scholarly journals Detection of spacer precursors formed in vivo during primed CRISPR adaptation

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna A. Shiriaeva ◽  
Ekaterina Savitskaya ◽  
Kirill A. Datsenko ◽  
Irina O. Vvedenskaya ◽  
Iana Fedorova ◽  
...  

Abstract Type I CRISPR-Cas loci provide prokaryotes with a nucleic-acid-based adaptive immunity against foreign DNA. Immunity involves adaptation, the integration of ~30-bp DNA fragments, termed prespacers, into the CRISPR array as spacers, and interference, the targeted degradation of DNA containing a protospacer. Interference-driven DNA degradation can be coupled with primed adaptation, in which spacers are acquired from DNA surrounding the targeted protospacer. Here we develop a method for strand-specific, high-throughput sequencing of DNA fragments, FragSeq, and apply this method to identify DNA fragments accumulated in Escherichia coli cells undergoing robust primed adaptation by a type I-E or type I-F CRISPR-Cas system. The detected fragments have sequences matching spacers acquired during primed adaptation and function as spacer precursors when introduced exogenously into cells by transformation. The identified prespacers contain a characteristic asymmetrical structure that we propose is a key determinant of integration into the CRISPR array in an orientation that confers immunity.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna A. Shiriaeva ◽  
Ekaterina Savitskaya ◽  
Kirill A. Datsenko ◽  
Irina O. Vvedenskaya ◽  
Iana Fedorova ◽  
...  

Type I CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-Cas (CRISPR associated) loci provide prokaryotes with a nucleic-acid-based adaptive immunity against foreign DNA1. Immunity involves “adaptation,” the integration of ~30-bp DNA fragments into the CRISPR array as “spacer” sequences, and “interference,” the targeted degradation of DNA containing a “protospacer” sequence mediated by a complex containing a spacer-derived CRISPR RNA (crRNA)1–4. Specificity for targeting interference to protospacers, but not spacers, occurs through recognition of a 3-bp protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)5 by the crRNA-containing complex6. Interference-driven DNA degradation of protospacer-containing DNA can be coupled with “primed adaptation,” ill which spacers are acquired from DNA surrounding the targeted protospacer in a bidirectional, orientation-dependent manner2,3,7. Here we construct a robust in vivo model for primed adaptation consisting of an Escherichia coli type I-E CRISPR-Cas “self-targeting” locus encoding a crRNA that targets a chromosomal protospacer. We develop a strand-specific, high-throughput-sequencing method for analysis of DNA fragments, “FragSeq,” and use this method to detect short fragments derived from DNA surrounding the targeted protospacer. The detected fragments have sequences matching spacers acquired during primed adaptation, contain ~3- to 4-nt overhangs derived from excision of genomic DNA within a PAM, are generated in a bidirectional, orientation-dependent manner relative to the targeted protospacer, require the functional integrity of machinery for interference and adaptation to accumulate, and function as spacer precursors when exogenously introduced into cells by transformation. DNA fragments with a similar structure accumulate in cells undergoing primed adaptation in a type I-F CRISPR-Cas self-targeting system. We propose the DNA fragments detected in this work are products of universal steps of spacer precursor processing in type I CRISPR-Cas systems.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shayna R. Deecker ◽  
Alexander W. Ensminger

AbstractIn bacteria and archaea, several distinct types of CRISPR-Cas systems provide adaptive immunity through broadly similar mechanisms: short nucleic acid sequences derived from foreign DNA, known as spacers, engage in complementary base pairing with invasive genetic elements setting the stage for nucleases to degrade the target DNA. A hallmark of type I CRISPR-Cas systems is their ability to acquire spacers in response to both new and previously encountered invaders (naïve and primed acquisition, respectively). Our phylogenetic analyses of 47 L. pneumophila type I-F CRISPR-Cas systems and their resident genomes suggest that many of these systems have been horizontally acquired. These systems are frequently encoded on plasmids and can co-occur with nearly identical chromosomal loci. We show that two such co-occurring systems are highly protective and undergo efficient primed acquisition in the lab. Furthermore, we observe that targeting by one system’s array can prime spacer acquisition in the other. Lastly, we provide experimental and genomic evidence for a model in which primed acquisition can efficiently replenish a depleted type I CRISPR array following a mass spacer deletion event.


mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Musharova ◽  
Danylo Vyhovskyi ◽  
Sofia Medvedeva ◽  
Jelena Guzina ◽  
Yulia Zhitnyuk ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT CRISPR DNA arrays of unique spacers separated by identical repeats ensure prokaryotic immunity through specific targeting of foreign nucleic acids complementary to spacers. New spacers are acquired into a CRISPR array in a process of CRISPR adaptation. Selection of foreign DNA fragments to be integrated into CRISPR arrays relies on PAM (protospacer adjacent motif) recognition, as only those spacers will be functional against invaders. However, acquisition of different PAM-associated spacers proceeds with markedly different efficiency from the same DNA. Here, we used a combination of bioinformatics and experimental approaches to understand factors affecting the efficiency of acquisition of spacers by the Escherichia coli type I-E CRISPR-Cas system, for which two modes of CRISPR adaptation have been described: naive and primed. We found that during primed adaptation, efficiency of spacer acquisition is strongly negatively affected by the presence of an AAG trinucleotide—a consensus PAM—within the sequence being selected. No such trend is observed during naive adaptation. The results are consistent with a unidirectional spacer selection process during primed adaptation and provide a specific signature for identification of spacers acquired through primed adaptation in natural populations. IMPORTANCE Adaptive immunity of prokaryotes depends on acquisition of foreign DNA fragments into CRISPR arrays as spacers followed by destruction of foreign DNA by CRISPR interference machinery. Different fragments are acquired into CRISPR arrays with widely different efficiencies, but the factors responsible are not known. We analyzed the frequency of spacers acquired during primed adaptation in an E. coli CRISPR array and found that AAG motif was depleted from highly acquired spacers. AAG is also a consensus protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) that must be present upstream from the target of the CRISPR spacer for its efficient destruction by the interference machinery. These results are important because they provide new information on the mechanism of primed spacer acquisition. They add to other previous evidence in the field that pointed out to a “directionality” in the capture of new spacers. Our data strongly suggest that the recognition of an AAG PAM by the interference machinery components prior to spacer capture occludes downstream AAG sequences, thus preventing their recognition by the adaptation machinery.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1039-1050
Author(s):  
Shayna R. Deecker ◽  
Alexander W. Ensminger

In bacteria and archaea, several distinct types of CRISPR-Cas systems provide adaptive immunity through broadly similar mechanisms: short nucleic acid sequences derived from foreign DNA, known as spacers, engage in complementary base pairing with invasive genetic elements setting the stage for nucleases to degrade the target DNA. A hallmark of type I CRISPR-Cas systems is their ability to acquire spacers in response to both new and previously encountered invaders (naïve and primed acquisition, respectively). Our phylogenetic analyses of 43 L. pneumophila type I-F CRISPR-Cas systems and their resident genomes suggest that many of these systems have been horizontally acquired. These systems are frequently encoded on plasmids and can co-occur with nearly identical chromosomal loci. We show that two such co-occurring systems are highly protective and undergo efficient primed acquisition in the lab. Furthermore, we observe that targeting by one system’s array can prime spacer acquisition in the other. Lastly, we provide experimental and genomic evidence for a model in which primed acquisition can efficiently replenish a depleted type I CRISPR array following a mass spacer deletion event.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (24) ◽  
pp. 7821-7823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Linke ◽  
Nagarajan Periasamy ◽  
Matthias Ehrmann ◽  
Roland Winter ◽  
Rudi F. Vogel

ABSTRACT High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is suggested to influence the structure and function of membranes and/or integrated proteins. We demonstrate for the first time HHP-induced dimer dissociation of membrane proteins in vivo with Vibrio cholerae ToxR variants in Escherichia coli reporter strains carrying ctx::lacZ fusions. Dimerization ceased at 20 to 50 MPa depending on the nature of the transmembrane segments rather than on changes in the ToxR lipid bilayer environment.


Biochemistry ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 29 (32) ◽  
pp. 7475-7485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Mielke ◽  
Yoshinori Kohwi ◽  
Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu ◽  
Juergen Bode
Keyword(s):  

Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (18) ◽  
pp. 3575-3586 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Meyer ◽  
T. Yamaai ◽  
A. Garratt ◽  
E. Riethmacher-Sonnenberg ◽  
D. Kane ◽  
...  

Neuregulin (also known as NDF, heregulin, ARIA, GGF or SMDF), induces cell growth and differentiation. Biological effects of neuregulin are mediated by members of the erbB family of tyrosine kinase receptors. Three major neuregulin isoforms are produced from the gene, which differ substantially in sequence and in overall structure. Here we use in situ hybridization with isoform-specific probes to illustrate the spatially distinct patterns of expression of the isoforms during mouse development. Ablation of the neuregulin gene in the mouse has demonstrated multiple and independent functions of this factor in development of both the nervous system and the heart. We show here that targeted mutations that affect different isoforms result in distinct phenotypes, demonstrating that isoforms can take over specific functions in vivo. Type I neuregulin is required for generation of neural crest-derived neurons in cranial ganglia and for trabeculation of the heart ventricle, whereas type III neuregulin plays an important role in the early development of Schwann cells. The complexity of neuregulin functions in development is therefore due to independent roles played by distinct isoforms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (487) ◽  
pp. eaao0750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng-Zheng Zhang ◽  
You-Rong Chen ◽  
Shao-Jie Wang ◽  
Feng Zhao ◽  
Xiao-Gang Wang ◽  
...  

Reconstruction of the anisotropic structure and proper function of the knee meniscus remains an important challenge to overcome, because the complexity of the zonal tissue organization in the meniscus has important roles in load bearing and shock absorption. Current tissue engineering solutions for meniscus reconstruction have failed to achieve and maintain the proper function in vivo because they have generated homogeneous tissues, leading to long-term joint degeneration. To address this challenge, we applied biomechanical and biochemical stimuli to mesenchymal stem cells seeded into a biomimetic scaffold to induce spatial regulation of fibrochondrocyte differentiation, resulting in physiological anisotropy in the engineered meniscus. Using a customized dynamic tension-compression loading system in conjunction with two growth factors, we induced zonal, layer-specific expression of type I and type II collagens with similar structure and function to those present in the native meniscus tissue. Engineered meniscus demonstrated long-term chondroprotection of the knee joint in a rabbit model. This study simultaneously applied biomechanical, biochemical, and structural cues to achieve anisotropic reconstruction of the meniscus, demonstrating the utility of anisotropic engineered meniscus for long-term knee chondroprotection in vivo.


2019 ◽  
Vol 295 (11) ◽  
pp. 3403-3414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Ramachandran ◽  
Lesley Summerville ◽  
Brian A. Learn ◽  
Lily DeBell ◽  
Scott Bailey

CRISPR-Cas systems provide bacteria with adaptive immunity against viruses. During spacer adaptation, the Cas1-Cas2 complex selects fragments of foreign DNA, called prespacers, and integrates them into CRISPR arrays in an orientation that provides functional immunity. Cas4 is involved in both the trimming of prespacers and the cleavage of protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) in several type I CRISPR-Cas systems, but how the prespacers are processed in systems lacking Cas4, such as the type I-E and I-F systems, is not understood. In Escherichia coli, which has a type I-E system, Cas1-Cas2 preferentially selects prespacers with 3′ overhangs via specific recognition of a PAM, but how these prespacers are integrated in a functional orientation in the absence of Cas4 is not known. Using a biochemical approach with purified proteins, as well as integration, prespacer protection, sequencing, and quantitative PCR assays, we show here that the bacterial 3′–5′ exonucleases DnaQ and ExoT can trim long 3′ overhangs of prespacers and promote integration in the correct orientation. We found that trimming by these exonucleases results in an asymmetric intermediate, because Cas1-Cas2 protects the PAM sequence, which helps to define spacer orientation. Our findings implicate the E. coli host 3′–5′ exonucleases DnaQ and ExoT in spacer adaptation and reveal a mechanism by which spacer orientation is defined in E. coli.


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