Genetic modification, including plant breeding, has been widely used to improve 
crop yield and quality, as well as to increase disease resistance. Targeted 
genome engineering is expected to contribute significantly to future varietal 
improvement, and genome editing technologies using zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), 
transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered 
regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9/single guide RNA 
(sgRNA) have already been successfully used to genetically modify plants. 
However, to date, there has been no reported use of any of the current genome 
editing approaches in sweet orange, an important fruit crop. In this study, we 
first developed a novel tool, Xcc-facilitated agroinfiltration, for enhancing 
transient protein expression in sweet orange leaves. We then successfully 
employed Xcc-facilitated agroinfiltration to deliver Cas9, along with a 
synthetic sgRNA targeting the CsPDS gene, into sweet orange. DNA sequencing 
confirmed that the CsPDS gene was mutated at the target site in treated sweet 
orange leaves. The mutation rate using the Cas9/sgRNA system was approximately 
3.2 to 3.9%. Off-target mutagenesis was not detected for CsPDS-related DNA 
sequences in our study. This is the first report of targeted genome modification 
in citrus using the Cas9/sgRNA system-a system that holds significant promise 
for the study of citrus gene function and for targeted genetic modification.