Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40944362›Full record

ArticleMolecular microbiology2025

A Cas12a Toolbox for Rapid and Flexible Group B Streptococcus Genomic Editing and CRISPRi.

G H Hillebrand, S C Carlin, E J Giacobe, H A Stephenson, J Collins, T A Hooven

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. CRISPR interference in aJournal of bacteriology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

G H HillebrandProgram in Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
S C CarlinDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
E J GiacobeProgram in Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
H A StephensonDietrich School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
J CollinsDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2479-5189
T A HoovenProgram in Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1959-186X

Funding

Understanding the Host-Microbiome-Therapeutic Triad: Implications for Designing Alternative IntravaginalP20GM125504 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · PI James Tristan Collins · 2018 to 2026
$24.4M
Group B Streptococcus surface determinants of neonatal intestinal colonization and infectionR01AI182835 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Thomas A Hooven · 2024 to 2026
$1.6M
Signal transduction, metabolic shifts, and host interactions during group B Streptococcus infectionR01AI177991 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Thomas A Hooven · 2024 to 2026
$1.4M
Bacterial CRISPR interference to define macrophage responses to group B Streptococcus proteinsR21AI178067 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI ARONOFF, DAVID M, HOOVEN, THOMAS A · 2023 to 2024
$451k
Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence P20GM125504NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI177991NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI182835NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI178067NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM125504NIH HHS R01AI177991NIH HHS R01AI182835NIH HHS R21AI178067UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Research Advisory Council
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus; GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis. Despite advances in molecular microbiology, GBS genome engineering remains laborious due to inefficient mutagenesis protocols. Here, we report a versatile and rapid Cas12a-based toolkit for GBS genetic manipulation. We developed two shuttle plasmids-pGBSedit for genome editing and pGBScrispri for inducible CRISPR interference-derived from an Enterococcus faecium system and optimized for GBS. Using these tools, we achieved targeted gene insertions, markerless deletions, and efficient, template-free mutagenesis via alternative end-joining repair. Furthermore, a catalytically inactive dCas12a variant enabled inducible gene silencing, with strand-specific targeting effects. The system demonstrated broad applicability across multiple GBS strains and minimal off-target activity, as confirmed by whole-genome sequencing. In benchmarking, template-less Cas12a mutagenesis yielded sequence-confirmed mutants in ~7 days and homology-directed edits in ~7-14 days; aTC-resistant colonies arose at ~10

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsCRISPR-Associated ProteinsCRISPR-Cas SystemsEndodeoxyribonucleasesGene EditingStreptococcus agalactiaeEnterococcus faeciumGenome, BacterialMutagenesisPlasmidsBacterial ProteinsCas12a proteinCRISPR-Associated ProteinsEndodeoxyribonucleasesCas12aCRISPRigenome editinggroup B Streptococcus

Identifiers

PMID40944362
PMCPMC12588400

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LicenceCC BY
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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.