A bacteriophage that overcomes the bacterial CRISPR/Cas immune system by interrupting the CRISPR DNA with its own genome
Microbe of the episode:
Wenzhou mammarenavirus
Jesse's takeaways
Bacteria have many ways to resist being exploited by bacteriophage viruses, including the adaptable CRISPR/Cas system that uses a piece of viral nucleic acid sequence to target and destroy incoming phages. But phages also have many ways to evade and disrupt bacterial defenses.
In this study, a phage is discovered that inserts its own genome into the CRISPR/Cas sequence in the bacterial genome, disrupting the bacterial defenses. To escape the defenses while it is doing this insertion, it carries genes for previously-unknown anti-CRISPR proteins. But inserting and removing a viral sequence from the bacterial genome is not always a clean procedure.
In this study, a phage is discovered that inserts its own genome into the CRISPR/Cas sequence in the bacterial genome, disrupting the bacterial defenses. To escape the defenses while it is doing this insertion, it carries genes for previously-unknown anti-CRISPR proteins. But inserting and removing a viral sequence from the bacterial genome is not always a clean procedure.
Journal Paper
Varble A, Campisi E, Euler CW, Maguin P, Kozlova A, Fyodorova J, Rost酶l JT, Fischetti VA, Marraffini LA. 2021. . 12. Nat Microbiol 6:1516–1525.
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