As befits an immune mechanism, CRISPR-Cas systems are highly variable with respect to
Cas protein sequences, gene composition, and organization of the genomic loci. Optimal …

Bacteria and their viral predators (bacteriophages) are locked in a constant battle. In order to
proliferate in phage-rich environments, bacteria have an impressive arsenal of defence …

The evolutionary pressure imposed by phage predation on bacteria and archaea has
resulted in the development of effective anti-phage defence mechanisms, including …

REBASE is a comprehensive and fully curated database of information about the
components of restriction-modification (RM) systems. It contains fully referenced information …

Evolution of bacteria and archaea involves an incessant arms race against an enormous
diversity of genetic parasites. Accordingly, a substantial fraction of the genes in most …

Restriction-modification (RM) systems are ubiquitous and are often considered primitive
immune systems in bacteria. Their diversity and prevalence across the prokaryotic kingdom …

With the increasing global threat of antibiotic resistance, there is an urgent need to develop
new effective therapies to tackle antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Bacteriophage …

DNA methylation acts in concert with restriction enzymes to protect the integrity of
prokaryotic genomes. Studies in a limited number of organisms suggest that methylation …

Bacteria have a range of distinct immune strategies that provide protection against
bacteriophage (phage) infections. While much has been learned about the mechanism of …

Our knowledge of prokaryotic defense systems has vastly expanded as the result of
comparative genomic analysis, followed by experimental validation. This expansion is both …