Impact of CRISPR-associated transposons on anti-phage immunity in Vibrio cholerae

PROJECT NARRATIVE The severity of cholera epidemics is affected by dynamic oscillations in the abundance of pathogenic Vibrio cholerae strains and the bacterial viruses that infect them. We recently discovered a class of CRISPR-associated transposons in V. cholerae that encode diverse antiviral defense systems, suggesting a possible function in enhancing microbial fitness and pathogenicity by spreading innate immunity. The proposed project aims to comprehensively explore the evolutionary diversity of CRISPR-transposons, investigate how cargo genes impact phage predation, and develop novel genome engineering tools in Vibrio cholerae for large-scale genomic insertions and deletions.