Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30905284›Full record

ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2019

Origins and evolution of CRISPR-Cas systems.

Eugene V Koonin, Kira S Makarova

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 222 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
222citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
17.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

222 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 471 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Characterization of defensome genes and mobile genetic Elements in different types of pasture soil agroecosystems from the Brazilian Amazon.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. A Noncontiguous Code for RNA-Guided DNA Recognition Preceded CRISPR.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Towards deployable CRISPR-based nucleic acid detection.Progress in biomedical engineering (Bristol, England) · 2026
    Review
  11. Sassy: fuzzy searching DNA sequences using SIMD.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2026
    Article
  12. New Insights into CRISPR-like Arrays inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. A pentose, as a cytosine nucleobase modification inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026
    Article
  16. [Research on Bacteriophage Resistance: Coevolutionary Arms Race Between Bacteria and Phages Drives Novel Antibacterial Therapies].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2026
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

162 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Eugene V KooninNational Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine , Bethesda, MD 20894 , USA.
Kira S MakarovaNational Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine , Bethesda, MD 20894 , USA.
National Center for Biotechnology Information · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas, the bacterial and archaeal adaptive immunity systems, encompass a complex machinery that integrates fragments of foreign nucleic acids, mostly from mobile genetic elements (MGE), into CRISPR arrays embedded in microbial genomes. Transcripts of the inserted segments (spacers) are employed by CRISPR-Cas systems as guide (g)RNAs for recognition and inactivation of the cognate targets. The CRISPR-Cas systems consist of distinct adaptation and effector modules whose evolutionary trajectories appear to be at least partially independent. Comparative genome analysis reveals the origin of the adaptation module from casposons, a distinct type of transposons, which employ a homologue of Cas1 protein, the integrase responsible for the spacer incorporation into CRISPR arrays, as the transposase. The origin of the effector module(s) is far less clear. The CRISPR-Cas systems are partitioned into two classes, class 1 with multisubunit effectors, and class 2 in which the effector consists of a single, large protein. The class 2 effectors originate from nucleases encoded by different MGE, whereas the origin of the class 1 effector complexes remains murky. However, the recent discovery of a signalling pathway built into the type III systems of class 1 might offer a clue, suggesting that type III effector modules could have evolved from a signal transduction system involved in stress-induced programmed cell death. The subsequent evolution of the class 1 effector complexes through serial gene duplication and displacement, primarily of genes for proteins containing RNA recognition motif domains, can be hypothetically reconstructed. In addition to the multiple contributions of MGE to the evolution of CRISPR-Cas, the reverse flow of information is notable, namely, recruitment of minimalist variants of CRISPR-Cas systems by MGE for functions that remain to be elucidated. Here, we attempt a synthesis of the diverse threads that shed light on CRISPR-Cas origins and evolution. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The ecology and evolution of prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems'.

Indexed as

Evolution, MolecularArchaeaBacteriaCRISPR-Cas Systemsadaptive immunitygene shufflingmobile genetic elementssignalling

Identifiers

PMID30905284
PMCPMC6452270
OpenAlexW2925163882

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.