一項新研究指出,，細菌能從威脅它們的病毒上借遺傳序列并將其結(jié)合到自己的基因組中,，從而試圖躲避病毒未來的進攻。這種獨特的防御涉及名為CRISPR的重復(fù)遺傳序列,，該序列遍布細菌的基因組,。CRISPR片段在重復(fù)段之間有與威脅細菌的病毒序列類似的“間隔區(qū)”序列。Rodolphe Barrangou和同事現(xiàn)在展示,，對乳制品生產(chǎn)很重要的嗜熱鏈球菌能從進攻它們的病毒上獲得新的間隔區(qū)序列,。一段時間后，這些新的間隔區(qū)序列使細菌對病毒有免疫,，可能是通過沉默病毒基因的表達,。研究人員提出，其它與CRISPR有關(guān)的基因也參與這個抵抗機制,。
部分英文原文：
Science 23 March 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5819, pp. 1709 - 1712
DOI: 10.1126/science.1138140
Reports
CRISPR Provides Acquired Resistance Against Viruses in Prokaryotes
Rodolphe Barrangou,1 Christophe Fremaux,2 Hélène Deveau,3 Melissa Richards,1 Patrick Boyaval,2 Sylvain Moineau,3 Dennis A. Romero,1 Philippe Horvath2*
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are a distinctive feature of the genomes of most Bacteria and Archaea and are thought to be involved in resistance to bacteriophages. We found that, after viral challenge, bacteria integrated new spacers derived from phage genomic sequences. Removal or addition of particular spacers modified the phage-resistance phenotype of the cell. Thus, CRISPR, together with associated cas genes, provided resistance against phages, and resistance specificity is determined by spacer-phage sequence similarity.
1 Danisco USA Inc., 3329 Agriculture Drive, Madison, WI 53716, USA.
2 Danisco France SAS, Boîte Postale 10, F-86220 Dangé-Saint-Romain, France.
3 Département de Biochimie et de Microbiologie, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Groupe de Recherche en Ecologie Buccale, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Université Laval, G1K 7P4 Québec, Canada.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
