The effect of bacterial mutation rate on the evolution of CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity.

ABSTRACT: CRISPR-Cas immune systems are present in around half of bacterial genomes. Given the specificity and adaptability of this immune mechanism, it is perhaps surprising that they are not more widespread. Recent insights into the requirement for specific host factors for the function of some CRISPR-Cas subtypes, as well as the negative epistasis between CRISPR-Cas and other host genes, have shed light on potential reasons for the partial distribution of this immune strategy in bacteria. In this study, we examined how mutations in the bacterial mismatch repair system, which are frequently observed in natural and clinical isolates and cause elevated host mutation rates, influence the evolution of CRISPR-Cas-mediated immunity. We found that hosts with a high mutation rate very rarely evolved CRISP

SUBMITTER: Chevallereau A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6452272 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature