Host–pathogen co-evolution is a significant force which shapes the ecology and evolution of all types of organisms, and such interactions are driven by resistance and immunity mechanisms of the host. Diversity of resistance and immunity can affect the co-evolutionary trajectory of both host and pathogen. The microbial CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)–Cas (CRISPR-associated) system is one host immunity mechanism which offers a tractable model for examining the dynamics of diversity in an immune system. In the present article, we review CRISPR variation observed in a variety of natural populations, examine the forces which can push CRISPRs towards high or low diversity, and investigate the consequences of various levels of diversity on microbial populations.
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December 2013
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Conference Article|
November 20 2013
Evolutionary causes and consequences of diversified CRISPR immune profiles in natural populations
Whitney E. England;
Whitney E. England
*Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A.
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Rachel J. Whitaker
Rachel J. Whitaker
1
*Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailrwhitaker@life.illinois.edu).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 08 2013
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2013 Biochemical Society
2013
Biochem Soc Trans (2013) 41 (6): 1431–1436.
Article history
Received:
October 08 2013
Citation
Whitney E. England, Rachel J. Whitaker; Evolutionary causes and consequences of diversified CRISPR immune profiles in natural populations. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2013; 41 (6): 1431–1436. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20130243
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