TIGR-Tas: A family of modular RNA-guided DNA-targeting systems in prokaryotes and their viruses.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
Authors
Abstract

RNA-guided systems provide remarkable versatility, enabling diverse biological functions. Through iterative structural and sequence homology-based mining starting with a guide RNA-interaction domain of Cas9, we identified a family of RNA-guided DNA-targeting proteins in phage and parasitic bacteria. Each system consists of a Tandem Interspaced Guide RNA (TIGR) array and a TIGR-associated (Tas) protein containing a Nop domain, sometimes fused to HNH (TasH) or RuvC (TasR) nuclease domains. We show that TIGR arrays are processed into 36-nt RNAs (tigRNAs) that direct sequence-specific DNA binding through a tandem-spacer targeting mechanism. TasR can be reprogrammed for precise DNA cleavage, including in human cells. The structure of TasR reveals striking similarities to box C/D snoRNPs and IS110 RNA-guided transposases, providing insights into the evolution of diverse RNA-guided systems.

Year of Publication
2025
Journal
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Pages
eadv9789
Date Published
02/2025
ISSN
1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.adv9789
PubMed ID
40014690
Links