[Improvement of Crops Using the CRISPR/Cas System: New Target Genes].

The success of genome editing of crops using the CRISPR/Cas system largely depends on the correct choice of target genes, for which directed changes will increase yield and improve the quality of plant raw materials and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors. This work systematizes and catalogs data on target genes used to improve cultivated plants. The latest systematic review examined articles indexed in the Scopus database and published before August 17, 2019. Our work covers the period from August 18, 2019 to March 15, 2022. A search according to the given algorithm allowed us to identify 2090 articles, among which only 685 contain the results of gene editing of 28 species of cultivated plants (the search was carried out for 56 crops). A significant part of these papers considered either editing of target genes, which was previously carried out in similar works, or studies related to the field of reverse genetics, and only 136 articles contain data on editing of new target genes, whose modification is aimed at improving plant traits important for breeding. In total, 287 target genes of cultivated plants were subjected to editing in order to improve properties significant for breeding over the entire period of the CRISPR/Cas system application. This review presents a detailed analysis of the editing of new target genes. The studies were most often aimed at increasing productivity and disease resistance, as well as improving the properties of plant materials. It was noted whether it was possible to obtain stable transformants at the time of publication and whether editing was applied to non-model cultivars. The range of modified cultivars of a number of crops has been significantly expanded, in particular, for wheat, rice, soybean, tomato, potato, rapeseed, grape, and maize. In the vast majority of cases, editing constructs were delivered using agrobacterium-mediated transformation, less commonly, using biolistics, protoplast transfection, and haploinducers. The desired change in traits was most often achieved by gene knockout. In some cases, knockdown and nucleotide substitutions in the target gene were carried out. To obtain nucleotide substitutions in the genes of cultivated plants, base-editing and prime-editing technologies are increasingly used. The emergence of a convenient CRISPR/Cas editing system has contributed to the development of specific molecular genetics of many crop species.

Metabolomic prof iles of Ribes nigrum L. and Lonicera caerulea L. from the collection of the N.I. Vavilov Institute in the setting of Northwest Russia.

Recently, the trend of using fruit and berry crops as ingredients for functional and dietary nutrition, the development and implementation of f lavors, pigments, new medicines and dietary supplements has been actualized. Because the direction of use depends on the biochemical properties of fruits, which are determined not only by species and varietal characteristics, but also by reproduction conditions, the study of the biochemical composition of fruits grown in various regions of the world continues to be relevant. In this regard, the collection of N.I. Vavilov Institute (VIR), which has a wide diversity of fruit and berry crops, is of great interest for study. Ribes nigrum fruits have a balanced set of sugars, organic acids, essential oils, microelements, a high content of vitamins, anthocyanins, pectins. Lonicera caerulea fruits are characterized by high values of phenolic substances: biof lavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, f lavonols, polyphenols, anthocyanins, as well as vitamins, carotenoids, iridoid glycosides and other natural antioxidants. The investigation of L. caerulea and R. nigrum fruit's accessions from the VIR collection using gas-liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry allows us to obtain new information about the biochemical characteristics of fruits, to identify L. caerulea and R. nigrum varieties with optimal economically valuable characteristics, to determine the specif icity of L. caerulea and R. nigrum metabolomic spectra in the setting of Northwest Russia. As a result of the analysis, typical compounds of the metabolomic prof ile of each culture were identif ied. Organic acids, phenol-containing compounds and polyols prevailed in L. caerulea, while mono- and oligosaccharides, in R. nigrum. The qualitative composition of the black currant varieties 'Malen'kii Printz', 'Dobriyi Dzhinn', 'Tisel', 'Orlovskii Val's', and blue honeysuckle 'S 322-4', 'Malvina', 'Leningradsky Velikan' was optimal for food consumption; the varieties of blue honeysuckle 'Bazhovskaya' and black currant 'Aleander' had a good representation of biologically active compounds, which makes samples attractive as raw materials for the production of biologically active additives, including with the use of microorganisms' cultures.