Targeting of temperate phages drives loss of type I CRISPR-Cas systems.

ABSTRACT: On infection of their host, temperate viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages; hereafter referred to as phages) enter either a lytic or a lysogenic cycle. The former results in lysis of bacterial cells and phage release (resulting in horizontal transmission), whereas lysogeny is characterized by the integration of the phage into the host genome, and dormancy (resulting in vertical transmission)¹. Previous co-culture experiments using bacteria and mutants of temperate phages that are locked in the lytic cycle have shown that CRISPR-Cas systems can efficiently eliminate the invading phages^2,3. Here we show that, when challenged with wild-type temperate phages (which can become lysogenic), type I CRISPR-Cas immune systems cannot eliminate the phages from the bacteri

SUBMITTER: Rollie C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7007301 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature