ArticleNature2017
CRISPR-Cas systems exploit viral DNA injection to establish and maintain adaptive immunity.
Article in Nature, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- RecBCD Prevents Bacterial Autoimmunity by Clearing Self-DNA Ends Produced During Replication Termination.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Type III CRISPR-Cas systems preferentially acquire spacers from early-expressed phage genes in a transcription-dependent manner.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- The genetic landscape of antibiotic sensitivity inScience advances · 2026Article
- Insights into spacer acquisition of the type V-A CRISPR-Cas system of Francisella novicida U112.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Review
- Prokaryotic Molecular Defense Mechanisms and Their Potential Applications in Cancer Biology: A Special Consideration for Cyanobacterial Systems.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- A previously undescribed archaeal virus suppresses host immunity.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Bacterial TIR-based immune systems sense phage capsids to initiate defense.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- CRISPR adaptation inmSphere · 2025Article
- Crosstalk between three CRISPR-Cas types enables primed type VI-A adaptation in Listeria seeligeri.Cell host & microbe · 2025Article
- Deep mutational scanning identifies Cas1 and Cas2 variants that enhance type II-A CRISPR-Cas spacer acquisition.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Cat1 forms filament networks to degrade NADScience (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Bacteria exploit viral dormancy to establish CRISPR-Cas immunity.Cell host & microbe · 2025Article
- SspA is a transcriptional regulator of CRISPR adaptation in E. coli.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Nucleic acid recognition during prokaryotic immunity.Molecular cell · 2025Review
- CRISPR-Cas spacer acquisition is a rare event in human gut microbiome.Cell genomics · 2025Article
- Cas10 relieves host growth arrest to facilitate spacer retention during type III-A CRISPR-Cas immunity.Cell host & microbe · 2024Article
- A Haloarchaeal Transcriptional Regulator That Represses the Expression of CRISPR-Associated Genes.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Coinfecting phages impede each other's entry into the cell.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas systems provide protection against viral and plasmid infection by capturing short DNA sequences from these invaders and integrating them into the CRISPR locus of the prokaryotic host. These sequences, known as spacers, are transcribed into short CRISPR RNA guides that specify the cleavage site of Cas nucleases in the genome of the invader. It is not known when spacer sequences are acquired during viral infection. Here, to investigate this, we tracked spacer acquisition in Staphylococcus aureus cells harbouring a type II CRISPR-Cas9 system after infection with the staphylococcal bacteriophage ϕ12. We found that new spacers were acquired immediately after infection preferentially from the cos site, the viral free DNA end that is first injected into the cell. Analysis of spacer acquisition after infection with mutant phages demonstrated that most spacers are acquired during DNA injection, but not during other stages of the viral cycle that produce free DNA ends, such as DNA replication or packaging. Finally, we showed that spacers acquired from early-injected genomic regions, which direct Cas9 cleavage of the viral DNA immediately after infection, provide better immunity than spacers acquired from late-injected regions. Our results reveal that CRISPR-Cas systems exploit the phage life cycle to generate a pattern of spacer acquisition that ensures a successful CRISPR immune response.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.