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CRISPR/Cas9 searches for a protospacer adjacent motif by lateral diffusion

ABSTRACT: The Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease (SpyCas9) has been widely applied in genetic engineering. Despite its importance in genome editing, aspects of the precise molecular mechanism of Cas9 activity remain ambiguous. In particular, because of the lack of a method with high spatio-temporal resolution, transient interactions between Cas9 and DNA could not be reliably investigated. It therefore remains controversial how Cas9 searches for protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences. We have developed single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) assays to monitor transient interactions of Cas9 and DNA in real time. Our study shows that Cas9 interacts with the PAM sequence weakly, yet probing neighboring sequences via facilitated diffusion. This dynamic mode of interactions leads to translocation of Cas9 to another PAM nearby and consequently an on-target sequence. We propose a model in which lateral diffusion competes with 3-dimensional diffusion and thus is involved in PAM finding and consequently on-target binding. Our results imply that the neighboring sequences can be very important when choosing a target in genetic engineering applications.

SUBMITTER: Viktorija Globyte

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-EMBOJ-2018-99466 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR-associated) systems provide prokaryotes with efficient protection against foreign nucleic acid invaders. We have recently demonstrated the defensive interference function of a CRISPR-Cas system from Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile, a major human enteropathogen, and showed that it could be harnessed for efficient genome editing in this bacterium. However, molecular details are still missing on CRISPR-Cas function for adaptation and sequence requirements for both interference and new spacer acquisition in this pathogen. Despite accumulating knowledge on the individual CRISPR-Cas systems in various prokaryotes, no data are available on the adaptation process in bacterial type I-B CRISPR-Cas systems. Here, we report the first experimental evidence that the C. difficile type I-B CRISPR-Cas system acquires new spacers upon overexpression of its adaptation module. The majority of new spacers are derived from a plasmid expressing Cas proteins required for adaptation or from regions of the C. difficile genome where generation of free DNA termini is expected. Results from protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) library experiments and plasmid conjugation efficiency assays indicate that C. difficile CRISPR-Cas requires the YCN consensus PAM for efficient interference. We revealed a functional link between the adaptation and interference machineries, since newly adapted spacers are derived from sequences associated with a CCN PAM, which fits the interference consensus. The definition of functional PAMs and establishment of relative activity levels of each of the multiple C. difficile CRISPR arrays in present study are necessary for further CRISPR-based biotechnological and medical applications involving this organism. IMPORTANCE CRISPR-Cas systems provide prokaryotes with adaptive immunity for defense against foreign nucleic acid invaders, such as viruses or phages and plasmids. The CRISPR-Cas systems are highly diverse, and detailed studies of individual CRISPR-Cas subtypes are important for our understanding of various aspects of microbial adaptation strategies and for the potential applications. The significance of our work is in providing the first experimental evidence for type I-B CRISPR-Cas system adaptation in the emerging human enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile. This bacterium needs to survive in phage-rich gut communities, and its active CRISPR-Cas system might provide efficient antiphage defense by acquiring new spacers that constitute memory for further invader elimination. Our study also reveals a functional link between the adaptation and interference CRISPR machineries. The definition of all possible functional trinucleotide motifs upstream protospacers within foreign nucleic acid sequences is important for CRISPR-based genome editing in this pathogen and for developing new drugs against C. difficile infections.

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CRISPR/Cas9 searches for a protospacer adjacent motif by lateral diffusion

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