Bacteria acquire novel DNA through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), a process that enables
an organism to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions, provides a competitive …

The number and diversity of known CRISPR–Cas systems have substantially increased in
recent years. Here, we provide an updated evolutionary classification of CRISPR–Cas …

Viruses and their hosts are engaged in a constant arms race leading to the evolution of
antiviral defence mechanisms. Recent studies have revealed that the immune arsenal of …

In bacteria and archaea, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats
(CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins constitute an adaptive immune system …

Class 2 CRISPR–Cas systems are characterized by effector modules that consist of a single
multidomain protein, such as Cas9 or Cpf1. We designed a computational pipeline for the …

Prokaryotes have numerous mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that mediate horizontal gene
transfer (HGT) between cells. These elements can be costly, even deadly, and cells use …

The target DNA specificity of the CRISPR-associated genome editor nuclease Cas9 is
determined by complementarity to a 20-nucleotide segment in its guide RNA. However …

Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) loci in prokaryotes are
composed of 30–40-base-pair repeats separated by equally short sequences of plasmid …

Prokaryotes have evolved several defence mechanisms to protect themselves from viral
predators. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and their …

BACKGROUND The arms race between prokaryotes and their perpetually evolving
predators has fueled the evolution of a defense arsenal. The so-called CRISPR-Cas …