WIKIPEDIA, THOMAS SPLETTSSTOESSERMicrobes use a number of CRISPR-Cas systems for immunity, but it’s the class 2 system, typically utilizing the nuclease Cas9, that has been adapted for genome editing. A metagenomics search of microbes sampled from soil, groundwater, an acid mine drainage site in Colorado, and a Utah geyser has led to the discovery of additional class 2 CRISPR-Cas programs, including the first Cas9 identified in archaea and two small Cas enzymes in bacteria. Researchers published their findings in Nature today (December 22).
“It’s really cool to unearth gold out of the metagenomic dark matter,” said Rodolphe Barrangou, who studies CRISPR at North Carolina State University and was not involved in the study. “There’s so much more in nature than people appreciate.”
Although CRISPR is perhaps best known as a laboratory tool for tinkering with genetic sequences and functions, its origins lie in defending microbes from invaders. Scientists developed CRISPR as a genomic editor from bacteria grown in the lab, but countless microbes remain uncultivated—that is, not isolated and grown in culture. Therefore, the potential for discovering new forms of CRISPR is vast.
Over the past decade, Jillian Banfield of the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues have been collecting microbes from various locations, extracting their DNA, and ...
