Dataset Information

Rapid Testing of CRISPR Nucleases and Guide RNAs in an E. coli Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System.

ABSTRACT: We present a protocol to rapidly test DNA binding and cleavage activity by CRISPR nucleases using cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL). Nuclease activity is assessed by adding DNA encoding a nuclease, a guide RNA, and a targeted reporter to a TXTL reaction and by measuring the fluorescence for several h. The reactions, performed in a few microliters, allow for parallel testing of many nucleases and guide RNAs. The protocol includes representative results for (d)Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes targeting a GFP reporter gene. For complete information on the generation and use of this protocol, please refer to the paper by Marshall et al. (2018).

SUBMITTER: Marshall R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7580202 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rapid Testing of CRISPR Nucleases and Guide RNAs in an <i>E. coli</i> Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System.

Marshall Ryan R Beisel Chase L CL Noireaux Vincent V

STAR protocols 20200603 1

We present a protocol to rapidly test DNA binding and cleavage activity by CRISPR nucleases using cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL). Nuclease activity is assessed by adding DNA encoding a nuclease, a guide RNA, and a targeted reporter to a TXTL reaction and by measuring the fluorescence for several h. The reactions, performed in a few microliters, allow for parallel testing of many nucleases and guide RNAs. The protocol includes representative results for (d)Cas9 from <i>Streptococcus p ...[more]

PMID: 33111065

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Project description:Insertion sequences (IS) are compact and pervasive transposable elements found in bacteria, which encode only the genes necessary for their mobilization and maintenance. IS200/IS605 elements undergo ‘peel-and-paste’ transposition catalyzed by a TnpA transposase, but intriguingly, they also encode diverse, TnpB-family genes that are evolutionarily related to the CRISPR-associated effectors Cas9 and Cas12. Recent studies demonstrated that TnpB-family enzymes function as RNA-guided DNA endonucleases, but the broader biological role of this activity has remained enigmatic. Here we show that IscB and TnpB are essential to prevent loss of the donor IS element and potential transposon extinction as a consequence of the TnpA transposition mechanism. We first performed phylogenetic analysis of IscB/TnpB proteins and selected a family of related IS elements from Geobacillus stearothermophilus that we predicted would be mobilized by a common TnpA homolog. After reconstituting transposition using a heterologous expression system in E. coli, we found that IS elements were readily lost from the donor site due to the activity of TnpA in rejoining the flanking sequences back together upon excision. However, these IS elements also encode non-coding RNAs that guide TnpB and IscB nucleases to precisely recognize and cleave these excision products, leading either to elimination of the excision product or re-installation of the transposon through recombination. Indeed, under experimental conditions in which TnpA and TnpB-RNA complexes were co-expressed together with a genomically integrated IS element, transposon retention was significantly increased relative to conditions expressing TnpA alone. Remarkably, both TnpA and TnpB recognize the same AT-rich transposon-adjacent motif (TAM) during transposon excision and RNA-guided DNA cleavage, respectively, revealing a striking convergence in the evolution of DNA sequence specificity between transposase and nuclease. Collectively, our study reveals that RNA-guided DNA cleavage is a primal biochemical activity that arose to bias the selfish inheritance of transposable elements, which was later co-opted during the evolution of CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity for antiviral defense.

Dataset Information

Rapid Testing of CRISPR Nucleases and Guide RNAs in an E. coli Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System.

Publications

Rapid Testing of CRISPR Nucleases and Guide RNAs in an <i>E. coli</i> Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System.

Similar Datasets

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