Harnessing promoter elements to enhance gene editing in plants: perspectives and advances

Abstract

Genome-edited plants, endowed with climate-smart traits, have been promoted as tools for strengthening resilience against climate change. Successful plant gene editing (GE) requires precise regulation of the GE machinery, a process controlled by the promoters, which drives its transcription through interactions with transcription factors (TFs) and RNA polymerase. While constitutive promoters are extensively used in GE constructs, their limitations highlight the need for alternative approaches. This review emphasizes the promise of tissue/organ specific as well as inducible promoters, which enable targeted GE in a spatiotemporal manner with no effects on other tissues. Advances in synthetic biology have paved the way for the creation of synthetic promoters, offering refined control over gene expression and augmenting the potential of plant GE. The integration of these novel promoters with synthetic systems presents significant opportunities for precise and conditional genome editing. Moreover, the advent of bioinformatic tools and artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the characterization of regulatory elements, enhancing our understanding of their roles in plants. Thus, this review provides novel insights into the strategic use of promoters and promoter editing to enhance the precision, efficiency and specificity of plant GE, setting the stage for innovative crop improvement strategies.