To acquire or resist: the complex biological effects of CRISPR-Cas systems

Studying the features of 57 confirmed CRISPR loci in 29 strains of Escherichia coli

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) system is a novel type of innate defense system in prokaryotes for destruction of exogenous elements. To gain further insight into behavior and organization of the system, the extensive analysis of the available sequenced genomes is necessary. The dynamic nature of CRISPR loci is possibly valuable for typing and relative analyses of strains and microbial population. There are a few orderly bioinformatics investigations about the structure of CRISPR sequences in the Escherichia coli strains. In this study, 57 CRISPR loci were selected from 32 Escherichia coli strains to investigate their structural characteristics and potential functions using bioinformatics tools. Our results showed that most strains contained several loci that mainly included conserved direct repeats, while the spacers were highly variable. Moreover, RNA analysis of the sequences indicated that all loci could form stable RNA secondary structures and showed homology mostly with phages compared to plasmids. Only three strains included cas genes around their loci.

Salient Features of Endonuclease Platforms for Therapeutic Genome Editing

Emerging gene-editing technologies are nearing a revolutionary phase in genetic medicine: precisely modifying or repairing causal genetic defects. This may include any number of DNA sequence manipulations, such as knocking out a deleterious gene, introducing a particular mutation, or directly repairing a defective sequence by site-specific recombination. All of these edits can currently be achieved via programmable rare-cutting endonucleases to create targeted DNA breaks that can engage and exploit endogenous DNA repair pathways to impart site-specific genetic changes. Over the past decade, several distinct technologies for introducing site-specific DNA breaks have been developed, yet the different biological origins of these gene-editing technologies bring along inherent differences in parameters that impact clinical implementation. This review aims to provide an accessible overview of the various endonuclease-based gene-editing platforms, highlighting the strengths and weakness of each with respect to therapeutic applications.

The CRISPR revolution and its impact on cancer research

A revolution in cancer research is underway. Spurred by the advent of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology, new methods to probe the mammalian genomes are being developed. By providing simple, flexible, and cost-effective ways to edit and manipulate the genome of somatic cells of adult animals, these new methods present the opportunity to model cancer progression in vivo with an unprecedented degree of sophistication. Here we provide a brief overview of this exciting and fast-moving field.

Incidence of Type II CRISPR1-Cas Systems in Enterococcus Is Species-Dependent

CRISPR-Cas systems, which obstruct both viral infection and incorporation of mobile genetic elements by horizontal transfer, are a specific immune response common to prokaryotes. Antiviral protection by CRISPR-Cas comes at a cost, as horizontally-acquired genes may increase fitness and provide rapid adaptation to habitat change. To date, investigations into the prevalence of CRISPR have primarily focused on pathogenic and clinical bacteria, while less is known about CRISPR dynamics in commensal and environmental species. We designed PCR primers and coupled these with DNA sequencing of products to detect and characterize the presence of cas1, a universal CRISPR-associated gene and proxy for the Type II CRISPR1-Cas system, in environmental and non-clinical Enterococcus isolates. CRISPR1-cas1 was detected in approximately 33% of the 275 strains examined, and differences in CRISPR1 carriage between species was significant. Incidence of cas1 in E. hirae was 73%, nearly three times that of E. faecalis (23.6%) and 10 times more frequent than in E. durans (7.1%). Also, this is the first report of CRISPR1 presence in E. durans, as well as in the plant-associated species E. casseliflavus and E. sulfureus. Significant differences in CRISPR1-cas1 incidence among Enterococcus species support the hypothesis that there is a tradeoff between protection and adaptability. The differences in the habitats of enterococcal species may exert varying selective pressure that results in a species-dependent distribution of CRISPR-Cas systems.

Functional Analysis of Bacteriophage Immunity through a Type I-E CRISPR-Cas System in Vibrio cholerae and Its Application in Bacteriophage Genome Engineering

The classical and El Tor biotypes of Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1, the etiological agent of cholera, are responsible for the sixth and seventh (current) pandemics, respectively. A genomic island (GI), GI-24, previously identified in a classical biotype strain of V. cholerae, is predicted to encode clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated proteins (Cas proteins); however, experimental evidence in support of CRISPR activity in V. cholerae has not been documented. Here, we show that CRISPR-Cas is ubiquitous in strains of the classical biotype but excluded from strains of the El Tor biotype. We also provide in silico evidence to suggest that CRISPR-Cas actively contributes to phage resistance in classical strains. We demonstrate that transfer of GI-24 to V. cholerae El Tor via natural transformation enables CRISPR-Cas-mediated resistance to bacteriophage CP-T1 under laboratory conditions. To elucidate the sequence requirements of this type I-E CRISPR-Cas system, we engineered a plasmid-based system allowing the directed targeting of a region of interest. Through screening for phage mutants that escape CRISPR-Cas-mediated resistance, we show that CRISPR targets must be accompanied by a 3' TT protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) for efficient interference. Finally, we demonstrate that efficient editing of V. cholerae lytic phage genomes can be performed by simultaneously introducing an editing template that allows homologous recombination and escape from CRISPR-Cas targeting.

IMPORTANCE

Cholera, caused by the facultative pathogen Vibrio cholerae, remains a serious public health threat. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) provide prokaryotes with sequence-specific protection from invading nucleic acids, including bacteriophages. In this work, we show that one genomic feature differentiating sixth pandemic (classical biotype) strains from seventh pandemic (El Tor biotype) strains is the presence of a CRISPR-Cas system in the classical biotype. We demonstrate that the CRISPR-Cas system from a classical biotype strain can be transferred to a V. cholerae El Tor biotype strain and that it is functional in providing resistance to phage infection. Finally, we show that this CRISPR-Cas system can be used as an efficient tool for the editing of V. cholerae lytic phage genomes.

Regulated CRISPR Modules Exploit a Dual Defense Strategy of Restriction and Abortive Infection in a Model of Prokaryote-Phage Coevolution

CRISPRs offer adaptive immunity in prokaryotes by acquiring genomic fragments from infecting phage and subsequently exploiting them for phage restriction via an RNAi-like mechanism. Here, we develop and analyze a dynamical model of CRISPR-mediated prokaryote-phage coevolution that incorporates classical CRISPR kinetics along with the recently discovered infection-induced activation and autoimmunity side effects. Our analyses reveal two striking characteristics of the CRISPR defense strategy: that both restriction and abortive infections operate during coevolution with phages, driving phages to much lower densities than possible with restriction alone, and that CRISPR maintenance is determined by a key dimensionless combination of parameters, which upper bounds the activation level of CRISPRs in uninfected populations. We contrast these qualitative observations with experimental data on CRISPR kinetics, which offer insight into the spacer deletion mechanism and the observed low CRISPR prevalence in clinical isolates. More generally, we exploit numerical simulations to delineate four regimes of CRISPR dynamics in terms of its host, kinetic, and regulatory parameters.

To counteract viral infections, bacteria and archaea have evolved a variety of defense systems. These can broadly be classified into either restriction or suicide mechanisms. The former enforces nicks in the invading DNA making it unusable for production of further infectious particles; the latter, by contrast, induces cell death whereby an infected cell activates specific host suicidal pathways that are otherwise strongly repressed, thus inhibiting further infection. Examples of the former class include restriction-modification (R-M) and the recently discovered CRISPR systems, while the latter class includes a variety of toxin/anti-toxin systems. CRISPRs, in contrast to R-Ms, adapt to target viral genomes by updating the database of target sites they recognize. The adverse side effect of such a mechanism, however, is that CRISPRs can target the host genome itself resulting in undesirable cell death (autoimmunity). The recent discovery of infection-induced activation of CRISPR systems suggests that these negative side effects may be limited to periods of infection. This led us to hypothesize that such regulatory control—similar to abortive infection mechanisms—can be advantageous by limiting viral spread through suicide of infected cells. To test this hypothesis, we mathematically model CRISPR induced prokaryote-phage coevolutionary dynamics in the presence of infection-regulated CRISPR activity. Our results indicate that, except in limited growth rates, regulated CRISPRs exploit both autoimmunity and target restriction and can therefore be considered a hybrid class that leverages both restriction and suicide mechanisms to limit phage infection.

Current and future prospects for CRISPR-based tools in bacteria

CRISPR-Cas systems have rapidly transitioned from intriguing prokaryotic defense systems to powerful and versatile biomolecular tools. This article reviews how these systems have been translated into technologies to manipulate bacterial genetics, physiology, and communities. Recent applications in bacteria have centered on multiplexed genome editing, programmable gene regulation, and sequence-specific antimicrobials, while future applications can build on advances in eukaryotes, the rich natural diversity of CRISPR-Cas systems, and the untapped potential of CRISPR-based DNA acquisition. Overall, these systems have formed the basis of an ever-expanding genetic toolbox and hold tremendous potential for our future understanding and engineering of the bacterial world.

CRISPR-Based Technologies and the Future of Food Science

The on-going CRISPR craze is focused on the use of Cas9-based technologies for genome editing applications in eukaryotes, with high potential for translational medicine and next-generation gene therapy. Nevertheless, CRISPR-Cas systems actually provide adaptive immunity in bacteria, and have much promise for various applications in food bacteria that include high-resolution typing of pathogens, vaccination of starter cultures against phages, and the genesis of programmable and specific antibiotics that can selectively modulate bacterial population composition. Indeed, the molecular machinery from these DNA-encoded, RNA-mediated, DNA-targeting systems can be harnessed in native hosts, or repurposed in engineered systems for a plethora of applications that can be implemented in all organisms relevant to the food chain, including agricultural crops trait-enhancement, livestock breeding, and fermentation-based manufacturing, and for the genesis of next-generation food products with enhanced quality and health-promoting functionalities. CRISPR-based applications are now poised to revolutionize many fields within food science, from farm to fork. In this review, we describe CRISPR-Cas systems and highlight their potential for the development of enhanced foods.

Bacterial CRISPR: accomplishments and prospects

In this review we briefly describe the development of CRISPR tools for genome editing and control of transcription in bacteria. We focus on the Type II CRISPR/Cas9 system, provide specific examples for use of the system, and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of CRISPR versus other techniques. We suggest potential strategies for combining CRISPR tools with high-throughput approaches to elucidate gene function in bacteria.

Knowledge-based discovery for designing CRISPR-CAS systems against invading mobilomes in thermophiles

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) are direct features of the prokaryotic genomes involved in resistance to their bacterial viruses and phages. Herein, we have identified CRISPR loci together with CRISPR-associated sequences (CAS) genes to reveal their immunity against genome invaders in the thermophilic archaea and bacteria. Genomic survey of this study implied that genomic distribution of CRISPR-CAS systems was varied from strain to strain, which was determined by the degree of invading mobiloms. Direct repeats found to be equal in some extent in many thermopiles, but their spacers were differed in each strain. Phylogenetic analyses of CAS superfamily revealed that genes cmr, csh, csx11, HD domain, devR were belonged to the subtypes of cas gene family. The members in cas gene family of thermophiles were functionally diverged within closely related genomes and may contribute to develop several defense strategies. Nevertheless, genome dynamics, geological variation and host defense mechanism were contributed to share their molecular functions across the thermophiles. A thermophilic archaean, Thermococcus gammotolerans and thermophilic bacteria, Petrotoga mobilis and Thermotoga lettingae have shown superoperons-like appearance to cluster cas genes, which were typically evolved for their defense pathways. A cmr operon was identified with a specific promoter in a thermophilic archaean, Caldivirga maquilingensis. Overall, we concluded that knowledge-based genomic survey and phylogeny-based functional assignment have suggested for designing a reliable genetic regulatory circuit naturally from CRISPR-CAS systems, acquired defense pathways, to thermophiles in future synthetic biology.

Survey of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and their associated Cas proteins (CRISPR/Cas) systems in multiple sequenced strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Background

In recent years the emergence of multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains has been an increasingly common event. This opportunistic species is one of the five main bacterial pathogens that cause hospital infections worldwide and multidrug resistance has been associated with the presence of high molecular weight plasmids. Plasmids are generally acquired through horizontal transfer and therefore is possible that systems that prevent the entry of foreign genetic material are inactive or absent. One of these systems is CRISPR/Cas. However, little is known regarding the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and their associated Cas proteins (CRISPR/Cas) system in K. pneumoniae. The adaptive immune system CRISPR/Cas has been shown to limit the entry of foreign genetic elements into bacterial organisms and in some bacteria it has been shown to be involved in regulation of virulence genes. Thus in this work we used bioinformatics tools to determine the presence or absence of CRISPR/Cas systems in available K. pneumoniae genomes.

Results

The complete CRISPR/Cas system was identified in two out of the eight complete K. pneumoniae genomes sequences and in four out of the 44 available draft genomes sequences. The cas genes in these strains comprises eight cas genes similar to those found in Escherichiacoli, suggesting they belong to the type I-E group, although their arrangement is slightly different. As for the CRISPR sequences, the average lengths of the direct repeats and spacers were 29 and 33 bp, respectively. BLAST searches demonstrated that 38 of the 116 spacer sequences (33%) are significantly similar to either plasmid, phage or genome sequences, while the remaining 78 sequences (67%) showed no significant similarity to other sequences. The region where the CRISPR/Cas systems were located is the same in all the Klebsiella genomes containing it, it has a syntenic architecture, and is located among genes encoding for proteins likely involved in metabolism and resistance to antibiotics.

Conclusions

The CRISPR/Cas system is not widely distributed in K. pneumoniae genomes, those present most likely belong to type I-E with few differences from the arrangement of the cse3 gene and most of the spacers have not been are not described yet. Given that the CRISPR/Cas system is scarcely distributed among K. pneumoniae genomes it is not clear whether it is involved in either immunity against foreign genetic material or virulence. We consider that this study represents a first step to understand the role of CRISPR/Cas in K. pneumoniae.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1285-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Progress and Prospects of Anti-HBV Gene Therapy Development

Despite the availability of an effective vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV), chronic infection with the virus remains a major global health concern. Current drugs against HBV infection are limited by emergence of resistance and rarely achieve complete viral clearance. This has prompted vigorous research on developing better drugs against chronic HBV infection. Advances in understanding the life cycle of HBV and improvements in gene-disabling technologies have been impressive. This has led to development of better HBV infection models and discovery of new drug candidates. Ideally, a regimen against chronic HBV infection should completely eliminate all viral replicative intermediates, especially covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). For the past few decades, nucleic acid-based therapy has emerged as an attractive alternative that may result in complete clearance of HBV in infected patients. Several genetic anti-HBV strategies have been developed. The most studied approaches include the use of antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, RNA interference effectors and gene editing tools. This review will summarize recent developments and progress made in the use of gene therapy against HBV.

Occurrence and activity of a type II CRISPR-Cas system in Lactobacillus gasseri

Bacteria encode clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR-associated genes (cas), which collectively form an RNA-guided adaptive immune system against invasive genetic elements. In silico surveys have revealed that lactic acid bacteria harbour a prolific and diverse set of CRISPR-Cas systems. Thus, the natural evolutionary role of CRISPR-Cas systems may be investigated in these ecologically, industrially, scientifically and medically important microbes. In this study, 17 Lactobacillus gasseri strains were investigated and 6 harboured a type II-A CRISPR-Cas system, with considerable diversity in array size and spacer content. Several of the spacers showed similarity to phage and plasmid sequences, which are typical targets of CRISPR-Cas immune systems. Aligning the protospacers facilitated inference of the protospacer adjacent motif sequence, determined to be 5'-NTAA-3' flanking the 3' end of the protospacer. The system in L. gasseri JV-V03 and NCK 1342 interfered with transforming plasmids containing sequences matching the most recently acquired CRISPR spacers in each strain. We report the distribution and function of a native type II-A CRISPR-Cas system in the commensal species L. gasseri. Collectively, these results open avenues for applications for bacteriophage protection and genome modification in L. gasseri, and contribute to the fundamental understanding of CRISPR-Cas systems in bacteria.

Mechanism of foreign DNA recognition by a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The Type I-F CRISPR-mediated (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) adaptive immune system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa consists of two CRISPR loci and six CRISPR-associated (cas) genes. Foreign DNA surveillance is performed by a complex of Cas proteins (Csy1–4) that assemble with a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) into a 350-kDa ribonucleoprotein called the Csy complex. Here, we show that foreign nucleic acid recognition by the Csy complex proceeds through sequential steps, initiated by detection of two consecutive guanine–cytosine base pairs (G–C/G–C) located adjacent to the complementary DNA target. We show that this motif, called the PAM (protospacer adjacent motif), must be double-stranded and that single-stranded PAMs do not provide significant discriminating power. Binding assays performed with G–C/G–C-rich competitor sequences indicate that the Csy complex interacts directly with this dinucleotide motif, and kinetic analyses reveal that recognition of a G–C/G–C motif is a prerequisite for crRNA-guided binding to a target sequence. Together, these data indicate that the Csy complex first interacts with G–C/G–C base pairs and then samples adjacent target sequences for complementarity to the crRNA guide.

CRISPR-based screening of genomic island excision events in bacteria

Genomic analysis of Streptococcus thermophilus revealed that mobile genetic elements (MGEs) likely contributed to gene acquisition and loss during evolutionary adaptation to milk. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated genes (CRISPR-Cas), the adaptive immune system in bacteria, limits genetic diversity by targeting MGEs including bacteriophages, transposons, and plasmids. CRISPR-Cas systems are widespread in streptococci, suggesting that the interplay between CRISPR-Cas systems and MGEs is one of the driving forces governing genome homeostasis in this genus. To investigate the genetic outcomes resulting from CRISPR-Cas targeting of integrated MGEs, in silico prediction revealed four genomic islands without essential genes in lengths from 8 to 102 kbp, totaling 7% of the genome. In this study, the endogenous CRISPR3 type II system was programmed to target the four islands independently through plasmid-based expression of engineered CRISPR arrays. Targeting lacZ within the largest 102-kbp genomic island was lethal to wild-type cells and resulted in a reduction of up to 2.5-log in the surviving population. Genotyping of Lac(-) survivors revealed variable deletion events between the flanking insertion-sequence elements, all resulting in elimination of the Lac-encoding island. Chimeric insertion sequence footprints were observed at the deletion junctions after targeting all of the four genomic islands, suggesting a common mechanism of deletion via recombination between flanking insertion sequences. These results established that self-targeting CRISPR-Cas systems may direct significant evolution of bacterial genomes on a population level, influencing genome homeostasis and remodeling.

A Conserved Structural Chassis for Mounting Versatile CRISPR RNA-Guided Immune Responses

Bacteria and archaea rely on CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) RNA-guided adaptive immune systems for targeted elimination of foreign nucleic acids. These immune systems have been divided into three main types, and the first atomic-resolution structure of a type III RNA-guided immune complex provides new insights into the mechanisms of nucleic acid degradation. Here we compare the crystal structure of a type III complex to recently determined structures of DNA-targeting type I CRISPR complexes. Structural comparisons support previous assertions that type I and type III systems share a common ancestor and reveal how a conserved structural chassis is used to support RNA-, DNA-, or both RNA- and DNA-targeting mechanisms.

A Toolkit of CRISPR-Based Genome Editing Systems in Drosophila

The last couple of years have witnessed an explosion in development of CRISPR-based genome editing technologies in cell lines as well as in model organisms. In this review, we focus on the applications of this popular system in Drosophila. We discuss the effectiveness of the CRISPR/Cas9 systems in terms of delivery, mutagenesis detection, parameters affecting efficiency, and off-target issues, with an emphasis on how to apply this powerful tool to characterize gene functions.

Characterization and evolution of Salmonella CRISPR-Cas systems

Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated genes) systems provide adaptive immunity from invasive genetic elements and encompass three essential features: (i) cas genes, (ii) a CRISPR array composed of spacers and direct repeats and (iii) an AT-rich leader sequence upstream of the array. We performed in-depth sequence analysis of the CRISPR-Cas systems in >600 Salmonella, representing four clinically prevalent serovars. Each CRISPR-Cas feature is extremely conserved in the Salmonella, and the CRISPR1 locus is more highly conserved than CRISPR2. Array composition is serovar-specific, although no convincing evidence of recent spacer acquisition against exogenous nucleic acids exists. Only 12 % of spacers match phage and plasmid sequences and self-targeting spacers are associated with direct repeat variants. High nucleotide identity (>99.9 %) exists across the cas operon among isolates of a single serovar and in some cases this conservation extends across divergent serovars. These observations reflect historical CRISPR-Cas immune activity, showing that this locus has ceased undergoing adaptive events. Intriguingly, the high level of conservation across divergent serovars shows that the genetic integrity of these inactive loci is maintained over time, contrasting with the canonical view that inactive CRISPR loci degenerate over time. This thorough characterization of Salmonella CRISPR-Cas systems presents new insights into Salmonella CRISPR evolution, particularly with respect to cas gene conservation, leader sequences, organization of direct repeats and protospacer matches. Collectively, our data suggest that Salmonella CRISPR-Cas systems are no longer immunogenic; rather, their impressive conservation indicates they may have an alternative function in Salmonella.

Nuclease activity of Legionella pneumophila Cas2 promotes intracellular infection of amoebal host cells

Legionella pneumophila, the primary agent of Legionnaires' disease, flourishes in both natural and man-made environments by growing in a wide variety of aquatic amoebae. Recently, we determined that the Cas2 protein of L. pneumophila promotes intracellular infection of Acanthamoeba castellanii and Hartmannella vermiformis, the two amoebae most commonly linked to cases of disease. The Cas2 family of proteins is best known for its role in the bacterial and archeal clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system that constitutes a form of adaptive immunity against phage and plasmid. However, the infection event mediated by L. pneumophila Cas2 appeared to be distinct from this function, because cas2 mutants exhibited infectivity defects in the absence of added phage or plasmid and since mutants lacking the CRISPR array or any one of the other cas genes were not impaired in infection ability. We now report that the Cas2 protein of L. pneumophila has both RNase and DNase activities, with the RNase activity being more pronounced. By characterizing a catalytically deficient version of Cas2, we determined that nuclease activity is critical for promoting infection of amoebae. Also, introduction of Cas2, but not its catalytic mutant form, into a strain of L. pneumophila that naturally lacks a CRISPR-Cas locus caused that strain to be 40- to 80-fold more infective for amoebae, unequivocally demonstrating that Cas2 facilitates the infection process independently of any other component encoded within the CRISPR-Cas locus. Finally, a cas2 mutant was impaired for infection of Willaertia magna but not Naegleria lovaniensis, suggesting that Cas2 promotes infection of most but not all amoebal hosts.

Genome editing. The new frontier of genome engineering with CRISPR-Cas9

The advent of facile genome engineering using the bacterial RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas9 system in animals and plants is transforming biology. We review the history of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeat) biology from its initial discovery through the elucidation of the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme mechanism, which has set the stage for remarkable developments using this technology to modify, regulate, or mark genomic loci in a wide variety of cells and organisms from all three domains of life. These results highlight a new era in which genomic manipulation is no longer a bottleneck to experiments, paving the way toward fundamental discoveries in biology, with applications in all branches of biotechnology, as well as strategies for human therapeutics.

MacSyFinder: a program to mine genomes for molecular systems with an application to CRISPR-Cas systems

Motivation

Biologists often wish to use their knowledge on a few experimental models of a given molecular system to identify homologs in genomic data. We developed a generic tool for this purpose.

Results

Macromolecular System Finder (MacSyFinder) provides a flexible framework to model the properties of molecular systems (cellular machinery or pathway) including their components, evolutionary associations with other systems and genetic architecture. Modelled features also include functional analogs, and the multiple uses of a same component by different systems. Models are used to search for molecular systems in complete genomes or in unstructured data like metagenomes. The components of the systems are searched by sequence similarity using Hidden Markov model (HMM) protein profiles. The assignment of hits to a given system is decided based on compliance with the content and organization of the system model. A graphical interface, MacSyView, facilitates the analysis of the results by showing overviews of component content and genomic context. To exemplify the use of MacSyFinder we built models to detect and class CRISPR-Cas systems following a previously established classification. We show that MacSyFinder allows to easily define an accurate “Cas-finder” using publicly available protein profiles.

Availability and Implementation

MacSyFinder is a standalone application implemented in Python. It requires Python 2.7, Hmmer and makeblastdb (version 2.2.28 or higher). It is freely available with its source code under a GPLv3 license at https://github.com/gem-pasteur/macsyfinder. It is compatible with all platforms supporting Python and Hmmer/makeblastdb. The “Cas-finder” (models and HMM profiles) is distributed as a compressed tarball archive as Supporting Information.

Structural biology. Crystal structure of the CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex from Escherichia coli

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) are essential components of RNA-guided adaptive immune systems that protect bacteria and archaea from viruses and plasmids. In Escherichia coli, short CRISPR-derived RNAs (crRNAs) assemble into a 405-kilodalton multisubunit surveillance complex called Cascade (CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense). Here we present the 3.24 angstrom resolution x-ray crystal structure of Cascade. Eleven proteins and a 61-nucleotide crRNA assemble into a seahorse-shaped architecture that binds double-stranded DNA targets complementary to the crRNA-guide sequence. Conserved sequences on the 3' and 5' ends of the crRNA are anchored by proteins at opposite ends of the complex, whereas the guide sequence is displayed along a helical assembly of six interwoven subunits that present five-nucleotide segments of the crRNA in pseudo-A-form configuration. The structure of Cascade suggests a mechanism for assembly and provides insights into the mechanisms of target recognition.

Evolution and comparative genomics of Campylobacter jejuni ST-677 clonal complex

Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of gastroenteritis in the European Union with over 200,000 laboratory-confirmed cases reported annually. This is the first study to describe findings related to comparative genomics analyses of the sequence type (ST)-677 clonal complex (CC), a Campylobacter jejuni lineage associated with bacteremia cases in humans. We performed whole-genome sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq sequencing technology, on five related ST-677 CC isolates from two chicken farms to identify microevolution taking place at the farms. Our further aim was to identify novel putative virulence determinants from the ST-677 CC genomes. For this purpose, clinical isolates of the same CC were included in comparative genomic analyses against well-known reference strains of C. jejuni. Overall, the ST-677 CC was recognized as a highly clonal lineage with relatively small differences between the genomes. Among the farm isolates differences were identified mainly in the lengths of the homopolymeric tracts in genes related to the capsule, lipo-oligosaccharide, and flagella. We identified genomic features shared with C. jejuni subsp. doylei, which has also been shown to be associated with bacteremia in humans. These included the degradation of the cytolethal distending toxin operon and similarities between the capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis loci. The phase-variable GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.47) (wcbK, CAMP1649), associated with the capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis locus, may play a central role in ST-677 CC conferring acid and serum resistance during different stages of infection. Homology-based searches revealed several additional novel features and characteristics, including two putative type Vb secretion systems and a novel restriction modification/methyltransferase gene cluster, putatively associated with pathogenesis and niche adaptation.

Harnessing CRISPR-Cas9 immunity for genetic engineering

CRISPR-Cas encodes an adaptive immune system that defends prokaryotes against infectious viruses and plasmids. Immunity is mediated by Cas nucleases, which use small RNA guides (the crRNAs) to specify a cleavage site within the genome of invading nucleic acids. In type II CRISPR-Cas systems, the DNA-cleaving activity is performed by a single enzyme Cas9 guided by an RNA duplex. Using synthetic single RNA guides, Cas9 can be reprogrammed to create specific double-stranded DNA breaks in the genomes of a variety of organisms, ranging from human cells to bacteria, and thus constitutes a powerful tool for genetic engineering. Here we describe recent advancements in our understanding of type II CRISPR-Cas immunity and how these studies led to revolutionary genome editing applications.