CRISPR Contributes to Adhesion, Invasion, and Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus agalactiae by Repressing Capsular Polysaccharide Production

Abstract

Beyond protection from invading nucleic acids, CRISPR-Cas systems have been shown to have an important role in regulating bacterial endogenous genes. In this study, we demonstrate that crRNA inhibits the transcription of the cps operon by repressing the activity of promoter P cpsA , leading to increases in the abilities of adhesion, invasion, and biofilm formation in S. agalactiae .