In vivo protein interactions and complex formation in the Pectobacterium atrosepticum subtype I-F CRISPR/Cas System

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e49549. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049549. Epub 2012 Dec 3.

Abstract

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and their associated proteins (Cas; CRISPR associated) are a bacterial defense mechanism against extra-chromosomal elements. CRISPR/Cas systems are distinct from other known defense mechanisms insofar as they provide acquired and heritable immunity. Resistance is accomplished in multiple stages in which the Cas proteins provide the enzymatic machinery. Importantly, subtype-specific proteins have been shown to form complexes in combination with small RNAs, which enable sequence-specific targeting of foreign nucleic acids. We used Pectobacterium atrosepticum, a plant pathogen that causes soft-rot and blackleg disease in potato, to investigate protein-protein interactions and complex formation in the subtype I-F CRISPR/Cas system. The P. atrosepticum CRISPR/Cas system encodes six proteins: Cas1, Cas3, and the four subtype specific proteins Csy1, Csy2, Csy3 and Cas6f (Csy4). Using co-purification followed by mass spectrometry as well as directed co-immunoprecipitation we have demonstrated complex formation by the Csy1-3 and Cas6f proteins, and determined details about the architecture of that complex. Cas3 was also shown to co-purify all four subtype-specific proteins, consistent with its role in targeting. Furthermore, our results show that the subtype I-F Cas1 and Cas3 (a Cas2-Cas3 hybrid) proteins interact, suggesting a protein complex for adaptation and a role for subtype I-F Cas3 proteins in both the adaptation and interference steps of the CRISPR/Cas mechanism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Base Sequence
  • Blotting, Western
  • Chromatography, Affinity
  • DNA Primers
  • Genetic Vectors
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides
  • Pectobacterium / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA Primers
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a University of Otago research grant, the Deans Bequest Fund from the Otago School of Medical Sciences and a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to PCF from the Royal Society of New Zealand. CR was supported by a University of Otago Postgraduate Scholarship and a The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Doktorandenstipendium. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.