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Review
. 2018 Jan;16(1):12-17.
doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2017.120. Epub 2017 Oct 24.

Anti-CRISPR: discovery, mechanism and function

April Pawluk  1 , Alan R Davidson  2 , Karen L Maxwell  1
Affiliations
Review

Anti-CRISPR: discovery, mechanism and function

April Pawluk et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems are widespread among bacteria and archaea. Recent studies have shown that these systems have minimal long-term evolutionary effects in limiting horizontal gene transfer. This suggests that the ability to evade CRISPR-Cas immunity must also be widespread in phages and other mobile genetic elements. In this Progress article, we discuss recent discoveries that highlight how phages inactivate CRISPR-Cas systems by using anti-CRISPR proteins, and we outline evolutionary and biotechnological implications of their activity.

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References

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