Journal
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 12, Issue 5, Pages 317-326Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro3241
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Funding
- European Union under Research Executive Agency (REA) [327606]
- UK Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award
- Royal Society of New Zealand
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The discovery of CRISPR-Cas (clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated proteins) adaptive immune systems in prokaryotes has been one of the most exciting advances in microbiology in the past decade. Their role in host protection against mobile genetic elements is now well established, but there is mounting evidence that these systems modulate other processes, such as the genetic regulation of group behaviour and virulence, DNA repair and genome evolution. In this Progress article, we discuss recent studies that have provided insights into these unconventional CRISPR-Cas functions and consider their potential evolutionary implications. Understanding the role of CRISPR-Cas in these processes will improve our understanding of the evolution and maintenance of CRISPR-Cas systems in prokaryotic genomes.
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