Unveiling the endogenous CRISPR-Cas system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 12; p. e0312783
• Main Authors: Delgado-Nungaray, Javier Alejandro, Figueroa-Yáñez, Luis Joel, Reynaga-Delgado, Eire, Corona-España, Ana Montserrat, Gonzalez-Reynoso, Orfil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 31.12.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Antibiotics; Arrays; Autoimmunity; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biology and Life Sciences; Carbapenems; Causes of; Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats - genetics; Computer and Information Sciences; CRISPR; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Datasets; Drug resistance; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Engineering and Technology; Genetic aspects; Genome editing; Genome, Bacterial; Identification; Identification and classification; Immune system; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multidrug resistance; Natural history; Pathogenicity; Pathogens; Phylogenetics; Prophages; Protein arrays; Proteins; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - drug effects; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - genetics; Research and Analysis Methods; Statistical analysis; Mexico
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312783

Multidrug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa , a high-priority pathogen per the World Health Organization, poses a global threat due to carbapenem resistance and limited antibiotic treatments. Using the bioinformatic tools CRISPRCasFinder, CRISPRCasTyper, CRISPRloci, and CRISPRImmunity, we analyzed the genome of P . aeruginosa PAO1 and revealed an orphan CRISPR system, suggesting it may be a remnant of a type IV system due to the presence of the DinG protein. This system comprises two CRISPR arrays and noteworthy DinG and Cas3 proteins, supporting recent evidence about the association between type IV and I CRISPR systems. Additionally, we demonstrated a co-evolutionary relationship between the orphan CRISPR system in P . aeruginosa PAO1 and the mobile genetic element and prophages identified. One self-targeting spacer was identified, often associated with bacterial evolution and autoimmunity, and no Acr proteins. This research opens avenues for studying how these CRISPR arrays regulate pathogenicity and for developing alternative strategies using its endogenous orphan CRISPR system against carbapenem-resistant P . aeruginosa strains.