Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

CRISPR spacers indicate preferential matching of specific virioplankton genes

Daniel Joseph Nasko, Barbra D Ferrell, Ryan M Moore, Jaysheel Bhavsar, View ORCID ProfileShawn W. Polson, K. Eric Wommack
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/487884
Daniel Joseph Nasko
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Barbra D Ferrell
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ryan M Moore
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jaysheel Bhavsar
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Shawn W. Polson
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Shawn W. Polson
K. Eric Wommack
University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: wommack@dbi.udel.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Viral infection exerts selection pressure on marine microbes as viral-induced cell lysis causes 20 to 50% of cell mortality resulting in fluxes of biomass into oceanic dissolved organic matter. Archaeal and bacterial populations can defend against viral infection using the CRISPR-Cas system which relies on specific matching between a spacer sequence and a viral gene. If a CRISPR spacer match to any gene within a viral genome is equally effective in preventing lysis, then no viral genes should be preferentially matched by CRISPR spacers. However, if there are differences in effectiveness then certain viral genes may demonstrate a greater frequency of CRISPR spacer matches. Indeed, homology search analyses of bacterioplankton CRISPR spacer sequences against virioplankton sequences revealed preferential matching of replication proteins, nucleic acid binding proteins, and viral structural proteins. Positive selection pressure for effective viral defense is one parsimonious explanation for these observations. CRISPR spacers from virioplankton metagenomes preferentially matched methyltransferase and phage integrase genes within virioplankton sequences. These viriolankton CRISPR spacers may assist infected host cells in defending against competing phage. Analyses also revealed that half of the spacer-matched viral genes were unknown and that some genes matched several spacers and some spacers matched multiple genes, a many-to-many relationship. Thus, CRISPR spacer matching may be an evolutionary algorithm, agnostically identifying those genes under stringent selection pressure for sustaining viral infection and lysis. Investigating this subset of viral genes could reveal those genetic mechanisms essential to viral-host interactions and provide new technologies for optimizing CRISPR defense in beneficial microbes.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted December 05, 2018.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
CRISPR spacers indicate preferential matching of specific virioplankton genes
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
CRISPR spacers indicate preferential matching of specific virioplankton genes
Daniel Joseph Nasko, Barbra D Ferrell, Ryan M Moore, Jaysheel Bhavsar, Shawn W. Polson, K. Eric Wommack
bioRxiv 487884; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/487884
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
CRISPR spacers indicate preferential matching of specific virioplankton genes
Daniel Joseph Nasko, Barbra D Ferrell, Ryan M Moore, Jaysheel Bhavsar, Shawn W. Polson, K. Eric Wommack
bioRxiv 487884; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/487884

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (1003)
  • Biochemistry (1502)
  • Bioengineering (954)
  • Bioinformatics (6859)
  • Biophysics (2451)
  • Cancer Biology (1807)
  • Cell Biology (2547)
  • Clinical Trials (108)
  • Developmental Biology (1710)
  • Ecology (2589)
  • Epidemiology (1508)
  • Evolutionary Biology (5048)
  • Genetics (3631)
  • Genomics (4651)
  • Immunology (1186)
  • Microbiology (4273)
  • Molecular Biology (1637)
  • Neuroscience (10865)
  • Paleontology (83)
  • Pathology (243)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (411)
  • Physiology (560)
  • Plant Biology (1469)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (414)
  • Synthetic Biology (546)
  • Systems Biology (1891)
  • Zoology (261)