Rapid and highly efficient construction of TALE-based transcriptional regulators and nucleases for genome modification

Lixin Li, Marek J. Piatek, Ahmed Atef, Agnieszka Anna Piatek, Anjar Tri Wibowo, Xiaoyun Fang, Jamal Sabir M Sabir, Jian-Kang Zhu, Magdy M. Mahfouz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) can be used as DNA-targeting modules by engineering their repeat domains to dictate user-selected sequence specificity. TALEs have been shown to function as site-specific transcriptional activators in a variety of cell types and organisms. TALE nucleases (TALENs), generated by fusing the FokI cleavage domain to TALE, have been used to create genomic double-strand breaks. The identity of the TALE repeat variable di-residues, their number, and their order dictate the DNA sequence specificity. Because TALE repeats are nearly identical, their assembly by cloning or even by synthesis is challenging and time consuming. Here, we report the development and use of a rapid and straightforward approach for the construction of designer TALE (dTALE) activators and nucleases with user-selected DNA target specificity. Using our plasmid set of 100 repeat modules, researchers can assemble repeat domains for any 14-nucleotide target sequence in one sequential restriction-ligation cloning step and in only 24 h. We generated several custom dTALEs and dTALENs with new target sequence specificities and validated their function by transient expression in tobacco leaves and in vitro DNA cleavage assays, respectively. Moreover, we developed a web tool, called idTALE, to facilitate the design of dTALENs and the identification of their genomic targets and potential off-targets in the genomes of several model species. Our dTALE repeat assembly approach along with the web tool idTALE will expedite genome-engineering applications in a variety of cell types and organisms including plants. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)407-416
Number of pages10
JournalPlant Molecular Biology
Volume78
Issue number4-5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 21 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Plant Science
  • Genetics
  • Agronomy and Crop Science

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