Insights into the Human Virome Using CRISPR Spacers from Microbiomes

CRISPR-Cas systems function by uptake and integration of foreign genetic element sequences into the CRISPR array, which constitutes a genomic archive of iterative vaccination events. Consequently, CRISPR spacers can be investigated to reconstruct interplay between viruses and bacteria, and metagenomic sequencing data can be exploited to provide insights into host-phage interactions within a niche. Here, we show how the CRISPR spacer content of commensal and pathogenic bacteria can be used to determine the evidence of their phage exposure. This framework opens new opportunities for investigating host-virus dynamics in metagenomic data, and highlights the need to dedicate more efforts for virome sampling and sequencing.See it on Scoop.it, via Viruses, Immunology & Bioinformatics from Virology.uvic.ca
Insights into the Human Virome Using CRISPR Spacers from Microbiomes
Source: Viral Bioinformatics