title: CRISPR-Cas Systems in Prokaryotes.
abstract: Prokaryotic organisms possess numerous strategies that enable survival in hostile conditions. Among others, these conditions include the invasion of foreign nucleic acids such as bacteriophages and plasmids. The clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) system provides the majority of bacteria and archaea with adaptive and hereditary immunity against this threat. This mechanism of immunity is based on short fragments of foreign DNA incorporated within the hosts genome. After transcription, these fragments guide protein complexes that target foreign nucleic acids and promote their degradation. The aim of this review is to summarize the current status of CRISPR-Cas research, including the mechanisms of action, the classification of different types and subtypes of these systems, and the development of new CRISPR-Cas-based molecular biology tools.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burmistrz
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pyrć
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems; D064112:Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins