CRISPR centromere editing reshapes wheat chromosomes

Researchers have developed a CRISPR–Cas9 strategy that restructures the karyotype of hexaploid wheat by targeting its centromeres, the regions that anchor chromosomes during cell division. The approach, called centromere editing-mediated chromosomal variation, directs the gene-editing machinery at abundant centromeric retrotransposons, repetitive sequences that populate the centromeres of wheat’s large polyploid genome. Because these repeats occur across many chromosomes at once, a single editing step can cleave several chromosomes simultaneously, something that has been difficult to achieve in genomes spanning gigabases of DNA.

The consequences of this genome-wide cleavage were extensive. In a single generation, the method generated diverse karyotypic variants and reconfigured up to 11 chromosomes at once. Among the rearrangements were widespread reciprocal translocations, exchanges of chromosome segments between different chromosomes. One line carried six such events involving seven chromosomes, an unusually extensive reshuffling for a single engineered plant.

A key question for any chromosome-engineering scheme is whether the new arrangements can survive meiosis and be passed on. The newly formed translocation chromosomes underwent centromere remodelling, a process that appears to underpin their relatively stable maintenance and heritable transmission through generations. This suggests that centromeres are not merely targets for breakage but active sites where redesigned chromosomes can be consolidated into inheritable new karyotypes.

The team also examined the functional consequences of balanced translocations, in which no genetic material is lost overall. These rearrangements imposed minimal transcriptional perturbation, and plants carrying them maintained normal growth. That combination, extensive chromosomal restructuring with minimal transcriptional perturbation and normal growth, is what makes the strategy attractive for breeding, where engineering karyotypes could expand the genetic and breeding potential of crops.

The authors position centromeres as effective sites for chromosome engineering breeding and describe the work as a scalable framework for karyotype redesign in polyploid crops.

Subject of Research: Centromere-targeted CRISPR engineering of wheat karyotypes

Article Title: Rewriting wheat karyotypes through centromere-targeted chromosome engineering

Article References: Zhou, X., Chen, Y., Li, C., Teng, W., Cui, Y., Tan, X., Hu, M., Zhou, Y., Xie, X., Guo, W., Yan, W., Sun, Q., Ni, Z., Wang, Y., Su, H., & Zong, Y. (2026). Rewriting wheat karyotypes through centromere-targeted chromosome engineering. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02441-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41477-026-02441-2

Keywords: wheat, centromere, CRISPR-Cas9, chromosome engineering, karyotype, reciprocal translocation, polyploid crops, retrotransposons, chromosome remodelling, plant breeding, Rewriting, karyotypes