Journal
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 9, Issue 6, Pages 467-477Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro2577
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Funding
- US Department of Health and Human Services (National Library of Medicine)
- US National Institutes of Health [1 R01 HG004881]
- Umea University, Sweden
- Swedish Research Council
- National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- University of Alicante, Spain
- Government of Canada through Genome Canada
- Ontario Genomics Institute [2009-OGI-ABC-1405]
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
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The CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated proteins) modules are adaptive immunity systems that are present in many archaea and bacteria. These defence systems are encoded by operons that have an extraordinarily diverse architecture and a high rate of evolution for both the cas genes and the unique spacer content. Here, we provide an updated analysis of the evolutionary relationships between CRISPR-Cas systems and Cas proteins. Three major types of CRISPR-Cas system are delineated, with a further division into several subtypes and a few chimeric variants. Given the complexity of the genomic architectures and the extremely dynamic evolution of the CRISPR-Cas systems, a unified classification of these systems should be based on multiple criteria. Accordingly, we propose a 'polythetic' classification that integrates the phylogenies of the most common cas genes, the sequence and organization of the CRISPR repeats and the architecture of the CRISPR-cas loci.
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