Comparative Genomic Analysis of Mycobacteriaceae Reveals Horizontal Gene Transfer-Mediated Evolution of the CRISPR-Cas System in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex.

ABSTRACT: Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) genes are conserved genetic elements in many prokaryotes, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. Although knowledge of CRISPR locus variability has been utilized in M. tuberculosis strain genotyping, its evolutionary path in Mycobacteriaceae is not well understood. In this study, we have performed a comparative analysis of 141 mycobacterial genomes and identified the exclusive presence of the CRISPR-Cas type III-A system in M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Our global phylogenetic analysis of CRISPR repeats and Cas10 proteins offers evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of the CRISPR-Cas module in the last common ancestor of MTBC

SUBMITTER: Singh A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7820667 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature