Related papers: How adaptive immunity constrains the composition a…
Bacteria and archaea have evolved an adaptive, heritable immune system that recognizes and protects against viruses or plasmids. This system, known as the CRISPR-Cas system, allows the host to recognize and incorporate short foreign DNA or…
The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) mechanism allows bacteria to adaptively defend against phages by acquiring short genomic sequences (spacers) that target specific sequences in the viral genome. We…
CRISPR-Cas is a genetic adaptive immune system unique to prokaryotic cells used to combat phage and plasmid threats. The host cell adapts by incorporating DNA sequences from invading phages or plasmids into its CRISPR locus as spacers.…
Some bacteria and archaea possess an immune system, based on the CRISPR-Cas mechanism, that confers adaptive immunity against phage. In such species, individual bacteria maintain a "cassette" of viral DNA elements called spacers as a memory…
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) in bacterial and archaeal DNA have recently been shown to be a new type of anti-viral immune system in these organisms. We here study the diversity of spacers in CRISPR…
CRISPR-Cas mediated immunity in bacteria allows bacterial populations to protect themselves against pathogens. However, it also exposes them to the dangers of auto-immunity by developing protection that targets its own genome. Using a…
Some prokaryotes possess CRISPR-Cas systems that provide adaptive immunity to viruses guided by DNA segments called spacers acquired from invading phage. However, the patchy incidence and limited memory breadth of CRISPR-Cas systems suggest…
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), linked with CRISPR associated (CAS) genes, play a profound role in the interactions between phage and their bacterial hosts. It is now well understood that CRISPR-CAS…
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) constitute a multi-functional, constantly evolving immune system in bacteria and archaea cells. A heritable, molecular memory is…
CRISPR-Cas systems are an adaptive immunity that protects prokaryotes against foreign genetic elements. Genetic templates acquired during past infection events enable DNA-interacting enzymes to recognize foreign DNA for destruction. Due to…
To explain the stability of cooperation is a central task of evolutionary theory. We investigate this question in the case of quorum sensing (QS) bacteria, which regulate cooperative traits in response to population density. Cooperation is…
CRISPR is a newly discovered prokaryotic immune system. Bacteria and archaea with this system incorporate genetic material from invading viruses into their genomes, providing protection against future infection by similar viruses. The…
Today, the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) region within bacterial and archaeal genomes is known to encode an adaptive immune system. We rely on previous results on the evolution of the CRISPR arrays,…
CRISPR-Cas is an adaptive immune mechanism that has been harnessed for a variety of genetic engineering applications: the Cas9 protein recognises a 2-5nt DNA motif, known as the PAM, and a programmable crRNA binds a target DNA sequence that…
Bacteria communicate using external chemical signals called autoinducers (AI) in a process known as quorum sensing (QS). QS efficiency is reduced by both limitations of AI diffusion and potential interference from neighboring strains. There…
We estimate the number of spacers in a CRISPR array of a bacterium which maximizes its protection against a viral attack. The optimality follows from a competition between two trends: too few distinct spacers make the bacteria vulnerable to…
Bacteriophages are central to microbial ecosystems for balancing bacterial populations and promoting evolution by applying strong selection pressure. Here we review some of the known aspects that modulate phage-bacteria interaction in a way…
Quorum sensing is the regulation of gene expression in response to changes in cell density. To measure their cell density, bacterial populations produce and detect diffusible molecules called autoinducers. Individual bacteria internally…
Bacteria populations rely on mechanisms such as quorum sensing to coordinate complex tasks that cannot be achieved by a single bacterium. Quorum sensing is used to measure the local bacteria population density, and it controls cooperation…
The exchange of small molecular signals within microbial populations is generally referred to as quorum sensing (QS). QS is ubiquitous in nature and enables microorganisms to respond to fluctuations in living environments by working…