Fig. 6: CRISPR-Kill-mediated lateral root elimination by cleavage of 45S rDNA and centromeric repeats.

a Schematic overview of different root cell types in the A. thaliana root tip. The root tip consists of the lateral root cap and columella (pink). The central cells of the root (stele, gray) are framed by pericycle cells (red), followed by endodermis (yellow), cortex (purple), and epidermis (blue), which arise from the stem cell niche (white). Lateral roots arise from the pericycle cells (red). b Representative pictures of lateral roots in both CRISPR-Kill lines (pXPP-SaCas9-ITS2-1 and pXPP-SaCas9-Cen) in comparison to the control line (pXPP-SaCas9-ADH1). Bar = 1 cm. c Total number of lateral roots in control line and CRISPR-Kill lines. The control line, pXPP-SaCas9-ADH1, showed an average of 13 lateral roots per plant, whereas in the CRISPR-Kill lines an average of 5 (ITS2-1-CRISPR-Kill line) and 7 (Cen-CRISPR-Kill line) lateral roots per plant was observed, respectively. P < 0.0001 for ITS2-1; P < 0.0001 for Cen. d Lateral root length in relation to main root length. In the control line, the sum of the length of all lateral roots was on average 4.4 times longer than the main root. In contrast, the sum of the length of all lateral roots in the ITS2-1- and Cen-CRISPR-Kill lines was on average only 1.4 and 2.2 times longer than the main root, respectively. P < 0.0001 for ITS2-1; P < 0.0001 for Cen. Data are presented as box plots (n = 108), boxes show the first to third quartile with median, whiskers encompass 1.5x the interquartile range reaching to minimum and maximum, and data beyond that threshold is indicated as outliers. P values were calculated using the one-way ANOVA-test: ****P < 0.0001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.