Cellecta announced yesterday the release of new pooled, single-module, CRISPR genome-wide knockout libraries for chicken (Gallus gallus) and pig (Sus scrofa). These new CRISPR libraries, with 4 guide RNAs (sgRNA) per gene, include:

• 69,000 guides targeting 17,000 chicken genes
• 89,000 guides targeting 22,000 pig genes
• And 1,000 non-targeting controls and 100 intron-targeting controls

In agricultural and dietary research, and other applications such as "lab-grown" meat, genetic disruption screens are useful to identify genes responsible for advantageous traits such as pathogen resistance, improved breeding, and nutritional content.

These CRISPR Chicken Genome 69K and Pig Genome 89K Knockout Libraries incorporate Cellecta's more effective HEAT sgRNA structure. The HEAT sgRNA structure significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratios in pooled screens by increasing the knockout efficiency of the guide RNA. "We are pleased to offer one of the few commercially available, genome-wide CRISPR knockout libraries for researchers working with livestock and poultry," stated Donato Tedesco, Cellecta director of research and development. 

"CRISPR/Cas9 screening technology using single-module libraries provides large-scale data, which could simplify these complex breeding applications and make them more cost-effective and efficient," he concluded.

As with all its custom and pre-made library offerings, Cellecta includes full information and quality control data, including:

• representation levels of each sgRNA construct in the library as determined by next-generation sequencing (NGS)
• complete and confirmed sequence information of each sgRNA construct
• sgRNA sequence mutation rate as determined by NGS

Materials supplied include:

• 200 µg of plasmid library (enough for packaging of more than 2x10⁹lentiviral particles)
• option to purchase each library as pre-packaged lentiviral particles

In addition to the off-the-shelf CRISPR Chicken Genome and Pig Genome Knockout Libraries, Cellecta provides a suite of related products such as Cas9 Activity Test kits and NGS Library Prep kits specific to these libraries. Cellecta can also run the CRISPR screen as a service.