Genome editing provides novel strategies for improving plant traits but mostly relies on conventional plant genetic transformation and regeneration procedures, which can be inefficient. In this study, we have engineered a Barley stripe mosaic virus–based sgRNA delivery vector (BSMV-sg) that is effective in performing heritable genome editing in Cas9-transgenic wheat plants. Mutated progenies were present in the next generation at frequencies ranging from 12.9% to 100% in three different wheat varieties, and 53.8%–100% of mutants were virus free. We also achieved multiplex mutagenesis in progeny using a pool of BSMV-sg vectors harboring different sgRNAs. Furthermore, we devised a virus-induced transgene-free editing procedure to generate Cas9-free wheat mutants by crossing BSMV-infected Cas9-transgenic wheat pollen with wild-type wheat. Our study provides a robust, convenient, and tissue culture–free approach for genome editing in wheat through virus infection.

基因组编辑为改善植物性状提供了新的策略，但主要依赖于传统的植物遗传转化和再生程序，这可能是低效的。在这项研究中，我们设计了一种大麦条纹花叶病毒基于 sgRNA 传递载体 (BSMV-sg)，可有效在 Cas9 转基因小麦植物中进行可遗传基因组编辑。在三个不同的小麦品种中，突变后代以 12.9% 到 100% 的频率出现在下一代中，53.8% 到 100% 的突变体没有病毒。我们还使用一组含有不同 sgRNA 的 BSMV-sg 载体在后代中实现了多重诱变。此外，我们设计了一种病毒诱导的无转基因编辑程序，通过将 BSMV 感染的 Cas9 转基因小麦花粉与野生型小麦杂交来产生无 Cas9 的小麦突变体。我们的研究为通过病毒感染在小麦中进行基因组编辑提供了一种稳健、方便且无需组织培养的方法。