Aaron W. Hummel

TL;DR: A new class of sequence-specific nucleases created by fusing transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) to the catalytic domain of the FokI endonuclease is reported.

TL;DR: Transgenic plants expressing CRISPR–Cas reagents and challenged with BeYDV had reduced virus load and symptoms, thereby demonstrating a novel strategy for engineering resistance to geminiviruses.

TL;DR: It is found that strong constitutive expression is required to achieve glyphosate tolerance during in vitro selection and in whole cassava plants, and the potential of gene editing for further improvement of cassava is demonstrated.

TL;DR: Six TAL effector binding elements were added to the rice Xa27 gene and Sequences in the EBEs were found to occur nonrandomly in rice promoters, suggesting an overlap with endogenous regulatory sequences, suggesting executor gene specificity can be broadened by adding E BEs, but caution is warranted because of the possible coincident introduction of endogenous regulatory elements.

TL;DR: The utility of X11-5A for characterizing individual TAL effectors in rice was established and SWEET-targeting Tal effectors contribute broadly and non-tissue-specifically to virulence in rice, and their function is affected by host differences besides target sequences.