A Cas12a-based CRISPR interference system for multigene regulation in mycobacteria

Mycobacteria are responsible for a heavy global disease burden, but their relative genetic intractability has long frustrated research efforts. The introduction of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) interference (CRISPRi) has made gene repression in mycobacteria much more efficient, but limitations of the prototypical Cas9-based platform, for example, in multigene regulation, remain. Here, we introduce an alternative CRISPRi platform for mycobacteria that is based on the minimal type V Cas12a enzyme in combination with synthetic CRISPR arrays. This system is simple, tunable, reversible, can efficiently regulate essential genes and multiple genes simultaneously, and works as efficiently in infected macrophages as it does in vitro. Together, Cas12a-based CRISPRi provides a facile tool to probe higher-order genetic interactions in mycobacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which will enable the development of synthetically lethal drug targets and the study of genes conditionally essential during infection.     

A CRISPR/dCas9-assisted system to clone toxic genes in Escherichia coli

BackgroundThe cloning of toxic genes in E. coli requires strict regulation of the target genes' leaky expression. Many methods facilitating successful gene cloning of toxic genes are commonly exploited, but the applicability is severely limited.MethodsA CRISPR/dCas9-assisted system was used to clone toxic genes in E. coli. The plasmid-based and genome-integrated systems were designed in this study. And the green fluorescent protein characterization system was used to test the repression efficiency of the two systems.ResultsWe optimized the plasmid-based CRISPR/dCas9-assisted repression system via testing different sgRNAs targeting the Ptrc promoter and achieved inhibition efficiency up to 64.8%. The genome-integrated system represented 35.9% decreased GFP expression and was successfully employed to cloned four toxic genes from Corynebacterium glutamicum in E. coli.ConclusionsUsing this method, we successfully cloned four C. glutamicum-derived toxic genes that had been failed to clone in conventional ways. The CRISPR/dCas9-assisted gene cloning method was a promising tool to facilitate precise gene cloning of different origins in E. coli.General significanceThis system will be useful for cloning toxic genes from different origins in E. coli, and can accelerate the related research of gene characterization and heterologous expression in the metagenomic era.     

Illuminating single genomic loci in live cells by reducing nuclear background fluorescence

The tagging of genomic loci in living cells provides visual evidence for the study of genomic spatial organization and gene interaction. CRISPR/dCas9(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/deactivated Cas9) labeling system labels genes through binding of the dCas9/sgRNA/fluorescent protein complex to repeat sequences in the target genomic loci.However, the existence of numerous fluorescent proteins in the nucleus usually causes a high background fluorescent readout.This study aims to limit the number of fluorescent modules entering the nucleus by redesigning the current CRISPR/dCas9-SunTag labeling system consisting of dCas9-SunTag-NLS(target module) and scFv-sfGFP-NLS(signal module). We removed the nuclear location sequence(NLS) of the signal module and inserted two copies of EGFP into the signal module. The ratio of the fluorescent intensity of the nucleus to that of the cytoplasm(N/C ratio) was decreased by 71%, and the ratio of the signal to the background(S/B ratio) was increased by 1.6 times. The system can stably label randomly selected genomic loci with as few as 9 repeat sequences.     

酿酒酵母中基于CRISPR/dCas9的基因转录调控工具的开发与应用

酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)是重要的模式真核微生物,广泛用于基础研究和工业发酵。基于CRISPR/dCas9系统开发的转录调控方法具有可编程、多重性和正交性等优点,在酿酒酵母的基因调控、功能基因组学、代谢工程等研究领域具有巨大潜力。本文关注酿酒酵母中CRISPR/dCas9基因转录调控工具的研究进展,阐述了不同转录调节结构域对dCas9或gRNA活性的调节,设计与优化dCas9和gRNA表达的方法,影响CRISPR/dCas9系统转录调控效率、特异性和通量的靶向性因素,最后总结了该工具在酿酒酵母代谢工程中的应用,并对该技术的未来发展提出了展望。     

The New State of the Art: Cas9 for Gene Activation and Repression

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has rapidly changed the landscape for how biologists and bioengineers study and manipulate the genome. Derived from the bacterial adaptive immune system, CRISPR-Cas9 has been coopted and repurposed for a variety of new functions, including the activation or repression of gene expression (termed CRISPRa or CRISPRi, respectively). This represents an exciting alternative to previously used repression or activation technologies such as RNA interference (RNAi) or the use of gene overexpression vectors. We have only just begun exploring the possibilities that CRISPR technology offers for gene regulation and the control of cell identity and behavior. In this review, we describe the recent advances of CRISPR-Cas9 technology for gene regulation and outline advantages and disadvantages of CRISPRa and CRISPRi (CRISPRa/i) relative to alternative technologies.     

应用CRISPRi技术敲低耻垢分枝杆菌异柠檬酸脱氢酶基因

成簇的规律间隔的短回文重复序列干扰(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat interference,CRISPRi)是一种新型转录抑制技术,该系统包含RNA介导的DNA内切酶dCas9和针对目的基因的特异性单向导RNA(single guide RNA,sgRNA),通过形成DNA识别复合物特异性识别相应DNA序列以抑制目的基因的转录。异柠檬酸脱氢酶(isocitrate dehydrogenase,ICD)是三羧酸循环中的关键代谢酶,在分枝杆菌的碳代谢过程中发挥重要作用。本研究利用CRISPRi高效抑制分枝杆菌特定基因表达的方法构建耻垢分枝杆菌icd敲低(icd knockdown,ICD-KD)株。定量聚合酶链反应(quantitative polymerase chain reaction,qPCR)和蛋白免疫印迹检测结果显示,耻垢分枝杆菌中icd转录水平与ICD蛋白表达水平显著下降,表明采用CRISPRi技术成功构建了耻垢分枝杆菌ICD-KD株。进一步研究ICD-KD株的生长情况,测定其在固体培养基点板及液体培养基中的生长曲线,结果均显示ICD-KD株生长速率明显减慢,同时菌体内ICD酶活显著降低,提示ICD对分枝杆菌的生长存活起重要作用。本研究使用CRISPRi技术快速构建了分枝杆菌必需基因的敲低菌株,为后续研究分枝杆菌ICD在碳源代谢通路中的功能和碳通量流向调控机制提供了重要基础。