Elizaveta Olkhova

• BSc (Hons) Pharmacology
• Investigation of molecular mechanism of CRISPR spacer acquisition by using an in vivo experimental system

CRISPR/Cas system stands for clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats coupled with CRISPR-associated proteins form the immune system of many bacteria and archaea against invading bacteriophages (viruses infecting only bacteria, can only replicate inside bacterial cells) and foreign plasmids (small circular DNA, which bacteria are able to take up from the environment).

CRISPR genes contain short repeats, separated by hypervariable spacer sequences that are specific and therefore will bind to foreign DNA. The mechanism by which bacteria defend themselves by introducing double-strand DNA breaks in phages and plasmids is extensively studied, whilst the mystery of how spacer acquisition takes place and only affects invading DNA and leaves chromosomal DNA intact remains unsolved. In this research, the aim is to study which mechanisms underlie integration of foreign DNA into CRISPR loci in vivo in bacteria and which proteins or complexes of proteins are responsible for this process.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Prof Nikolay Zenkin