In conversation with Dr. Can Baysal

https://www.linkedin.com/in/can-baysal-077215a8/ 1. What is your personal and educational background, and how did you become interested in plant biology? I grew up in Turkey and completed my undergraduate training in Agricultural Engineering at Ege University, Turkey. During my bachelor's program, I was an Erasmus exchange student at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia/Italy, where I was first exposed to molecular biotechnology. That experience was a turning point for me and motivated me to pursue a career in plant molecular biology. 2. What led you into plant genome editing, and how has your academic path evolved with the rapid pace of CRISPR technologies? My entry into plant genome editing began during my MSc and PhD training at the University of Lleida, Spain, where I worked on modifying starch metabolism and engineering biological nitrogen fixation pathways in rice. This was during the early days of CRISPR/Cas9, when genome editing was still slow, highly dependent on tissue culture, and strongly genotype-specific. These limitations made it clear to me that the real bottleneck in plant genome engineering was not the editing chemistry itself, but the delivery of editing reagents into plant cells. As CRISPR technologies rapidly matured, my research focus shifted from simply applying editing tools to redesigning how they are delivered. This transition accelerated during my postdoctoral training and later as a staff scientist at the University of Minnesota, where I began using RNA viral vectors for in planta genome editing. There, I moved from conventional stable transformation approaches toward developing mobile, non-integrative, virus-enabled delivery systems that can bypass tissue culture. 3. What are the main findings of your paper? Our study demonstrates that foxtail mosaic virus (FoMV) can be engineered as an effective vector for delivering functional single-guide RNAs into transgenic sorghum plants expressing Cas9, enabling rapid and high-frequency somatic genome editing in planta. We show that FoMV systemically infects sorghum seedlings and consistently delivers sgRNAs, resulting in efficient editing at target loci. Viral delivery of sgRNAs induces clear and reproducible mutant phenotypes, providing a direct visual readout of editing outcomes. Notably, by using direct agroinjection of seedlings, this approach achieves somatic mutation frequencies of up to 60% within 1 week, underscoring the speed, efficiency, and practicality of virus-mediated sgRNA delivery for functional genomics applications in sorghum. 4. How does viral sgRNA delivery compare to conventional transformation methods in sorghum editing efficiency? Traditional sorghum transformation for genome editing relies on immature embryos, lengthy tissue culture cycles, and is highly genotype dependent. In contrast, our FoMV-mediated sgRNA delivery system enables genome editing within days rather than months. Because the method only requires germinating transgenic seeds, we can screen large numbers of plants and rapidly target agronomically important traits, greatly accelerating gene discovery without the need to repeat labor-intensive tissue culture procedures for each new target. 5. What are the implications of this system for functional genetics in other recalcitrant crops? This platform opens the door to rapid functional genomics in species that are extremely difficult to transform. With recent advances in miniature Cas enzymes that can be delivered directly from viral genomes, researchers no longer need to generate transgenic lines for every experiment. Instead, edits can be introduced directly into plants to test gene function in vivo, greatly accelerating discovery and trait validation. 6. Did you encounter any host specificity or stability issues with FoMV vectors in sorghum? Yes. While FoMV systemically infected sorghum and maintained sgRNA cargo stability, Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) completely failed to infect sorghum, even though it is effective in wheat and barley. This highlights a major host specificity barrier. We also observed that, although somatic editing frequencies were high, FoMV-mediated edits were not heritable, indicating that viral movement into germline tissues remains a key limitation and that viral vectors will require further engineering to overcome this barrier. 7. What edits or traits are you most excited about targeting next with this system? We are now focusing on targeting key bioenergy-related traits in sorghum as well as engineering mobile sgRNAs and miniature Cas systems that can be delivered from viral genomes to enable heritable genome editing across diverse crop species. 8. How do you see this technology integrating with breeding or crop improvement programs? This system can dramatically accelerate breeding pipelines by enabling pre-breeding functional validation. Instead of waiting years, breeders can test gene function in elite germplasm directly. 9. Are there biosafety or regulatory considerations that researchers should be aware of viral delivery systems? Yes, researchers must carefully follow the specific biosafety and regulatory guidelines that apply to each viral vector. Different plant viruses are regulated differently depending on their host range, transmission properties, and environmental risk. Appropriate containment measures, institutional biosafety approvals, and compliance with federal and state regulations are essential when working with viral delivery systems. As these technologies move closer to field applications, clear regulatory frameworks will be critical to ensure safe and responsible deployment. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.