| BAC | bacterial artificial chromosome |
| Cas9 | CRISPR-associated protein 9 |
| Cpf1 | CRISPR-associated protein, subtype Prevotella and Francisella |
| CRISPR | clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats |
| ESTs | expressed sequence tags |
| gRNA | guide RNA |
| LRR | leucine-rich repeats |
| MEGA | molecular evolutionary and genetics analysis |
| PAM | protospacer adjacent motif |
| Ri | root-inducing |
| SNF | symbiotic nitrogen fixation |
| SNPs | single nucleotide polymorphisms |
| SSNs | sequence-specific nucleases |
| SYMRK | symbiosis receptor-like kinase |
| TALENs | transcription activator-like effector nucleases |
| Ti | tumor-inducing |
| YEP | yeast extract peptone |
| ZFNs | zinc finger nucleases |