Search for: All records

ABSTRACT Advanced genome editing technologies have enabled rapid and flexible rewriting of theEscherichia coligenome, benefiting fundamental biology and biomanufacturing. Unfortunately, some of the most useful technologies to advance genome editing inE. colihave not yet been ported into other bacterial species. For instance, the addition of bacterial retrons to the genome editing toolbox has increased the efficiency of recombineering inE. coliby enabling sustained, abundant production of ssDNA recombineering donors by reverse transcription that install flexible, precise edits in the prokaryotic chromosome. To extend the utility of this technology beyondE. coli, we surveyed the portability and versatility of retron-mediated recombineering across three different bacterial phyla (Proteobacteria, BacillotaandActinomycetota) and a total of 15 different species. We found that retron recombineering is functional in all species tested, reaching editing efficiencies above 20% in six of them, above 40% in three of them, and above 90% in two of them. We also tested the extension of the recombitron architecture optimizations and strain backgrounds in a subset of hosts to additionally increase editing rates. The broad recombitron survey carried out in this study forms the basis for widespread use of retron-derived technologies through the whole Bacteria domain. 

ABSTRACT Retrons are bacterial immune systems that protect a bacterial population against phages by killing infected hosts. Retrons typically comprise a reverse transcriptase, a template noncoding RNA that is partially reverse transcribed into RT-DNA, and a toxic effector. The reverse transcriptase, noncoding RNA, and RT-DNA complex sequester the toxic effector until triggered by phage infection, at which point the toxin is released to induce cell death. Due to their ability to produce single-stranded DNA in vivo, retrons have also been engineered to produce donor templates for genome editing in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, the current repertoire of experimentally characterized retrons is limited, with most retrons sourced from clinical and laboratory strains of bacteria. To better understand retron biology and natural diversity, and to expand the current toolbox of retron-based genome editors, we developed a pipeline to isolate retrons and their bacterial hosts from a variety of environmental samples. Here, we present six of these novel retrons, each isolated from a different host bacterium. We characterize the full operon of these retrons and test their ability to defend against a panel ofE. coliphages. For two of these retrons, we further unravel their mechanism of defense by identifying the phage genes responsible for triggering abortive infection. Finally, we engineer these retrons for genome editing inE. coli, demonstrating their potential use in a biotechnological application. 

Abstract The CRISPR integrases Cas1-Cas2 create immunological memories of viral infection by storing phage-derived DNA in CRISPR arrays, a process known as CRISPR adaptation. A number of host factors have been shown to influence adaptation, but the full pathway from infection to a fully integrated, phage-derived sequences in the array remains incomplete. Here, we deploy a new CRISPRi-based screen to identify putative host factors that participate in CRISPR adaptation in the Escherichia coli Type I-E system. Our screen and subsequent mechanistic characterization reveal that SspA, through its role as a global transcriptional regulator of cellular stress, is required for functional CRISPR adaptation. One target of SspA is H-NS, a known repressor of CRISPR interference proteins, but we find that the role of SspA on adaptation is not H-NS-dependent. We propose a new model of CRISPR-Cas defense that includes independent cellular control of adaptation and interference by SspA. 

Abstract The bacterial retron reverse transcriptase system has served as an intracellular factory for single-stranded DNA in many biotechnological applications. In these technologies, a natural retron non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is modified to encode a template for the production of custom DNA sequences by reverse transcription. The efficiency of reverse transcription is a major limiting step for retron technologies, but we lack systematic knowledge of how to improve or maintain reverse transcription efficiency while changing the retron sequence for custom DNA production. Here, we test thousands of different modifications to the Retron-Eco1 ncRNA and measure DNA production in pooled variant library experiments, identifying regions of the ncRNA that are tolerant and intolerant to modification. We apply this new information to a specific application: the use of the retron to produce a precise genome editing donor in combination with a CRISPR-Cas9 RNA-guided nuclease (an editron). We use high-throughput libraries in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to additionally define design rules for editrons. We extend our new knowledge of retron DNA production and editron design rules to human genome editing to achieve the highest efficiency Retron-Eco1 editrons to date. 

Abstract Retrons are bacterial retroelements that produce single-stranded, reverse-transcribed DNA (RT-DNA) that is a critical part of a newly discovered phage defense system. Short retron RT-DNAs are produced from larger, structured RNAs via a unique 2′-5′ initiation and a mechanism for precise termination that is not yet understood. Interestingly, retron reverse transcriptases (RTs) typically lack an RNase H domain and, therefore, depend on endogenous RNase H1 to remove RNA templates from RT-DNA. We find evidence for an expanded role of RNase H1 in the mechanism of RT-DNA termination, beyond the mere removal of RNA from RT-DNA:RNA hybrids. We show that endogenous RNase H1 determines the termination point of the retron RT-DNA, with differing effects across retron subtypes, and that these effects can be recapitulated using a reduced, in vitro system. We exclude mechanisms of termination that rely on steric effects of RNase H1 or RNA secondary structure and, instead, propose a model in which the tertiary structure of the single-stranded RT-DNA and remaining RNA template results in termination. Finally, we show that this mechanism affects cellular function, as retron-based phage defense is weaker in the absence of RNase H1.