Figure 1.

An overview of the applications of CRISPR-Cas9 system in functional genomics of abiotic stress tolerance. CRISPR-Cas9 system can be used for genome editing (via introduction of point mutations, insertions or deletions), transcriptional regulation (via CRISPR interference, activation, repression or epigenetic modulation) or forward genetics screens (via generation of loss-of-function, knock-down or activation mutants using sgRNA libraries) for understanding the molecular basis of abiotic stress response, which can lead to generation of abiotic stress-tolerant crop plants.