In vitro reconstitution of Cascade‐mediated CRISPR immunity in Streptococcus thermophilus

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)‐encoded immunity in Type I systems relies on the Cascade (CRISPR‐associated complex for antiviral defence) ribonucleoprotein complex, which triggers foreign DNA degradation by an accessory Cas3 protein. To establish the mechanism for adaptive immunity provided by the Streptococcus thermophilus CRISPR4‐Cas (CRISPR‐associated) system (St‐CRISPR4‐Cas), we isolated an effector complex (St‐Cascade) containing 61‐nucleotide CRISPR RNA (crRNA). We show that St‐Cascade, guided by crRNA, binds in vitro to a matching proto‐spacer if a proto‐spacer adjacent motif (PAM) is present. Surprisingly, the PAM sequence determined from binding analysis is promiscuous and limited to a single nucleotide (A or T) immediately upstream (?1 position) of the proto‐spacer. In the presence of a correct PAM, St‐Cascade binding to the target DNA generates an R‐loop that serves as a landing site for the Cas3 ATPase/nuclease. We show that Cas3 binding to the displaced strand in the R‐loop triggers DNA cleavage, and if ATP is present, Cas3 further degrades DNA in a unidirectional manner. These findings establish a molecular basis for CRISPR immunity in St‐CRISPR4‐Cas and other Type I systems.     

基于CRISPR/Cas9的激活系统研究进展

基因编辑技术自问世以来就一直作为生物技术领域的研究热点。基因编辑工具成簇的规律间隔短回文重复序列及其相关系统(CRISPR/Cas系统)具有特异性、简便性和灵活性等优点,为研究人员提供了丰富的遗传操作工具,也让CRISPR/Cas系统的应用在多种生物中得到了飞速发展。特别是将转录激活因子与失活的Cas蛋白结合,可在RNA转录水平实现基因表达特异性调控,为生物技术在医学研究及农业领域的发展做出了重要的贡献。外源基因的过表达是验证基因功能和基因调控的常用方法,然而由于载体容量的限制难以实现多基因过表达。基于CRISPR/Cas9激活系统可在不同向导RNA的引导下对多个基因进行调控,实现调控水平验证基因功能。本文通过对CRISPR/Cas9激活系统组成及不同激活策略进行总结,整理针对过度激活的解决方案,为CRISPR/Cas9激活系统应用于棉花遗传改良及除草剂抗性研究提供更多参考。     

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated engineering of Escherichia coli for n-butanol production from xylose in defined medium

Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology - Butanol production from agricultural residues is the most promising alternative for fossil fuels. To reach the economic viability of...     

Cloning and expression of the beta-D-galactosidase gene from Streptococcus thermophilus in Escherichia coli

The beta-D-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene from Streptococcus thermophilus was cloned to isolate and characterize it for potential use as a selection marker in a food-grade cloning vector. Chromosomal DNA from S. thermophilus 19258 was cleaved with the restriction enzyme PstI and ligated to pBR322 for transformation into Escherichia coli JM108. A beta-galactosidase-positive clone was detected by its blue color on a medium supplemented with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactoside. This transformant possessed a single plasmid, designated pRH116, which contained, in addition to the vector DNA, a 7.0-kilobase (kb) PstI insertion fragment coding for beta-gal activity. An extract from JM108(pRH116) contained a beta-gal protein with the same electrophoretic mobility as the beta-gal from S. thermophilus 19258. Compared with the beta-gal from E. coli HB101, the S. thermophilus beta-gal was of lower molecular weight. A restriction map of pRH116 was constructed from cleavage of both the plasmid and the purified insert. The construction of deletion derivatives of pRH116 with BglII, BstEII, and HindIII revealed the approximate location of the gene on the 7.0-kb fragment. The beta-gal gene was further localized to a 3.85-kb region.     

Development of aptamer-based inhibitors for CRISPR/Cas system

The occurrence of accidental mutations or deletions caused by genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9 system remains a critical unsolved problem of the technology. Blocking excess or prolonged Cas9 activity in cells is considered as one means of solving this problem. Here, we report the development of an inhibitory DNA aptamer against Cas9 by means of in vitro selection (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) and subsequent screening with an in vitro cleavage assay. The inhibitory aptamer could bind to Cas9 at low nanomolar affinity and partially form a duplex with CRISPR RNA, contributing to its inhibitory activity. We also demonstrated that improving the inhibitory aptamer with locked nucleic acids efficiently suppressed Cas9-directed genome editing in cells and reduced off-target genome editing. The findings presented here might enable the development of safer and controllable genome editing for biomedical research and gene therapy.     

CRISPR/Cas9系统在昆虫中的应用

CRISPR/Cas9(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9)技术是一种RNA引导的基因组靶向编辑技术,能对基因组序列进行精确编辑,在探究基因功能、修复受损基因、沉默有害基因、改良品质性状等方面具有广阔的应用前景。近年来,随着对CRISPR/Cas9系统研究的不断深入和改造,该系统以其操作简易、省时、高效等优点在生物学研究的众多领域中得以推广和应用,特别是在果蝇(Bombyx mori)、家蚕(silkworm)、埃及伊蚊(Aedes aegypti)和蝴蝶(butterfly)等多种昆虫中。本文概述了CRISPR/Cas9的结构、作用原理及发展优化,总结了CRISPR/Cas9导入昆虫的策略和在昆虫中的应用,以及对CRISPR/Cas9系统产生脱靶问题的应对策略,以期对经济昆虫和有益昆虫的分子育种、害虫的生物技术防控等研究提供参考。     

基于CRISPR/Cas9系统高通量筛选研究功能基因

利用功能缺失型(Loss-of-function)或者功能获得型(Gain-of-function) 策略高通量筛选功能基因,是研究人员快速寻找调控特定表型的重要或关键基因的主要方法。RNA干扰(RNA interference,RNAi)的遗传筛选方法因操作简单、成本相对较低等优势,尽管已经得到了广泛的应用,然而其抑制效果不完全、脱靶效应明显等劣势依然存在。近年来兴起的CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat sequences/ CRISPR-associated protein 9)技术能快速、简便、准确地实现基因组敲除等编辑功能,因而成为一种强大的遗传筛选工具;在各种细胞系、人和小鼠及斑马鱼等多种模式动物中,大规模运用该方法筛选功能基因已经取得了巨大成功。本文总结了CRISPR/Cas9技术的特点,将其与传统基因工程方法进行了分析比较,回顾了近期相关的高通量功能基因筛选工作,最后探讨了该技术未来的发展趋势。     

CRISPR/Cas基因编辑系统研究进展

规律性成簇间隔的短回文重复序列(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, CRISPR)的发现和工程技术对生命科学的发展带来巨大的推动作用。RNA引导的Cas(CRISPR-associated)酶已被用作操纵细胞、动物和植物基因组的工具。这加速了基础研究的步伐,并使其在临床和农业上的应用成为可能。CRISPR/Cas9对在实验系统中进行的功能基因组学的研究有重大影响。CRISPR/Cas9系统自发现以来,因其操作便捷、成本低、特异性高、可同时打靶任意数量基因等优点而被广泛应用。经过近几年研究发现,Cas9变异体(Cas12a、Cas13)有利于突破和克服CRISPR/Cas9应用中的一些限制,Cas12a极大地扩展了基因编辑靶位点的选择范围,同时其介导的多基因编辑具有明显的优势;Cas13等蛋白能特异性结合和编辑RNA,开启了转录组研究的新篇章。本文主要就CRISPR/Cas的研究背景以及Cas9、Cas12a和Cas13系统研究进展和应用进行综述,并对其应用前景和发展方向进行了展望。     

细菌中CRISPR/Cas系统的应用和优化

成簇规律间隔短回文重复序列(Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,CRISPR)系统在近年来得到越来越广泛的应用。相比传统的基因组编辑技术,CRISPR/Cas系统具有编辑效率高、特异性强、花费低、对实验技术要求低等优势。其中Ⅱ型和Ⅴ型CRISPR/Cas系统分别仅需要单个Cas9蛋白和单个Cpf1蛋白作为切割双链DNA的工具,因此特别受到研究者们的青睐。目前CRISPR/Cas9技术已成功应用于斑马鱼、小鼠、人类细胞等真核生物的基因组编辑中,并取得一系列重要成果,但在细菌领域进行的相关研究并不多。文中将简单描述CRISPR/Cas系统及其作用机制,重点介绍该系统的优化以及近年来其在细菌学领域所取得的进展。     

空肠弯曲菌CRISPR/Cas系统的研究进展

多数细菌都存在发挥免疫防御机制作用的CRISPR/Cas系统,在不同种属间呈现多态性。空肠弯曲菌是全球范围内重要的食源性病原菌,所致疾病也是典型的自限性疾病,其复杂的致病机制并未得到明确的解析,而空肠弯曲菌CRISPR/Cas系统的结构呈现多态性,研究两者关系仍存在诸多限制。本文从CRISPR/Cas系统在空肠弯曲菌中的结构、机制及技术应用等方面的研究进展进行综述,为探索空肠弯曲菌致病机制提供新思路。     

运用CRISPR/Cas系统敲除大肠杆菌磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶基因及其对脂肪酸代谢的影响

【目的】CRISPR/Cas是目前基因编辑的一个重要的新兴技术,拟通过该技术,对大肠杆菌进行快速、高效的基因编辑,获取脂肪酸代谢工程菌。【方法】利用一个二元载体构建出CRISPR/Cas偶联λ-Red重组酶的系统,重叠PCR扩增出敲除的Donor,最后用电转的方式对Escherichia coli MG1655脂肪酸代谢相关基因进行快速编辑。同时,采用气相色谱-质谱(GC-MS)对脂肪酸进行定性及定量分析。【结果】获得了大肠杆菌ΔPEPC(partial)、ΔPEPC、ΔPEPC(partial)-ΔFad D、ΔPEPC-ΔFad D以及ΔFad D突变体菌株。各缺失体菌株脂肪酸含量均比野生型要高,最高的增长了3.7%,但是敲除ppc获得的脂肪酸增长量并没有预期的高。同时在脂肪酸组成上,各菌株均含有11:0、12:0、13:0、14:0、15:0、16:0、17:1、17:0、18:0,并且16:0,17:0,18:0占主要组成部分。【结论】运用该技术可以快速、高效地对大肠杆菌基因进行编辑,是大肠杆菌工程菌株构建的一个新思路,对其他工程菌的构建提供了一定的理论基础。     

Multiple-step chromosomal integration of divided segments from a large DNA fragment via CRISPR/Cas9 in Escherichia coli

Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology - Although CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing technology has developed vastly in Escherichia coli, the chromosomal integration of large DNA...     

Coupling the CRISPR/Cas9 System with Lambda Red Recombineering Enables Simplified Chromosomal Gene Replacement in Escherichia coli

To date, most genetic engineering approaches coupling the type II Streptococcus pyogenes clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system to lambda Red recombineering have involved minor single nucleotide mutations. Here we show that procedures for carrying out more complex chromosomal gene replacements in Escherichia coli can be substantially enhanced through implementation of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. We developed a three-plasmid approach that allows not only highly efficient recombination of short single-stranded oligonucleotides but also replacement of multigene chromosomal stretches of DNA with large PCR products. By systematically challenging the proposed system with respect to the magnitude of chromosomal deletion and size of DNA insertion, we demonstrated DNA deletions of up to 19.4 kb, encompassing 19 nonessential chromosomal genes, and insertion of up to 3 kb of heterologous DNA with recombination efficiencies permitting mutant detection by colony PCR screening. Since CRISPR/Cas9-coupled recombineering does not rely on the use of chromosome-encoded antibiotic resistance, or flippase recombination for antibiotic marker recycling, our approach is simpler, less labor-intensive, and allows efficient production of gene replacement mutants that are both markerless and “scar”-less.     

CRISPR/Cas systems versus plant viruses: engineering plant immunity and beyond

Molecular engineering of plant immunity to confer resistance against plant viruses holds great promise for mitigating crop losses and improving plant productivity and yields, thereby enhancing food security. Several approaches have been employed to boost immunity in plants by interfering with the transmission or lifecycles of viruses. In this review, we discuss the successful application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) (CRISPR/Cas) systems to engineer plant immunity, increase plant resistance to viruses, and develop viral diagnostic tools. Furthermore, we examine the use of plant viruses as delivery systems to engineer virus resistance in plants and provide insight into the limitations of current CRISPR/Cas approaches and the potential of newly discovered CRISPR/Cas systems to engineer better immunity and develop better diagnostics tools for plant viruses. Finally, we outline potential solutions to key challenges in the field to enable the practical use of these systems for crop protection and viral diagnostics.

CRISPR-Cas systems unlock the potential of understanding the molecular basis of plant virus interactions, engineering immunity against plant viruses, and developing sensitive and specific diagnostics.     

Cloning and expression of the beta-D-galactosidase gene from Streptococcus thermophilus in Escherichia coli.

The beta-D-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene from Streptococcus thermophilus was cloned to isolate and characterize it for potential use as a selection marker in a food-grade cloning vector. Chromosomal DNA from S. thermophilus 19258 was cleaved with the restriction enzyme PstI and ligated to pBR322 for transformation into Escherichia coli JM108. A beta-galactosidase-positive clone was detected by its blue color on a medium supplemented with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactoside. This transformant possessed a single plasmid, designated pRH116, which contained, in addition to the vector DNA, a 7.0-kilobase (kb) PstI insertion fragment coding for beta-gal activity. An extract from JM108(pRH116) contained a beta-gal protein with the same electrophoretic mobility as the beta-gal from S. thermophilus 19258. Compared with the beta-gal from E. coli HB101, the S. thermophilus beta-gal was of lower molecular weight. A restriction map of pRH116 was constructed from cleavage of both the plasmid and the purified insert. The construction of deletion derivatives of pRH116 with BglII, BstEII, and HindIII revealed the approximate location of the gene on the 7.0-kb fragment. The beta-gal gene was further localized to a 3.85-kb region.     

The CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Revolution

正Genomes encode the genetic information that controls the development and physiological functions of all living organisms on our planet,and are therefore of central interest in all aspects of biomedical research.To understand the blueprint of life,scientists have long aimed to read and manipulate the genome using a rapidly expanding toolbox.To read the genome,novel state-of-the-art sequencing technologies have made it possible to sequence any single genome rapidly and cheaply.However,methods for introducing targeted modifications of the genome have lagged behind,and though