Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 303, Issue 2, Pages 51-60Publisher
ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmm.2012.11.004
Keywords
CRISPR; Cas; Francisella tularensis; Bacteriophage
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Funding
- Robert Koch-Institute
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Francisella tularensis is a zoonotic agent and the subspecies novicida is proposed to be a water-associated bacterium. The intracellular pathogen F. tularensis causes tularemia in humans and is known for its potential to be used as a biological threat. We analyzed the genome sequence of E tularensis subsp. novicida U112 in silico for the presence of a putative functional CRISPR/Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated) system. CRISPR/Cas systems are known to encode an RNA-guided adaptive immunity-like system to protect bacteria against invading genetic elements like bacteriophages and plasmids. In this work, we present a,first indication that F. tularensis subsp. novicida encodes a functional CRISPR/Cas defence system. Additionally, we identified various spacer DNAs homologous to a putative phage present within the genome of F. tularensis subsp. novicida-like strain 3523. CRISPR/Cas is also present in F. tularensis subsp. tularensis, holarctica, and mediasiatica, but these systems seem to be non-functional. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
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