesis of EA. There are two functional homologous copies of <italic>FAE1</italic> on the A08 and C03 chromosomes in <italic>B. napus</italic>. In this study, we used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to create targeted mutations on these two homologous copies of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> in three <italic>B. napus</italic> germplasms with high EA (&#x003E;30%) and high oil (&#x003E;50%). Our results show that the EA content was significantly reduced by more than 10 percentage points in the mutant of <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> (<italic>c03</italic>), while the double mutation of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> (<italic>a08c03</italic>) resulted in nearly zero EA in three <italic>BnaFAE1-</italic>edited germplasms, and the oleic acid content was increased in different degrees. In addition, knockout of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> or/and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> mildly decreased seed oil content, but had no significant effect on other agronomic traits. In general, we successfully created low EA germplasms of <italic>B. napus</italic>, which provides a feasible way for future low EA breeding.</p>
</abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd><italic>Brassica napus</italic></kwd>
<kwd>CRISPR/Cas9</kwd>
<kwd><italic>FAE1</italic></kwd>
<kwd>erucic acid</kwd>
<kwd>seed oil content</kwd>
</kwd-group>
<counts>
<fig-count count="5"/>
<table-count count="0"/>
<equation-count count="0"/>
<ref-count count="40"/>
<page-count count="7"/>
<word-count count="4697"/>
</counts>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body>
<sec id="S1" sec-type="intro">
<title>Introduction</title>
<p>In oilseeds, the <italic>de novo</italic> synthesis of fatty acids occurs in plastids with acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) as substrates. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the condensation of acetyl-CoA and CO<sub>2</sub> to form malonyl-CoA, then the malonyl group of malonyl-CoA is transferred from CoA to acyl carrier protein (ACP) under the catalysis of malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein malonyltransferase (MCMT). Acetyl-CoA and malonyl-ACP, respectively, enter the fatty acid synthesis complex (FAS) and undergo a series of reactions including condensation, reduction, dehydration, and re-reduction to form C4:0-ACP. Going through the same cycle reaction, C4:0-ACP reacts with acetyl-CoA, adding two carbons every cycle, to produce C16:0-ACP eventually. In the first cycle, the condensation reaction is catalyzed by ketoacyl-ACP synthase III (KAS III) and the condensation reactions in the next six turns of the cycles are then catalyzed by ketoacyl-ACP synthase I (KAS I). Each cycle uses malonyl-ACP as a source of 2C units (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B25">Ohlrogge and Browse, 1995</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B20">Li-Beisson et al., 2013</xref>). The synthesized C16:0-ACP is extended to C18:0-ACP under the action of 3-ketoacyl-ACP synthases II (KAS II), then C18:0-ACP is desaturated to form C18:1-ACP by stearoyl-ACP desaturase (SAD). The synthesized C16- or C18-ACP are released from FAS to form free fatty acids by acyl-ACP thioeserase (FAT), and the fatty acids are catalyzed to acyl-CoA by long-chain acyl-CoA synthase (LACS) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B6">Chapman and Ohlrogge, 2012</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B20">Li-Beisson et al., 2013</xref>). These acyl-CoA are transported to the endoplasmic reticulum, and then the fatty acid chain is desaturated and extended. Oleic acid (C18:1) is desaturated to form linoleic acid (C18:2) and linolenic acid (C18:3) under the catalysis of fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and fatty acid desaturase 3 (FAD3), or is extended to C20-C24 very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) by the fatty acid elongase 1 (<italic>FAE1</italic>) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B4">Browse and Somerville, 1991</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B20">Li-Beisson et al., 2013</xref>).</p>
<p>Emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 provides researchers and breeders a powerful tool to study gene function and obtain desired traits by precise and efficient mutagenesis of specific genes (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B30">Razzaq et al., 2019</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B18">Li et al., 2021</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B40">Zhang et al., 2021</xref>). In recent years, gene editing technology has been widely used in fatty acid improvement. CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome editing of <italic>FAD2</italic> could produce high oleic acid/low linoleic acid seeds in <italic>Camelina sativa</italic> (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B13">Jiang et al., 2017</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B24">Morineau et al., 2017</xref>), rice (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B1">Abe et al., 2018</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B3">Bahariah et al., 2021</xref>), rapeseed (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B26">Okuzaki et al., 2018</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B12">Huang et al., 2020</xref>), peanut (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B39">Yuan et al., 2019</xref>), soybean (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B28">Pham et al., 2012</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B2">Al Amin et al., 2019</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B36">Wu et al., 2020</xref>), which provides a new idea for the breeding of oil crops with high oleic acid. In addition, knocking out <italic>FAE1</italic> by CRISPR technology could significantly reduce VLCFAs from 22 to &#x003C;2% in <italic>C. sativa</italic> (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B27">Ozseyhan et al., 2018</xref>).</p>
<p>Rapeseed is one of the most important oil crops and produces <sup>&#x007E;</sup>13% of edible oil globally (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B33">Tang et al., 2021</xref>). Erucic acid (EA, <italic>cis</italic>-D13 C22:1 fatty acid, hereafter abbreviated as C22:1) is found in many vegetable oils. It has been publicly recognized that EA is one of the major factors that restrain the utilization of rapeseed oil containing high EA for edible oil (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B15">Knutsen et al., 2016</xref>). In the history of rapeseed genetic improvement, low erucic acid (LEA) revolution made great contributions to the popularization of rapeseed oil. In 1960s, a natural LEA mutant was identified in a feed rapeseed &#x201C;Liho&#x201D; (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B32">Stefansson et al., 1961</xref>). F1 seeds from cross between this mutant and a high EA variety displayed intermediate EAC between those of its parents, suggesting the genetic regulators of EAC act in an additive manner. The segregation ratios of EACs in F2 and F3 seeds were in good agreement with the theoretical ratios under regulation of two genes (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B11">Harvey and Downey, 1964</xref>). These two genes were identified to be <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> in rapeseed and two <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> genes on chromosome A08 and C03 play major roles in the synthesis of EA (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B10">Gupta et al., 2004</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B29">Qu et al., 2017</xref>).</p>
<p>At present, breeders own multiple <italic>Brassica napus</italic> germplasms with high seed oil content (SOC), but they cannot be well utilized in breeding because many high SOC germplasms contain high EAC. In order to improve the EAC of three germplasms and evaluate the impact of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> on the agronomic traits of <italic>B. napus</italic>, we used gene editing technology to knock out the <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> genes, and finally obtained <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> knockout mutants with reduced EAC. The EAC of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> double mutants were almost reduced to zero, while the content of C18:1 was greatly increased to more than 66%. This study provides new LEA germplasm resources for the breeding of <italic>B. napus</italic>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2" sec-type="materials|methods">
<title>Materials and Methods</title>
<sec id="S2.SS1">
<title>Plant Materials</title>
<p>The germplasms used in this study were three high SOC and high EA <italic>B. napus</italic> inbred lines WH3411, WH3417, and GY284, which were obtained from the National Engineering Research Center of Rapeseed, Wuhan, China.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS2">
<title>Sequence Alignment and Gene Expression Analysis</title>
<p>Amino acid sequences in this research were found from the Tair<sup><xref ref-type="fn" rid="footnote1">1</xref></sup> and <italic>B. napus</italic> transcriptome information resource (BnTIR)<sup><xref ref-type="fn" rid="footnote2">2</xref></sup> (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B21">Liu et al., 2021</xref>). Amino acid sequence alignment was performed by MEGA7 and gene expression data of <italic>FAE1</italic>s in <italic>B. napus</italic> were obtained from BnTIR (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B21">Liu et al., 2021</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS3">
<title>Construction of CRISPR/Cas9 Vector</title>
<p>To generate <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> mutants, two sgRNAs simultaneously targeting at <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were designed by CRISPR-P<sup><xref ref-type="fn" rid="footnote3">3</xref></sup> (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B16">Lei et al., 2014</xref>) and putative off-target sites were manually eliminated. U6-26 and U6-29 promoters from Arabidopsis were employed to separately drive these two sgRNA cassettes, which were fused in T-DNA region of pKSE410 vector carrying a Kanamycin selection marker (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B37">Xing et al., 2014</xref>). Primers used in the construction of the CRISPR/Cas9 vector were listed in <xref ref-type="supplementary-material" rid="TS1">Supplementary Table 1</xref>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS4">
<title><italic>Agrobacterium</italic>-Mediated Transformation of <italic>Brassica napus</italic></title>
<p><italic>Agrobacterium tumefaciens</italic> (GV3101 strain) cells were transfected with the BnaFAE1-CRISPR-Cas9 recombinant plasmid by electroporation method. <italic>A. tumefaciens</italic>-mediated hypocotyl transformation in <italic>B. napus</italic> were conducted as previously described (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B7">Dai et al., 2020</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS5">
<title>Identification of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> Mutants</title>
<p>T0 plants were obtained by kanamycin screening (25 mg/L), and the Cas9 protein was identified by primer pairs Cas9F/R. Then the positive plants with Cas9 were selected to amplify <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic>, respectively, and the amplified fragments were sequenced and analyzed to identify edited T0 mutants. To obtain homozygous mutants, the T0 mutants were self-crossed for T1 and T2 generations and confirmed by sequencing. Primers used in the identification were listed in <xref ref-type="supplementary-material" rid="TS1">Supplementary Table 1</xref>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS6">
<title>Field Experiments and Investigation of Agronomic Traits</title>
<p>T0 and T1 mutant plants and WT plants were grown in a greenhouse (16/8 h of light/dark at 22&#x00B0;C) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The confirmed homozygous T2 mutant lines without Cas9 were grown in the winter-type growing season (2020&#x2013;2021) in the experimental farm of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. The field experiment followed a randomized complete block with three replications. Each line was planted in one row with 8&#x2013;10 plants, with a distance of 21 cm between plants within each row and 30 cm between rows. The field management was performed in line with standard breeding practice. Yield-related traits including plant height, branch height, branch number, silique length, number of siliques per plant, 1000-seed weight, and yield per plant were measured as described previously (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B5">Cai et al., 2016</xref>).</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S2.SS7">
<title>Analysis of Seed Quality-Related Traits</title>
<p>Mature seeds were harvested and dried for the measurement of seed quality-related traits, including fatty acids composition and SOC. Fatty acids were extracted using the gas chromatograph (GC) fatty acid methyl ester method as described previously (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B22">Lu et al., 2016</xref>). A total of nine fatty acid species were measured with an Agilent 6890 GC. SOC is scanned by near infrared spectroscopy using 2000&#x2013;3000 seeds per scan (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B9">Gan et al., 2003</xref>).</p>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec id="S3" sec-type="results">
<title>Results</title>
<sec id="S3.SS1">
<title>Selection and Identification of Three High Erucic Acid and High Seed Oil Content <italic>Brassica napus</italic> Seeds</title>
<p>Three natural <italic>B. napus</italic> germplasms WH3411, WH3417, and GY284 were selected and their fatty acid composition characters were measured. Fatty acids were determined by GC analysis, and the results show that EA of these three germplasms were between 31.05 and 34.95 mol% (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F1">Figure 1A</xref>). SOC was measured by near infrared spectroscopy, and the SOC of three germplasms ranged from 51.28 to 53.08% (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F1">Figure 1B</xref>). The results show that WH3411, WH3417, and GY284 have high EAC and high SOC.</p>
<fig id="F1" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 1</label>
<caption><p>Fatty acid composition and oil content of three germplasms (WH3411, WH3417, GY284). <bold>(A)</bold> Fatty acids were extracted from mature seeds and analyzed using the gas chromatograph method. Values are means &#x00B1; SD (<italic>n</italic> = 3&#x223C;5). <bold>(B)</bold> Seed oil content is determined by near infrared spectroscopy. Values are means &#x00B1; SD (<italic>n</italic> = 12&#x223C;20).</p></caption>
<graphic mimetype="image" mime-subtype="tiff" xlink:href="fpls-13-848723-g001.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="S3.SS2">
<title>Creation of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> Mutants by CRISPR/Cas9</title>
<p>In order to reduce EA in above three germplasms, CRISPR/Cas9 technology was employed to knock out <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F2">Figure 2A</xref>). There are four homologous copies of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> in <italic>B. napus</italic> and the expression data in different tissues showed that <italic>BnaA03.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1-2</italic> were barely expressed in different tissues, while <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were mainly expressed in the developing seeds, especially in the middle and late periods of seed development (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F2">Figure 2B</xref>). Based on the expression levels, <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were selected to design target mutation sites. Both <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were about 1500 bp in size and only consisted of one exon. We designed target sites at <sup>&#x007E;</sup>600 and 1300 bp, respectively. As a result, homozygous <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> mutations (<italic>c03</italic>) of WH3411, WH3417, and GY284, and homozygous <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> double mutations (<italic>a08c03</italic>) of WH3411 and WH3417 were identified by sequencing in T2 generation (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F2">Figure 2C</xref> and <xref ref-type="supplementary-material" rid="PS1">Supplementary Figure 1</xref>). All of them cause early termination of translation except <italic>a08c03<sup>WH3417</sup></italic> has one amino acid deletion and one amino acid mutations in the <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> (<xref ref-type="supplementary-material" rid="PS1">Supplementary Figure 2</xref>).</p>
<fig id="F2" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 2</label>
<caption><p><italic>BnaFAE1</italic> gene analysis and mutant generation. <bold>(A)</bold> Illustration of desaturation and elongation of fatty acids. Red cross indicates mutation of <italic>FAE1</italic> genes to block the synthesis of EA. <bold>(B)</bold> Expression pattern of <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> in different tissues. <bold>(C)</bold> Location of CRISPR/Cas9 sgRNA-1 and sgRNA-2 targeting <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> genes and sequencing identification of T2 homozygous mutants. PAM is indicated in green. Red &#x201C;-&#x201D; means deletions. Red font indicates nucleotide insertions and substitutions.</p></caption>
<graphic mimetype="image" mime-subtype="tiff" xlink:href="fpls-13-848723-g002.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="S3.SS3">
<title>CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Mutations in <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> Greatly Reduce Erucic Acid Content in <italic>Brassica napus</italic> Seed</title>
<p>We analyzed the fatty acids of mature seeds of T2 generation by GC method, and the results showed that the C22:1 of <italic>c03</italic> and <italic>a08c03</italic> was decreased from 34.9 to 19.3 and 0.07% when WH3411 was used as receptor. In addition, the composition of oleic acid (C18:1) in <italic>c03</italic> and <italic>a08c03</italic> was increased from 22.9 to 35.6 and 66.0%, respectively. Moreover, the composition of linoleic acid (C18:2) was increased to varied degrees (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F3">Figure 3A</xref>). In WH3417, the C22:1 of <italic>c03</italic> and <italic>a08c03</italic> was decreased from 31.0 to 18.8 and 0.03%, respectively. Meanwhile, C18:1 was increased from 25.0 to 32.9 and 66.2% in <italic>c03</italic> and <italic>a08c03</italic>, respectively (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F3">Figure 3B</xref>). Only homozygous <italic>a08c03</italic> double mutant was obtained in GY284 background. The composition of C22:1 was reduced from 34.6 to 0.02%. C18:1 was increased from 22.8 to 67.3% and C18:2 was increased from 12.4 to 15.2% (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F3">Figure 3C</xref>). These results suggest that knocking out of <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> can greatly reduce EAC and increase the content of oleic acid and linoleic acid in <italic>B. napus</italic>.</p>
<fig id="F3" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 3</label>
<caption><p>The fatty acid composition phenotype of T2 mutants. Phenotype of fatty acid composition in WH3411 <bold>(A)</bold>, WH3417 <bold>(B)</bold>, and GY284 <bold>(C)</bold> backgrounds. <italic>c03</italic> represents <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> homozygous mutant. <italic>a08c03</italic> represents <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> homozygous double mutant. Values are means &#x00B1; SD (<italic>n</italic> = 3&#x223C;5). &#x002A;<italic>P</italic> &#x2264; 0.05; &#x002A;&#x002A;<italic>P</italic> &#x2264; 0.01.</p></caption>
<graphic mimetype="image" mime-subtype="tiff" xlink:href="fpls-13-848723-g003.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="S3.SS4">
<title>Mutation of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> Results in Mild Decrease of Seed Oil Content</title>
<p>To determine whether the mutation of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> affects the SOC, SOC of these mutant lines was analyzed by near infrared spectroscopy. The results indicate that the SOC of <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> mutant (<italic>c03</italic>) was not significantly altered in WH3411 and WH3417 background (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F4">Figures 4A,B</xref>). The SOC of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> double mutants (<italic>a08c03</italic>) was significantly reduced from 51.28, 51.49, and 53.08% to 46.69, 49.96, and 50.17%, respectively, in WH3411, WH3417, and GY284 background (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F4">Figures 4A&#x2013;C</xref>). The results indicate that knocking out of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> simultaneously could slightly reduce seed oil accumulation in <italic>B. napus</italic>.</p>
<fig id="F4" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 4</label>
<caption><p>Seed oil content of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> mutants. Seed oil content of WH3411 <bold>(A)</bold>, WH3417 <bold>(B)</bold>, and GY284 <bold>(C)</bold> and their Bna<italic>FAE1</italic> mutants was determined by near infrared spectroscopy. <italic>c03</italic> represents <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> homozygous mutant. <italic>a08c03</italic> represents <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> homozygous double mutant. Values are means &#x00B1; SD (<italic>n</italic> = 6&#x223C;20). &#x002A;<italic>P</italic> &#x2264; 0.05; &#x002A;&#x002A;<italic>P</italic> &#x2264; 0.01.</p></caption>
<graphic mimetype="image" mime-subtype="tiff" xlink:href="fpls-13-848723-g004.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
<sec id="S3.SS5">
<title>Investigation of Agronomic Trait in Field</title>
<p>To evaluate the impact of knockout of <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> on the agronomic traits, mutant lines were sown in field under the natural environment. During the whole growth period, the mutants did not show obvious visible difference in growth. At mature stage, these mutants did not exhibit obvious morphological changes compared with WT (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F5">Figures 5A&#x2013;C</xref>). Meantime, we investigated the agronomic traits including plant height, branch number, branch length, silique number, silique length, thousand seed weight, and yield. The results show that these agronomic traits were not significantly altered in these mutants (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F5">Figure 5D</xref>), indicating that knockout of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> or/and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> had no significant effect on plant growth and yield.</p>
<fig id="F5" position="float">
<label>FIGURE 5</label>
<caption><p>Agronomic traits investigation. <bold>(A&#x2013;C)</bold> Morphology of WH3411, WH3417, GY284, and their Bna<italic>FAE1</italic> mutants. <bold>(D)</bold> Comparison of agronomic traits of WH3411, WH3417, GY284 with their <italic>FAE1</italic> mutants. Values are means &#x00B1; SD (<italic>n</italic> = 6&#x223C;8).</p></caption>
<graphic mimetype="image" mime-subtype="tiff" xlink:href="fpls-13-848723-g005.tif"/>
</fig>
</sec>
</sec>
<sec id="S4" sec-type="discussion">
<title>Discussion</title>
<p>The synthetic pathway of EA involves a variety of enzymes, including 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS), 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase (KCR), 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydratase (HCD), and <italic>trans</italic>-2,3-enoyl-CoA reductase (ECR) (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B38">Yu et al., 2011</xref>). Among these, the KCS encoded by <italic>FAE1</italic> was the most critical one (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B23">Millar and Kunst, 1997</xref>). Therefore, finding or creating <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> mutants has become an important way to cultivate LEA <italic>B. napus</italic> varieties. Until now, there are two main methods to acquire LEA mutants. One is to screen from natural or EMS mutagenic mutants (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B11">Harvey and Downey, 1964</xref>; <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B35">Wang et al., 2008</xref>), and the other is to inhibit <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> expression by RNAi (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B14">Js et al., 2017</xref>). In this study, new LEA mutants were created using CRISPR/Cas9-driven knockout of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> using three high SOC and high EAC germplasms, which broadens the breeding resources of <italic>B. napus</italic> with LEA.</p>
<p>In addition, this study shows that CRISPR/Cas9 induced mutation of the <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> genes significantly changed the fatty acid profiles in seeds, resulting in significantly decreased EA. The reduction of EA in the double mutant (<italic>a08c03</italic>) is much stronger than that in the single mutant (<italic>c03</italic>), which indicates that <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> have a dose effect on EA level, and <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> have certain functional redundancy. This is also consistent with previous results (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B31">Stefansson and Hougen, 1964</xref>). Previous studies have reported that the content of VLCFAs in the <italic>FAE1</italic> mutants of <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> was greatly reduced, while the content of oleic acid was significantly increased (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B17">Lemieux et al., 1990</xref>). In this study, we also observed similar results, especially in the <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> double mutants (<italic>a08c03</italic>), and the oleic acid content significantly increased (over 66%), accompanying with the increase of linoleic acid (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="F3">Figure 3</xref>). Taken together, our results demonstrate that knockout of the <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> substantially improves the nutritional quality of <italic>B. napus</italic> seed oil.</p>
<p>Owing to the significance of high SOC and LEA in production, understanding of fatty acid metabolism and seed oil accumulation has obvious practical application value in oil crop breeding. Previous studies showed that <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> was significantly associated with SOC (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B19">Li et al., 2014</xref>). <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B8">Ecke et al. (1995)</xref> used the double haploid (DH) population to locate three SOC QTLs in the rape genome, and found that two of them were highly correlated with <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic>, and each additional high EA allele increased the SOC by 1 percentage point. Our results show that when <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> was knocked out, the SOC was not significantly decreased, and when both <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were knocked out, the SOC was decreased by 1.53&#x2013;4.59%. This is consistent with previous findings that inhibition of <italic>BnaFAE1</italic> expression significantly reduces the SOC (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B14">Js et al., 2017</xref>). In order to make up this penalty on oil content, favorable genes/alleles such as DAGT may be introduced into the mutant (<italic>a08c03</italic>) to promote seed oil accumulation (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B34">Taylor et al., 2009</xref>). Both <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> are highly expressed in developing seeds while have low expression in other tissues. It is not surprising that knockout of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> or/and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> had no obvious effect on agronomic traits and plant architecture of <italic>B. napus</italic>. Above results suggest that it is feasible to breed LEA <italic>B. napus</italic> using high EA germplasms by direct genome editing of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S5" sec-type="conclusion">
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>In brief, this is the first report using CRISPR/Cas9 to create LEA germplasms of <italic>B. napus</italic> by mutating <italic>BnaFAE1s</italic> in three germplasms with consistent results. The EAC was significantly reduced when <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> or/and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were mutated in different germplasms. The EA content was reduced to nearly zero when <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> were both knocked out. Our findings reveal that knockout of <italic>BnaA08.FAE1</italic> or/and <italic>BnaC03.FAE1</italic> had no remarkable effects on agronomic traits except mildly decreased SOC. Our work successfully generated new LEA germplasms for breeding LEA <italic>B. napus</italic>.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S6" sec-type="data-availability">
<title>Data Availability Statement</title>
<p>The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/<xref ref-type="supplementary-material" rid="TS1">Supplementary Material</xref>, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S7">
<title>Author Contributions</title>
<p>LG and ST designed this study. ZD, YL, SLi, and HL performed the experiments. YL and ST analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. LG, ST, and SLu revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="conf1" sec-type="COI-statement">
<title>Conflict of Interest</title>
<p>The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.</p>
</sec>
<sec id="pudiscl1" sec-type="disclaimer">
<title>Publisher&#x2019;s Note</title>
<p>All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.</p>
</sec>
</body>
<back>
<sec id="S8" sec-type="funding-information">
<title>Funding</title>
<p>The work was supported by grants from Hubei Hongshan Laboratory (2021HSZD004) and Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project (B20051).</p>
</sec>
<sec id="S9" sec-type="supplementary-material">
<title>Supplementary Material</title>
<p>The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.848723/full#supplementary-material">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.848723/full#supplementary-material</ext-link></p>
<supplementary-material xlink:href="Table_1.XLSX" id="TS1" mimetype="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
<supplementary-material xlink:href="Presentation_1.PPTX" id="PS1" mimetype="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
</sec>
<ref-list>
<title>References</title>
<ref id="B1"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Abe</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Araki</surname> <given-names>E.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Suzuki</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Toki</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Saika</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2018</year>). <article-title>Production of high oleic/low linoleic rice by genome editing.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Physiol. Biochem.</italic></source> <volume>131</volume> <fpage>58</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>62</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.04.033</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">29735369</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B2"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Al Amin</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ahmad</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wu</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Pu</surname> <given-names>X.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ma</surname> <given-names>T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Du</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2019</year>). <article-title>CRISPR-Cas9 mediated targeted disruption of FAD2-2 microsomal omega-6 desaturase in soybean (<italic>Glycine max</italic>. L).</article-title> <source><italic>BMC Biotechnol.</italic></source> <volume>19</volume>:<fpage>9</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1186/s12896-019-0501-2</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">30691438</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B3"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Bahariah</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Masani</surname> <given-names>M. Y. A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Rasid</surname> <given-names>O. A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Parveez</surname> <given-names>G. K. A.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2021</year>). <article-title>Multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of the FAD2 gene in rice: a model genome editing system for oil palm.</article-title> <source><italic>J. Genet. Eng. Biotechnol.</italic></source> <volume>19</volume>:<fpage>86</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1186/s43141-021-00185-4</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">34115267</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B4"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Browse</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Somerville</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1991</year>). <article-title>Glycerolipid synthesis: biochemistry and regulation.</article-title> <source><italic>Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol.</italic></source> <volume>42</volume> <fpage>467</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>506</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1146/annurev.pp.42.060191.002343</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B5"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Cai</surname> <given-names>G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yang</surname> <given-names>Q.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Chen</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yang</surname> <given-names>Q.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Fan</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2016</year>). <article-title>Genetic dissection of plant architecture and yield-related traits in <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Sci. Rep.</italic></source> <volume>6</volume>:<fpage>21625</fpage>.</citation></ref>
<ref id="B6"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Chapman</surname> <given-names>K. D.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ohlrogge</surname> <given-names>J. B.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2012</year>). <article-title>Compartmentation of triacylglycerol accumulation in plants.</article-title> <source><italic>J. Biol. Chem.</italic></source> <volume>287</volume> <fpage>2288</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>2294</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1074/jbc.R111.290072</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">22090025</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B7"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Dai</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Du</surname> <given-names>Z.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2020</year>). <article-title>An efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method using hypocotyl as explants for <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Mol. Breed.</italic></source> <volume>40</volume>:<fpage>96</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/s11032-020-01174-0</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B8"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Ecke</surname> <given-names>W.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Uzunova</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Weileder</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1995</year>). <article-title>Mapping the genome of rapeseed (<italic>Brassica napus</italic> L.). II. Localization of genes controlling erucic acid synthesis and seed oil content.</article-title> <source><italic>Theor. Appl. Genet.</italic></source> <volume>91</volume> <fpage>972</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>977</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/BF00223908</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">24169985</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B9"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Gan</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Sun</surname> <given-names>X. L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Jin</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Xiu</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wei</surname> <given-names>Z.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2003</year>). <article-title>Establishment of math models of NIRS analysis for oil and protein contents in seed of <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Sci. Agric. Sin.</italic></source> <volume>36</volume> <fpage>1609</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>1613</lpage>.</citation></ref>
<ref id="B10"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Gupta</surname> <given-names>V.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Mukhopadhyay</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Arumugam</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Sodhi</surname> <given-names>Y. S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Pental</surname> <given-names>D.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Pradhan</surname> <given-names>A. K.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2004</year>). <article-title>Molecular tagging of erucic acid trait in oilseed mustard (<italic>Brassica juncea</italic>) by QTL mapping and single nucleotide polymorphisms in FAE1 gene.</article-title> <source><italic>Theor. Appl. Genet.</italic></source> <volume>108</volume> <fpage>743</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>749</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/s00122-003-1481-z</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">14564400</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B11"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Harvey</surname> <given-names>B. L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Downey</surname> <given-names>R. K.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1964</year>). <article-title>The inheritance of erucic acid content in rapeseed (<italic>Brassica napus</italic>).</article-title> <source><italic>Can. J. Plant Sci.</italic></source> <volume>44</volume> <fpage>104</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>111</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4141/cjps64-019</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B12"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Huang</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Cui</surname> <given-names>T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yang</surname> <given-names>Q.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yang</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Xie</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2020</year>). <article-title>Modifications of fatty acid profile through targeted mutation at BnaFAD2 gene with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Theor. Appl. Genet.</italic></source> <volume>133</volume> <fpage>2401</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>2411</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/s00122-020-03607-y</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">32448919</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B13"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Jiang</surname> <given-names>W. Z.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Henry</surname> <given-names>I. M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lynagh</surname> <given-names>P. G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Comai</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Cahoon</surname> <given-names>E. B.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Weeks</surname> <given-names>D. P.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2017</year>). <article-title>Significant enhancement of fatty acid composition in seeds of the allohexaploid, <italic>Camelina sativa</italic>, using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Biotechnol. J.</italic></source> <volume>15</volume> <fpage>648</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>657</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1111/pbi.12663</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">27862889</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B14"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Js</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Cl</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Fw</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Xw</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Rl</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Tao</surname> <given-names>Z. A.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2017</year>). <article-title>Depressed expression of FAE1 and FAD2 genes modifies fatty acid profiles and storage compounds accumulation in <italic>Brassica napus</italic> seeds.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Sci.</italic></source> <volume>263</volume> <fpage>177</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>182</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.plantsci.2017.07.014</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">28818373</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B15"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Knutsen</surname> <given-names>H. K.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Alexander</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Barreg&#x00E5;rd</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Bignami</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Br&#x00FC;schweiler</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ceccatelli</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2016</year>). <article-title>Erucic acid in feed and food.</article-title> <source><italic>EFSA J.</italic></source> <volume>14</volume>:<fpage>e04593</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4593</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B16"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Lei</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Liu</surname> <given-names>H. Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Xing</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Chen</surname> <given-names>L. L.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2014</year>). <article-title>CRISPR-P: a web tool for synthetic single-guide RNA design of CRISPR-system in plants.</article-title> <source><italic>Mol. Plant</italic></source> <volume>7</volume> <fpage>1494</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>1496</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1093/mp/ssu044</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">24719468</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B17"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Lemieux</surname> <given-names>B. M. M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Miquel</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Somerville</surname> <given-names>C. R.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Browse</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1990</year>). <article-title>Mutants of Arabidopsis with alterations in seed lipid fatty-acid composition.</article-title> <source><italic>Theor. Appl. Genet.</italic></source> <volume>80</volume> <fpage>234</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>240</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/BF00224392</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">24220901</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B18"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Brant</surname> <given-names>E.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Budak</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2021</year>). <article-title>CRISPR/Cas: a Nobel Prize award-winning precise genome editing technology for gene therapy and crop improvement.</article-title> <source><italic>J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B.</italic></source> <volume>22</volume> <fpage>253</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>284</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1631/jzus.B2100009</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">33835761</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B19"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Li</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Chen</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Xu</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wu</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Song</surname> <given-names>W.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ian</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2014</year>). <article-title>Genome-wide association study dissects the genetic architecture of seed weight and seed quality in rapeseed (<italic>Brassica napus</italic> L.).</article-title> <source><italic>DNA Res.</italic></source> <volume>21</volume> <fpage>355</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>367</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1093/dnares/dsu002</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">24510440</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B20"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Li-Beisson</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Shorrosh</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Beisson</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Andersson</surname> <given-names>M. X.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Arondel</surname> <given-names>V.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Bates</surname> <given-names>P. D.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2013</year>). <article-title>Acyl-lipid metabolism.</article-title> <source><italic>Arabidopsis Book</italic></source> <volume>11</volume>:<fpage>e0161</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1199/tab.0133</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">22303259</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B21"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Liu</surname> <given-names>D.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yu</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wei</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yu</surname> <given-names>P.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhao</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2021</year>). <article-title>BnTIR: an online transcriptome platform for exploring RNA-seq libraries for oil crop <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Biotechnol. J.</italic></source> <volume>19</volume> <fpage>1895</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>1897</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1111/pbi.13665</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">34260132</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B22"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yao</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Guo</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhou</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Hong</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2016</year>). <article-title>Phospholipase D&#x03B5; enhances <italic>Brassica napus</italic> growth and seed production in response to nitrogen availability.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Biotechnol. J.</italic></source> <volume>14</volume> <fpage>926</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>937</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1111/pbi.12446</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">26260942</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B23"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Millar</surname> <given-names>A. A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kunst</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1997</year>). <article-title>Very-long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis is controlled through the expression and specificity of the condensing enzyme.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant J.</italic></source> <volume>12</volume> <fpage>121</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>131</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1046/j.1365-313X.1997.12010121.x</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">9263455</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B24"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Morineau</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Bellec</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Tellier</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Gissot</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kelemen</surname> <given-names>Z.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Nogue</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2017</year>). <article-title>Selective gene dosage by CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in hexaploid <italic>Camelina sativa</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Biotechnol. J.</italic></source> <volume>15</volume> <fpage>729</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>739</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1111/pbi.12671</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">27885771</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B25"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Ohlrogge</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Browse</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1995</year>). <article-title>Lipid biosynthesis.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Cell</italic></source> <volume>7</volume> <fpage>957</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>970</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.2307/3870050</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B26"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Okuzaki</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Ogawa</surname> <given-names>T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Koizuka</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kaneko</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Inaba</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Imamura</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2018</year>). <article-title>CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of the fatty acid desaturase 2 gene in <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Physiol. Biochem.</italic></source> <volume>131</volume> <fpage>63</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>69</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.04.025</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">29753601</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B27"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Ozseyhan</surname> <given-names>M. E.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kang</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Mu</surname> <given-names>X.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2018</year>). <article-title>Mutagenesis of the FAE1 genes significantly changes fatty acid composition in seeds of <italic>Camelina sativa</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Plant Physiol. Biochem.</italic></source> <volume>123</volume> <fpage>1</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>7</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.11.021</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">29216494</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B28"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Pham</surname> <given-names>A. T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Shannon</surname> <given-names>J. G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Bilyeu</surname> <given-names>K. D.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2012</year>). <article-title>Combinations of mutant FAD2 and FAD3 genes to produce high oleic acid and low linolenic acid soybean oil.</article-title> <source><italic>Theor. Appl. Genet.</italic></source> <volume>125</volume> <fpage>503</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>515</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/s00122-012-1849-z</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">22476873</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B29"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Qu</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Jia</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Fu</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhao</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>K.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wei</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2017</year>). <article-title>Genome-wide association mapping and Identification of candidate genes for fatty acid composition in <italic>Brassica napus</italic> L. using SNP markers.</article-title> <source><italic>BMC Genomics</italic></source> <volume>18</volume>:<fpage>232</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1186/s12864-017-3607-8</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">28292259</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B30"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Razzaq</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Saleem</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kanwal</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Mustafa</surname> <given-names>G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yousaf</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Imran Arshad</surname> <given-names>H. M.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2019</year>). <article-title>Modern trends in plant genome editing: an inclusive review of the CRISPR/Cas9 toolbox.</article-title> <source><italic>Int. J. Mol. Sci.</italic></source> <volume>20</volume>:<fpage>4045</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3390/ijms20164045</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">31430902</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B31"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Stefansson</surname> <given-names>B. R.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Hougen</surname> <given-names>F. W.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1964</year>). <article-title>Selection of rape plants (<italic>Brassica napus</italic>) with seed oil practically free from erucic acid.</article-title> <source><italic>Can. J. Plant Sci.</italic></source> <volume>44</volume> <fpage>359</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>364</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4141/cjps64-069</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B32"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Stefansson</surname> <given-names>B. R.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Hougen</surname> <given-names>F. W.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Downey</surname> <given-names>R. K.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>1961</year>). <article-title>Note on the isolation of rape plants with seed oil free from erucic acid.</article-title> <source><italic>Can. J. Plant Sci.</italic></source> <volume>41</volume> <fpage>218</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>219</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.4141/cjps61-028</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B33"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Tang</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhao</surname> <given-names>H.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Yu</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>G.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2021</year>). <article-title>Genome- and transcriptome-wide association studies provide insights into the genetic basis of natural variation of seed oil content in <italic>Brassica napus</italic>.</article-title> <source><italic>Mol. Plant</italic></source> <volume>14</volume> <fpage>470</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>487</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.molp.2020.12.003</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">33309900</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B34"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Taylor</surname> <given-names>D. C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Kumar</surname> <given-names>A.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Francis</surname> <given-names>T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Giblin</surname> <given-names>E. M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Barton</surname> <given-names>D. L.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2009</year>). <article-title>Molecular modification of triacylglycerol accumulation by over-expression of DGAT1 to produce canola with increased seed oil content under field conditions.</article-title> <source><italic>Botany</italic></source> <volume>87</volume> <fpage>533</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>543</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1139/B08-101</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B35"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Tian</surname> <given-names>F.</given-names></name> <name><surname>King</surname> <given-names>G. J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Long</surname> <given-names>Y.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2008</year>). <article-title>A functional genomics resource for <italic>Brassica napus</italic>: development of an EMS mutagenized population and discovery of FAE1 point mutations by TILLING.</article-title> <source><italic>New Phytol.</italic></source> <volume>180</volume> <fpage>751</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>765</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02619.x</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">18811617</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B36"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Wu</surname> <given-names>N.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lu</surname> <given-names>Q.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>P.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>Q.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Qu</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2020</year>). <article-title>Construction and analysis of GmFAD2-1A and GmFAD2-2A soybean fatty acid desaturase mutants based on CRISPR/Cas9 technology.</article-title> <source><italic>Int. J. Mol. Sci.</italic></source> <volume>21</volume>:<fpage>1104</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3390/ijms21031104</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">32046096</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B37"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Xing</surname> <given-names>H. L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Dong</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>Z. P.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>H. Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Han</surname> <given-names>C. Y.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Liu</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2014</year>). <article-title>A CRISPR/Cas9 toolkit for multiplex genome editing in plants.</article-title> <source><italic>BMC Plant Biol.</italic></source> <volume>14</volume>:<fpage>327</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1186/s12870-014-0327-y</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">25432517</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B38"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Yu</surname> <given-names>N. I.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>F. C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Wang</surname> <given-names>Y. C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Fei</surname> <given-names>P. U.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Jia-Na</surname> <given-names>L. I.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2011</year>). <article-title>Cloning and functional analysis of enoyl-CoA reductase gene BnECR from oilseed rape (<italic>Brassica napus</italic> L.).</article-title> <source><italic>Acta Agron. Sin.</italic></source> <volume>37</volume> <fpage>424</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>432</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/S1875-2780(11)60012-6</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B39"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Yuan</surname> <given-names>M.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhu</surname> <given-names>J.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Gong</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>He</surname> <given-names>L.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Lee</surname> <given-names>C.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Han</surname> <given-names>S.</given-names></name><etal/></person-group> (<year>2019</year>). <article-title>Mutagenesis of FAD2 genes in peanut with CRISPR/Cas9 based gene editing.</article-title> <source><italic>BMC Biotechnol.</italic></source> <volume>19</volume>:<fpage>24</fpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1186/s12896-019-0516-8</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">31035982</pub-id></citation></ref>
<ref id="B40"><citation citation-type="journal"><person-group person-group-type="author"><name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>D.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>Z.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Unver</surname> <given-names>T.</given-names></name> <name><surname>Zhang</surname> <given-names>B.</given-names></name></person-group> (<year>2021</year>). <article-title>CRISPR/Cas: a powerful tool for gene function study and crop improvement.</article-title> <source><italic>J. Adv. Res.</italic></source> <volume>29</volume> <fpage>207</fpage>&#x2013;<lpage>221</lpage>. <pub-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1016/j.jare.2020.10.003</pub-id> <pub-id pub-id-type="pmid">33842017</pub-id></citation></ref>
</ref-list>
<fn-group>
<fn id="footnote1">
<label>1</label>
<p><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://www.arabidopsis.org/">https://www.arabidopsis.org/</ext-link></p></fn>
<fn id="footnote2">
<label>2</label>
<p><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://yanglab.hzau.edu.cn/BnTIR">http://yanglab.hzau.edu.cn/BnTIR</ext-link></p></fn>
<fn id="footnote3">
<label>3</label>
<p><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://crispr.hzau.edu.cn/CRISPR/">http://crispr.hzau.edu.cn/CRISPR/</ext-link></p></fn>
</fn-group>
</back>
</article>
