Description:

Seminar Title: A Non-Canonical Role for the CRISPR-Cas2 Protein of Legionella pneumophila

Speaker: Jackson Campbell, Graduate Student, Lab of Nicholas Cianciotto, PhD

Topic:

The CRISPR-Cas system has entered the forefront of biomedical research for its potential use for precise genetic engineering. This is due to its canonical function of adaptive immunity in bacteria, in which it can recognize and integrate foreign nucleic acid elements from invading phages and plasmids, then use these sequences to target and degrade said invaders whenever they re-enter the bacteria. However, we’ve discovered a non-canonical role for the CRISPR-Cas system in Legionella pneumophila; specifically, we’ve discovered that the Cas2 nuclease plays a role in optimizing bacterial infection of amoebal hosts. To this end, we hypothesize that Cas2 utilizes its RNase activity to directly or indirectly modulate levels of RNA that encode for infectivity determinants.