Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: van Houte S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4935084 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
van Houte Stineke S Ekroth Alice K E AK Broniewski Jenny M JM Chabas Hélène H Ashby Ben B Bondy-Denomy Joseph J Gandon Sylvain S Boots Mike M Paterson Steve S Buckling Angus A Westra Edze R ER
Nature 20160413 7599
Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems insert spacers derived from viruses and other parasitic DNA elements into CRISPR loci to provide sequence-specific immunity. This frequently results in high within-population spacer diversity, but it is unclear if and why this is important. Here we show that, as a result of this spacer diversity, viruses can no longer evolve to overcome CRISPR-Cas by point mutation, which results in rapid virus extinction. This effect arises from synergy between spa ...[more]