A CRISPR interference screen reveals a role for cell wall teichoic acids in conjugation in Bacillus subtilis

What is it about?

Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are drivers of horizontal gene transfer and microbial evolution. We used CRISPR interference to decrease expression of essential genes in Bacillus subtilis and screened for bacterial genes involved in the lifecycle of ICEBs1. We found that cell wall teichoic acids are necessary in both donors and recipients for efficient conjugative transfer of ICEBs1 and that depletion of wall teichoic acids caused cells involved in ICEBs1 conjugation to die.

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