Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

BACTERIAL PHYSIOLOGY

CRISPR meets caspase

Nature Microbiology volume 6, pages 1481–1482 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Diverse CRISPR–Cas systems protect prokaryotes against invasive genetic elements like phages. A new study finds that evolution has fused a multi-subunit CRISPR complex into a single protein that cuts RNA and interacts with an ancillary caspase-like peptidase, which may trigger cell suicide.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Effector composition and immune responses of canonical versus single-effector type III CRISPR–Cas systems.

References

  1. Guzmán, N. M., Esquerra-Ruvira, B. & Mojica, F. J. M. Int. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-021-00208-7 (2021).

  2. Makarova, K. S. et al. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 18, 67–83 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Molina, R., Sofos, N. & Montoya, G. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 65, 119–129 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. van Beljouw, S. P. B. et al. Science 373, 1349–1353 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Özcan, A. et al. Nature 597, 720–725 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Johnson, A. G. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.07.447441 (2021).

  7. Lopatina, A., Tal, N. & Sorek, R. Annu. Rev. Virol. 7, 371–384 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Jiang, W., Samai, P. & Marraffini, L. A. Cell 164, 710–721 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rostøl, J. T. & Marraffini, L. A. Nat. Microbiol. 4, 656–662 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Meeske, A. J., Nakandakari-Higa, S. & Marraffini, L. A. Nature 570, 241–245 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Megan L. Hochstrasser

  2. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    James K. Nuñez

Authors
  1. Megan L. Hochstrasser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James K. Nuñez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Megan L. Hochstrasser or James K. Nuñez.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hochstrasser, M.L., Nuñez, J.K. CRISPR meets caspase. Nat Microbiol 6, 1481–1482 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-01001-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-01001-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Microbiology

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology