Biological warfare between two bacterial viruses in a defense archipelago sheds light on the spread of CRISPR-Cas systems

CRISPR-Cas systems are adaptive immunity systems of bacteria and archaea that prevent infection by viruses and other external mobile genetic elements. It is currently known that these defense systems can be co-opted by the same viruses. We have found one of these viruses in the opportunistic pathoge...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rubio Valle, Alejandro, Garzón, Andrés, Moreno Rodríguez, Antonio, Pérez-Pulido, Antonio J.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)
Repositorio:RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavide
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:rio.upo.es:10433/25480
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10433/25480
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:CRISPR-Cas
PAM escape
Antiviral system
Bacteriophage
Defense archipelago
Defense system
Genomic island
Microbial genomics
Pangenome
Phage-plasmid
Descripción
Sumario:CRISPR-Cas systems are adaptive immunity systems of bacteria and archaea that prevent infection by viruses and other external mobile genetic elements. It is currently known that these defense systems can be co-opted by the same viruses. We have found one of these viruses in the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii, and the same system has been also found in an integration hotspot of the bacterial genome that harbors other multiple defense systems. The CRISPR-Cas system appears to especially target another virus that could compete with the system itself for the same integration site. This virus is prevalent in strains of the species belonging to the so-called Global Clone 2, which causes the most frequent outbreaks worldwide. Knowledge of this viral warfare involving antiviral systems could be useful in the fight against infections caused by bacteria, and it would also shed light on how CRISPR-Cas systems expand in bacteria.