A minimal CRISPR polymerase produces decoy cyclic nucleotides to detect phage anti-defense proteins
Ashley E. Sullivan, Ali Nabhani, Daniel S. Izrailevsky, Kate Schinkel, Charlotte R. K. Hoffman, Laurel K. Robbins, Toni A. Nagy, Melissa L. Duncan, Hannah E. Ledvina, Annette H. Erbse, Emily M. Kibby, Uday Tak, David M. Dinh, Eirene Marie Q. Ednacot, Christy M Nguyen, , Benjamin R. Morehouse
The paper identifies a novel antiphage system, Panoptes, that uses a minimal CRISPR polymerase to produce cyclic nucleotides and detects phage anti-defense proteins through effector binding and nucleotide depletion.
Nature · Oct 1, 2025Peer-reviewedMicrobiology