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Self-targeting by CRISPR: gene regulation or autoimmunity?
Open accessAbstract
CRISPR/Cas is a recently discovered prokaryotic immune system, which is based on small RNAs (“spacers”) that restrict phage and plasmid infection. It has been hypothesized that CRISPRs can also regulate self gene expression by utilizing spacers that target self genes. By analyzing CRISPRs from 330 organisms we found that one in every 250 spacers is self targeting, and that such self-targeting occurs in 18% of all CRISPR-bearing organisms. However, complete lack of conservation across species, combined with abundance of degraded repeats near self-targeting spacers, suggests that self-targeting is a consequence of autoimmunity rather than gene regulation. We propose that accidental incorporation of self nucleic-acids by CRISPR can incur an autoimmune fitness cost, which may explain the abundance of degraded CRISPR systems across prokaryotes.
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Cited by
CRISPR-Cas Systems in Bacteria and Archaea: Versatile Small RNAs for Adaptive Defense and Regulation
Bhaya, D., Davison, M., & Barrangou, R. (2011) · Annual Review of Genetics · doi:10.1146/annurev-genet-110410-132430 · Cited by 914
CRISPR-mediated adaptive immune systems in bacteria and archaea
Sorek, R., Lawrence, C. M., & Wiedenheft, B. (2013) · Annual Review of Biochemistry · doi:10.1146/annurev-biochem-072911-172315 · Cited by 668
Molecular memory of prior infections activates the CRISPR/Cas adaptive bacterial immunity system
Datsenko, K. A., Pougach, K., Tikhonov, A., Wanner, B. L., Severinov, K., & Semenova, E. (2012) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms1937 · Cited by 561
The phage‐host arms race: Shaping the evolution of microbes
Stern, A., & Sorek, R. (2011) · BioEssays · doi:10.1002/bies.201000071 · Cited by 527
Self-citationCRISPR-Cas: biology, mechanisms and relevance
Hille, F., & Charpentier, E. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0496 · Cited by 442
Metadata
- Authors
- Stern, A., Keren, L., Wurtzel, O., Amitai, G., & Sorek, R.
- Venue
- Trends in Genetics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-08
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 335-340
- ISSN
- 0168-9525 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2057092463
- Cited by
- 384
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 1.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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