Proceeding talk – Theme: Genome.
Abstract
The CRISPR-Cas system is an adaptive immune system in archaea and bacteria, which provides resistance against invading genetic elements. It has been shown that transcription initiation and adaptation signals of the CRISPR array are located within the so called leader sequence at the one end of the array. However, apart from promoters, there is very little knowledge of sequence or structural motifs or their possible functions. Leader properties have mainly been characterised through RNA expression data from single organisms but large-scale characterisation of leaders has remained challenging due to their low level of sequence conservation. We developed a method to successfully detect leader sequences by focusing on the consensus repeat of the adjacent CRISPR array and weak upstream conservation signals. We applied our tool to the analysis of a comprehensive genomic database and identified several kingdom specific characteristic properties of leader sequences, ranging from distinctive size to indel preferential localisation.
Authors
Omer S. Alkhnbashi, Bioinformatics Group, University of Freiburg, Germany
Shiraz A. Shah, Archaea Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Roger A. Garrett, Archaea Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Sita J. Saunders, Bioinformatics Group, University of Freiburg, Germany
Fabrizio Costa, Bioinformatics Group, University of Freiburg, Germany
Rolf Backofen, Bioinformatics Group, University of Freiburg, Germany