Noncanonical crRNAs derived from host transcripts enable multiplexable RNA detection by Cas9
8). The tracrRNA hybridizes to the “repeat” portion of each crRNA within the transcribed array. Host-derived RNase III then cleaves the formed RNA stem to generate a processed crRNA:tracrRNA duplex utilized by Cas9 ( 6). What remains unclear is whether crRNAs are confined to CRISPR-Cas loci or can be derived from elsewhere in the genome. Here, we show that crRNAs can be derived from host RNAs outside the CRISPR-Cas locus, inspiring a novel Cas9-based diagnostic platform that allows scalable detection of multiple biomarkers in a single test. Cellular RNAs bound to Cas9 from C. jejuni rese...
Source: sciencemag.org