Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
Phys Biol. 2013 Apr;10(2):025004. doi: 10.1088/1478-3975/10/2/025004. Epub 2013 Mar 15.
Bacteria and archaea have evolved an adaptive, heritable immune system that recognizes and protects against viruses or plasmids. This system, known as the CRISPR-Cas system, allows the host to recognize and incorporate short foreign DNA or RNA sequences, called 'spacers' into its CRISPR system. Spacers in the CRISPR system provide a record of the history of bacteria and phage coevolution. We use a physical model to study the dynamics of this coevolution as it evolves stochastically over time. We focus on the impact of mutation and recombination on bacteria and phage evolution and evasion. We discuss the effect of different spacer deletion mechanisms on the coevolutionary dynamics. We make predictions about bacteria and phage population growth, spacer diversity within the CRISPR locus, and spacer protection against the phage population.
细菌和古菌已经进化出一种适应性的、可遗传的免疫系统，能够识别和保护自身免受病毒或质粒的侵害。这个系统被称为 CRISPR-Cas 系统，它允许宿主识别并将短的外源 DNA 或 RNA 序列（称为“间隔序列”）整合到其 CRISPR 系统中。CRISPR 系统中的间隔序列提供了细菌和噬菌体共同进化历史的记录。我们使用物理模型来研究这种共同进化的动态，因为它随着时间的推移而随机进化。我们专注于突变和重组对细菌和噬菌体进化和逃避的影响。我们讨论了不同间隔序列删除机制对共同进化动力学的影响。我们对细菌和噬菌体种群增长、CRISPR 基因座内的间隔序列多样性以及间隔序列对噬菌体种群的保护作用做出了预测。
