Like many organisms, bacteria and archaea have both innate and adaptive immune systems
to defend against infection by viruses and other parasites. Innate immunity most commonly …

All organisms need to continuously adapt to changes in their environment. Through
horizontal gene transfer, bacteria and archaea can rapidly acquire new traits that may …

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and associated
proteins (Cas) comprise the CRISPR-Cas system, which confers adaptive immunity against …

To engage in adaptive symbioses or genetic exchange, organisms must interact with
foreign, non-self elements despite the risks of predation and parasitism. By surveying the …

Prokaryotes have evolved several defence mechanisms to protect themselves from viral
predators. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and their …

The discovery of CRISPR–Cas (clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–
CRISPR-associated proteins) adaptive immune systems in prokaryotes has been one of the …

The CRISPR-Cas systems of bacterial and archaeal adaptive immunity have become a
household name among biologists and even the general public thanks to the …

BACKGROUND Prokaryotes have evolved multiple systems to combat invaders such as
viruses and plasmids. Examples of such defense systems include receptor masking …

Highlights•CRISPR–Cas systems provide adaptive immunity against viruses in bacteria and
archaea.•Small-interfering RNAs guide nucleases for specific cleavage of complementary …

Bacterial adaptive immunity hinges on CRISPR-Cas systems that provide DNA-encoded,
RNA-mediated targeting of exogenous nucleic acids. A plethora of CRISPR molecular …