Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9): 262-275.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2025-1268

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Design Strategies of sgRNA and Its Expression and Application in Filamentous Fungi

YANG Jia-ni, WU Tao(), ZHANG Hong-yang, HUANG Bing-guang, LU Min, HE Jia-jie, RUAN Hai-hua()   

  1. School of Biotechnology and Food Science, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134
  • Received:2025-11-20 Online:2026-09-26 Published:2026-09-16
  • Contact: WU Tao, RUAN Hai-hua E-mail:wutao@tjcu.edu.cn;ruanhaihua@tjcu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Filamentous fungi possess unique morphological and genetic features that hinder large-scale and precise genome modifications using conventional genetic tools. Recently, the CRISPR-Cas9 system has become a powerful approach for fungal genome engineering owing to its structural simplicity, operational flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. As the key determinant of targeting efficiency and specificity, single-guide RNA (sgRNA) plays a central role in the performance of CRISPR-Cas9 and its derivatives. This review summarizes current strategies for sgRNA design, construction, and expression in filamentous fungi, and outlines its applications in functional gene analysis, metabolic engineering, and industrial strain development. Despite its great potential, the review points out that CRISPR-Cas9 editing in filamentous fungi often suffers from low efficiency and off-target effects, primarily due to suboptimal sgRNA design, poor transcriptional activity, and host-dependent DNA repair mechanisms. Finally, the review discusses the optimization approaches and future applications of sgRNA, aiming to facilitate the establishment of efficient and reliable sgRNA-based gene editing platforms for diverse filamentous fungal species.

Key words: sgRNA design, filamentous fungi, gene editing, expression strategies