EditGrass4Food project: Improving adaptability and resilience of perennial ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is the most economically important cool-season pasture and turf grass species. It has excellent forage quality and grazing tolerance but performs poorly under drought or low temperatures. In the “EditGrass4Food” project, we aimed to identify transcriptional changes in plants subjected to low temperatures or drought. Target genes for editing plants using CRISPR/Cas9 were identified and the regeneration of plants with specific knockouts has been established.