Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41816914›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2026

Associate toxin-antitoxin with CRISPR-Cas to harness (ATTACH) engineered microbes.

Huiwei Zhao, Tao Zhou, Ming Zhang, Chengqiang Wang, Rui Wang, Xian Shu, Feiyue Cheng, Qiong Xue, Chao Liu, Jing Xu and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

15 authors.

Huiwei ZhaoDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.ORCID 0000-0001-9993-9795
Tao ZhouDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Ming ZhangMedical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China.
Chengqiang WangCollege of Life Sciences, National Engineering Research Center for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, Shandong Engineering Research Center of Plant-Microbia Restoration for Saline-alkali Land, Shandong Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China.
Rui WangDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Xian ShuDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Feiyue ChengDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Qiong XueDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Chao LiuDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Jing XuDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Xinyue CaoDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Jun DuDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Liangliang WangThe Laboratory of Microbiome and Microecological Technology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Hongwei LiuMedical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China.
Ming LiDepartment of Microbial Physiological & Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0634-8396

Funding

Chinese Academy of Sciences XDB0810000National Key Research and Development Project 2024YFA0918500National Natural Science Foundation of China 32150020National Natural Science Foundation of China 32200057National Natural Science Foundation of China 32270092National Natural Science Foundation of China 32370090National Natural Science Foundation of China 32370120National Natural Science Foundation of China 32400063Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS 2020090
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Robust biocontainment is essential for the safe use of engineered microbes, but existing strategies suffer from genetic instability and/or laborious construction. Here, we present ATTACH, a kill switch that associates toxin-antitoxin with CRISPR-Cas to harness engineered microbes. Our approach employs a CRISPR-repressed toxin-antitoxin (CreTA) module to make microbes addicted to the type I-F Cas effector proteins, and places both the Cas3 nuclease and the chromosome-targeting guide RNA under inducible promoters, thereby improving the genetic stability and stringency of the CRISPR-based suicidal program. Additionally, we have developed a single-plasmid, antibiotic-independent ATTACH device, which shows robust, stringent containment of a microbial chassis in murine gut, and negligible impacts on culture growth or lycopene production during batch fermentation. Our data highlight the potential of CreTA to stabilize CRISPR-based kill switches, advancing their development into more portable and reliable biocontainment tools for engineered microbes.

Indexed as

CRISPR-Cas SystemsToxin-Antitoxin SystemsAnimalsEscherichia coliGenetic EngineeringLycopeneMicePlasmidsLycopene

Identifiers

PMID41816914
PMCPMC12980059

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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.