Major bacterial lineages are essentially devoid of CRISPR-Cas viral defence systems

David Burstein; Christine L. Sun; Christopher T. Brown; Itai Sharon; Karthik Anantharaman; Alexander J. Probst; Brian C. Thomas; Jillian F. Banfield

doi:10.1038/ncomms10613

Nature Communications (Feb 2016)

Major bacterial lineages are essentially devoid of CRISPR-Cas viral defence systems

David Burstein,
Christine L. Sun,
Christopher T. Brown,
Itai Sharon,
Karthik Anantharaman,
Alexander J. Probst,
Brian C. Thomas,
Jillian F. Banfield

Affiliations

David Burstein: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Christine L. Sun: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Christopher T. Brown: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Itai Sharon: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Karthik Anantharaman: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Alexander J. Probst: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Brian C. Thomas: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley
Jillian F. Banfield: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10613
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

Read online

It is thought that CRISPR-Cas systems, which confer acquired immunity to phage and archaeal viruses, are widespread among bacteria and archaea. Here, Burstein et al.show that entire lineages of uncultivated microorganisms are essentially devoid of CRISPR-Cas systems.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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