Patent Application
20210095273
This application contains a Sequence Listing that has been submitted in ASCII format via EFS-Web and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The ASCII copy, created on Sep. 29, 2020 is named P19-171-_US-NP_SL.txt, and is 50,797 bytes in size.
The present disclosure relates to compositions and methods for remodeling the composition of microbiota.
Controlling the composition and expressed functions of microbial populations is a critical aspect of medicine, biotechnology, and environmental cycles. While classic antimicrobial strategies provide some control, what remains elusive is a generalized and programmable strategy that can distinguish between even closely related microorganisms and that allows for fine control over the composition of a microbial population. Recent advances indicate that RNA-guided nuclease systems can be designed to target specific DNA sequences in microbial populations. It would be beneficial to employ similar strategies to target and remove specific species from multi-species bacterial populations.
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
The present disclosure provides engineered RNA-guided nuclease systems that can be used to remodel complex microbial populations by selective knockdown of the abundance of targeted strains. In particular, the RNA-guided nuclease systems are engineered to target sites in chromosomal DNA of the targeted prokaryotic species, where the term “prokaryotic” refers to members of the domains Bacteria and Archaea. The compositions and methods disclosed herein can be used to manipulate microbial community composition ex vivo and within living animals.
One aspect of the present disclosure provides a protein-nucleic acid complex comprising an engineered RNA-guided nuclease system in association with a chromosome of a prokaryote, wherein the engineered RNA-guided nuclease system is targeted to a site in the chromosome, the bacterial chromosome encodes an HU family DNA-binding protein comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 50% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 (MNKADLISAVAAEAGLSKVDAKKAVEAFVSTVTKALQEGDKVSLIGFGTFSV AERSARTGINPSTKATITIPAKKVTKFKPGAELADAIK), and the chromosome of the bacterial species is associated with HU family DNA-binding proteins have at least 50% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. In general, the RNA-guided nuclease system that is targeted to the chromosome DNA of the bacterial species is other than a naturally occurring RNA-guided nuclease (e.g., CRISPR) system that is endogenous to the organism of interest.
The RNA-guided nuclease system comprises a DNA endonuclease (e.g., CRISPR nuclease) whose cleavage activity is directed by RNA (e.g., guide RNA). The prokaryote expresses the HU family protein, which associates with the chromosomal DNA of the prokaryote. Thus, the protein-nucleic acid complexes disclosed herein comprise ribonucleoprotein complexes (CRISPR nuclease/gRNA) bound to DNA/protein complexes (prokaryotic chromosomal DNA and associated HU family proteins).
(a) RNA-Guided Nuclease Systems
The protein-nucleic acid complexes disclosed herein comprise an RNA-guided nuclease system, which comprises a DNA endonuclease whose cleavage activity is directed by a guide RNA (gRNA). As detailed below, the gRNA can be engineered to recognize and target a specific sequence in the nucleic acid of interest (e.g., a prokaryotic chromosome).
In general, the RNA-guided endonuclease is a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) nuclease. The CRISPR nuclease can be bacterial or archaeal. In some situations, the CRISPR nuclease can be from a Type I CRISPR system, a type II CRISPR system, a type III CRISPR system, a Type IV CRISPR system, a type V CRISPR system, or a type VI CRISPR system. In specific embodiments, the CRISPR nuclease can be from single-subunit effector systems such as Type II, Type V, or Type VI systems. In various embodiments, the CRISPR nuclease can be a Type II Cas9 nuclease, a Type V Cas12 (formerly called Cpf1) nuclease, a Type VI Cas13 (formerly called C2cd) nuclease, a CasX nuclease, or a CasY nuclease.
The CRISPR nuclease can be from Acaryochloris spp., Acetohalobium spp., Acidaminococcus spp., Acidithiobacillus spp., Acidothermus spp., Akkermansia spp., Alicyclobacillus spp., Allochromatium spp., Ammonifex spp., Anabaena spp., Arthrospira spp., Bacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Burkholderiales spp., Caldicelulosiruptor spp., Campylobacter spp., Candidatus spp., Clostridium spp., Corynebacterium spp., Crocosphaera spp., Cyanothece spp., Deltaproteobacterium spp., Exiguobacterium spp., Finegoldia spp., Francisella spp., Ktedonobacter spp., Lachnospiraceae spp., Lactobacillus spp., Leptotrichia spp., Lyngbya spp., Marinobacter spp., Methanohalobium spp., Microscilla spp., Microcoleus spp., Microcystis spp., Mycoplasma spp., Natranaerobius spp., Neisseria spp., Nitratifractor spp., Nitrosococcus spp., Nocardiopsis spp., Nodularia spp., Nostoc spp., Oenococcus spp., Oscillatoria spp., Parasutterella spp., Pelotomaculum spp., Petrotoga spp., Planctomyces spp., Polaromonas spp., Prevotella spp., Pseudoalteromonas spp., Ralstonia spp., Ruminococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Streptomyces spp., Streptosporangium spp., Synechococcus spp., Thermosipho spp., Verrucomicrobia spp., or Wolinella spp.
In some aspects, the CRISPR nuclease can be Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9, Francisella novicida Cas9, Staphylococcus aureus Cas9, Streptococcus thermophilus Cas9, Streptococcus pasteurianus Cas9, Campylobacter jejuni Cas9, Neisseria meningitis Cas9, Neisseria cinerea Cas9, Francisella novicida Cas12, Acidaminococcus sp. Cas12, Lachnospiraceae bacterium ND2006 Cas12a, Leptotrichia wadeii Cas13a, Leptotrichia shahii Cas13a, Prevotella sp. P5-125 Cas13, Ruminococcus flavefaciens Cas13d, Deltaproteobacterium CasX, Planctomyces CasX, or Candidatus CasY.
The CRISPR nuclease can be a wild type or naturally-occurring protein. Wild-type CRISPR nucleases generally comprise two nuclease domains, e.g., Cas9 nucleases comprise RuvC and HNH domains, each of which cleaves one strand of a double-stranded sequence. CRISPR nucleases also comprise domains that interact with the guide RNA (e.g., REC1, REC2) or the RNA/DNA heteroduplex (e.g., REC3), and a domain that interacts with the protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) (i.e., PAM-interacting domain).
Alternatively, the CRISPR nuclease can be modified to have improved targeting specificity, improved fidelity, altered PAM specificity, decreased off-target effects, and/or increased stability. For example, the CRISPR nuclease can be modified to comprise one or more mutations (i.e., substitution, deletion, and/or insertion of at least one amino acid). Non-limiting examples of one or more mutations that improve targeting specificity, improve fidelity, and/or decrease off-target effects include N497A, R661A, Q695A, K810A, K848A, K855A, Q926A, K1003A, R1060A, and/or D1135E (with reference to the numbering system of SpyCas9).
In various embodiments, the CRISPR nuclease can be a nuclease (i.e., cleave both strands of a double-stranded nucleotide sequence or cleave a single-stranded nucleotide sequence). In other embodiment, CRISPR nuclease can be a nickase, which cleaves one strand of a double-stranded sequence. The nickase can be engineered via inactivation of one of the nuclease domains of the CRISPR nuclease. For example, the RuvC domain of a Cas9 protein can be inactivated by mutations such as D10A, D8A, E762A, and/or D986A, or the HNH of a Cas9 protein domain can be inactivated by mutations such as H840A, H559A, N854A, N856A, and/or N863A (with reference to the numbering system of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9, SpyCas9) to generate a Cas9 nickase (e.g., nCas9). Comparable mutations in other CRISPR nucleases can generate nickases (e.g., nCas12).
A CRISPR system also comprises a guide RNA. A guide RNA interacts with the CRISPR nuclease and a target sequence in the nucleic acid of interest and guides the CRISPR nuclease to the target sequence. The target sequence has no sequence limitation except that the sequence is adjacent to a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence. Different CRISPR nucleases recognize different PAM sequences. For example, PAM sequences for Cas9 proteins include 5′-NGG, 5′-NGGNG, 5′-NNAGAAW, 5′-NNNNGATT, and 5-NNNNRYAC, and PAM sequences for Cas12 proteins include 5′-TTN and 5′-TTTV, wherein N is defined as any nucleotide, R is defined as either G or A, W is defined as either A or T, Y is defined an either C or T, and V is defined as A, C, or G. In general, Cas9 PAMs are located 3′ of the target sequence, and Cas12 PAMs are located 5′ of the target sequence.
Guide RNAs are engineered to complex with specific CRISPR nucleases. In general, a guide RNA comprises (i) a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) that contains a guide or spacer sequence at the 5′ end that hybridizes at the target site, and (ii) a transacting crRNA (tracrRNA) sequence that interacts with the CRISPR nuclease. The guide or spacer sequence of each guide RNA is different (i.e., is sequence specific). The rest of the guide RNA sequence is generally the same in guide RNAs designed to complex with a specific CRISPR nuclease.
The crRNA comprises the guide sequence at the 5′ end, as well as additional sequence at the 3′ end that base-pairs with sequence at the 5′ end of the tracrRNA to form a duplex structure, and the tracrRNA comprises additional sequence that forms at least one stem-loop structure, which interacts with the CRISP nuclease. The guide RNA can be a single molecule (e.g., a single guide RNA (sgRNA) or 1-piece sgRNA), wherein the crRNA sequence is linked to the tracrRNA sequence. Alternatively, the guide RNA can be two separate molecules (e.g., 2-piece gRNA) comprising a crRNA and a tracrRNA.
The crRNA guide sequence is designed to hybridize with the complement of a target sequence (i.e., protospacer) in the nucleic acid of interest. In general, the complementarity between the guide sequence and the target sequence is at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or at least 99%. In specific embodiments, the complementarity is complete (i.e., 100%). In various embodiments, the length of the crRNA guide sequence can range from about 15 nucleotides to about 25 nucleotides. For example, the crRNA guide sequence can be about 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or 25 nucleotides in length. In specific embodiments, the guide is about 19, 20, or 21 nucleotides in length. In one embodiment, the crRNA guide sequence has a length of 20 nucleotides. In certain embodiments, the crRNA can comprise additional 3′ sequence that interacts with tracrRNA. The additional sequence can comprise from about 10 to about 40 nucleotides. In embodiments in which the guide RNA comprises a single molecule, the crRNA and tracrRNA portions of the gRNA can be linked by sequence that forms a loop. The sequence that form the loop can range in length from about 4 nucleotides to about 10 or more nucleotides.
As mentioned above, the tracrRNA comprises repeat sequences that form at least one stem loop structure, which interacts with the CRISPR nuclease. The length of each loop and stem can vary. For example, the loop can range from about 3 to about 10 nucleotides in length, and the stem can range from about 6 to about 20 base pairs in length. The stem can comprise one or more bulges of 1 to about 10 nucleotides. The tracrRNA sequence in the guide RNA generally is based upon the sequence of wild type tracrRNA that interact with the wild-type CRISPR nuclease. The wild-type sequence can be modified to facilitate secondary structure formation, increased secondary structure stability, and the like. For example, one or more nucleotide changes can be introduced into the guide RNA sequence. The tracrRNA sequence can range in length from about 50 nucleotides to about 300 nucleotides. In various embodiments, the tracrRNA can range in length from about 50 to about 90 nucleotides, from about 90 to about 110 nucleotides, from about 110 to about 130 nucleotides, from about 130 to about 150 nucleotides, from about 150 to about 170 nucleotides, from about 170 to about 200 nucleotides, from about 200 to about 250 nucleotides, or from about 250 to about 300 nucleotides. The tracrRNA can comprise an optional extension at the 3′ end of the tracrRNA.
The guide RNA can comprise standard ribonucleotides and/or modified ribonucleotides. In some embodiment, the guide RNA can comprise standard or modified deoxyribonucleotides. In embodiments in which the guide RNA is enzymatically synthesized (i.e., in vivo or in vitro), the guide RNA generally comprises standard ribonucleotides. In embodiments in which the guide RNA is chemically synthesized, the guide RNA can comprise standard or modified ribonucleotides and/or deoxyribonucleotides. Modified ribonucleotides and/or deoxyribonucleotides include base modifications (e.g., pseudouridine, 2-thiouridine, N6-methyladenosine, and the like) and/or sugar modifications (e.g., 2′-O-methy, 2′-fluoro, 2′-amino, locked nucleic acid (LNA), and so forth). The backbone of the guide RNA can also be modified to comprise phosphorothioate linkages, boranophosphate linkages, or peptide nucleic acids.
The guide RNA of a CRISPR nuclease system is engineered to target the CRISPR nuclease system to a specific site in prokaryotic chromosomal DNA such that the protein-nucleic acid complexes, as described above, can be formed. In general, the protein-nucleic acid complex is formed within the prokaryote.
In some embodiments, the engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be integrated into and expressed from the chromosome of the prokaryote. In other embodiments, the engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be carried on and expressed from an extrachromosomal vector. Expression of the engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be regulated. For example, the expression of the engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be regulated by an inducible promoter.
(b) Prokaryotic Chromosome
The protein-nucleic acid complex disclosed herein further comprises a prokaryotic chromosome, wherein the prokaryotic chromosome encodes HU family DNA-binding protein comprising an amino acid sequence with at least 50% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, and the chromosomal DNA of the prokaryote is associated with said HU family DNA-binding protein. The HU family of DNA-binding proteins comprises small (˜90 amino acids) basic histone-like proteins that bind double stranded DNA without sequence specificity and bind DNA structures such as forks, three/four way junctions, nicks, overhangs, and bulges. Binding of HU family DNA-binding proteins can stabilize the DNA and protect it from denaturation under extreme environmental conditions.
The chromosome can be within members of the domain Bacteria or the domain Archaea. In some embodiments, the organism is a bacterial species or different strains of that species. In some embodiments, the HU family DNA-binding protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 55%, at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or at least 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:1.
In specific embodiments, the prokaryote is a member of the genus Bacteroides. Bacteroides species are prominent anaerobic symbionts of mammalian gut microbiota. They contain a variety of saccharolytic enzymes and are the primary fermenters of polysaccharides in the gut. They maintain complex and generally beneficial relationships with the host when retained in the gut, but can cause significant pathology if they escape this environment. Non-limiting examples of Bacteroides species include B. acidifaciens, B. bacterium, B. barnesiaes, B. caccae, B. caecicola, B. caecigallinarum, B. capillosis, B. cellulosilyticus, B. cellulosolvens, B. clarus, B. coagulans, B. coprocola, B. coprophilus, B. coprosuis, B. distasonis, B. dorei, B. eggerthii, B. gracilis, B. faecichinchillae, B. faecis, B. finegoldii, B. fluxus, B. fragilis, B. galacturonicus, B. gallinaceum, B. gallinarum, B. goldsteinii, B. graminisolvens, B. helcogene, B. heparinolyticus, B. intestinalis, B. johnsonii, B. luti, B. massiliensis, B. melaninogenicus, B. neonati, B. nordii, B. oleiciplenus, B. oris, B. ovatus, B. paurosaccharolyticus, B. plebeius, B. polypragmatus, B. pro pionicifaciens, B. putredinis, B. pyogenes, B. reticulotermitis, B. rodentium, B. salanitronis, B. salyersiae, B. sartorii, B. sediment, B. stercoris, B. stercorirosoris, B. suis, B. tectus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. timonensis, B. uniformis, B. vulgatus, B. xylanisolvens, B. xylanolyticus., and B. zoogleoformans.
In some embodiments, the prokaryotic chromosome is a chromosome chosen from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides vulgatus, Bacteroides cellulosilyticus, Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides helcogenes, Bacteroides ovatus, Bacteroides salanitronis, Bacteroides uniformis, or Bacteroides xylanisolvens.
In some embodiments, the chromosome is chosen from Barnesiella sp., Barnesiella viscericola, Capnocytphaga sp., Odoribacter splanchnicus, Paludibacter sp., Parabacteroides sp., Porphyromonadaceae bacterium, and Schleiferia sp.
(c) Specific Protein-Nucleic Acid Complexes
In specific embodiments, the protein-nucleic acid complex can comprise an engineered CRISPR Cas9/gRNA system or an engineered CRISPR Cas12/gRNA system bound to or associated with a Bacteroides chromosome.
A further aspect of the present disclosure provides methods for generating complexes comprising an engineered RNA-guided (CRISPR) nuclease system and a prokaryotic chromosome encoding an HU family DNA-binding protein as described above. Said methods comprise (a) engineering the CRISPR nuclease system to target a site in the prokaryote chromosome, and (b) introducing the engineered CRISPR nuclease system into the prokaryote.
Engineering the CRISPR nuclease system comprises designing a guide RNA whose crRNA guide sequence targets a specific (˜19-22 nt) sequence in the prokaryotic chromosome that is adjacent to a PAM sequence (which is recognized by the CRISPR nuclease of interest) and whose tracrRNA sequence is recognized by the CRISPR nuclease of interest, as described above in section (I)(a). The engineered CRISPR system can be introduced into the prokaryote as an encoding nucleic acid. For example, the encoding nucleic acid can be part of a vector. Means for delivering or introducing various vectors into are well known in the art.
The vector encoding the engineered CRISPR system (i.e., CRISPR nuclease and guide RNA) can be a plasmid vector, phagemid vector, viral vector, bacteriophage vector, bacteriophage-plasmid hybrid vector, or other suitable vector. The vector can be an integrative vector, a conjugation vector, a shuttle vector, an expression vector, an extrachromosomal vector, and so forth.
The nucleic acid sequence encoding the CRISPR nuclease can be operably linked to a promoter for expression in the prokaryote. In specific embodiments, the promoter operably linked to the engineered CRISPR nuclease can be a regulated promoter. In some aspects, the regulated promoter can be regulated by a promoter inducing chemical. In such embodiments, the promoter can be pTetO, which is based on the Escherichia coli Tn10-derived tet regulatory system and consists of a strong tet operator (tetO)-containing mycobacterial promoter and expression cassette for the repressor (TetR) and the promoter inducing chemical can be anhydrotetracycline (aTc). In other embodiments, the promoter can be pBAD or araC-ParaBAD and the promoter inducing chemical can be arabinose. In further embodiments, the promoter can be pLac or tac (trp-lac) and the promoter inducing chemical can be lactose/IPTG. In other embodiments, the promoter can be pPrpB and the promoter inducing chemical can be propionate.
The nucleic acid sequence encoding the at least one guide RNA can be operably linked to a promoter for expression in the prokaryote of interest. In embodiments in which the prokaryote of interest is Bacteroides, the constitutive promoter can be the P1 promoter, which lies upstream of the B. thetaiotaomicron 16S rRNA gene BT_r09 (Wegmann et al., Applied Environ. Microbiol., 2013, 79:1980-1989). Other suitable Bacteroides promoters include P2, P1TD, P1TP, P1TDP (Lim et al., Cell, 2017, 169:547-558), PAM, PcfiA, PcepA, PBT1311 (Mimee et al., Cell Systems, 2015, 1:62-71) or variants of any of the foregoing promoters. In other embodiments, the constitutive promoter can be an E. coli σ70 promoter or derivative thereof, a B. subtilis σA promoter or derivative thereof, or a Salmonella Pspv2 promoter or derivative thereof. Persons skilled in the art are familiar with additional constitutive promoters that are suitable for the prokaryote of interest.
In some embodiments, the vector can be an integrative vector and can further comprise sequence encoding a recombinase, as well as one or more recombinase recognition sites. In general, the recombinase is an irreversible recombinase. Non-limiting examples of suitable recombinases include the Bacteroides intN2 tyrosine integrase (coded by NBU2 gene), Streptomyces phage phiC31 (φC31) recombinase, coliphage P4 recombinase, coliphage lambda integrase, Listeria A118 phage recombinase, and actinophage R4 Sre recombinase. Recombinases/integrases mediate recombination between two sequence specific recognition (or attachment) sites (e.g., an attP site and an attB site). In some embodiments, the vector can comprise one of the recombinase recognition sites (e.g., attP) and the other recombinase recognition site (e.g., attB) can be located in the chromosome of the prokaryote (e.g., near a tRNA-ser gene). In such situations, the entire vector can be integrated into the chromosome of the prokaryote. In other embodiments, the sequence encoding the engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be flanked by the two recombinase recognition sites, such that only the sequence encoding the engineered CRISPR nuclease system is integrated into the prokaryotic chromosome.
Any of the vectors described above can further comprise at least one transcriptional termination sequence, as well as at least one origin of replication and/or at least one selectable marker sequence (e.g., antibiotic resistance genes) for propagation and selection in prokaryotic cells of interest.
Additional information about vectors and use thereof can be found in “Current Protocols in Molecular Biology” Ausubel et al., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2003 or “Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual” Sambrook & Russell, Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 3rd edition, 2001.
In embodiments in which the vector encoding the engineered CRISPR nuclease system is an integrative vector, the nucleic acid encoding the engineered CRISPR system (or the entire vector) can be stably integrated into the bacterial chromosome after delivery of the vector to the bacterium (and expression of the recombinase/integrase). In embodiments in which the vector encoding the engineered CRISPR nuclease system is not an integrative vector, the vector can remain extrachromosomal after delivery of the vector to the microbe.
In embodiments in which the sequence encoding the CRISPR nuclease is operably linked to an inducible promoter, expression of the CRISPR nuclease system can be regulated by introducing the promoter inducing chemical into the prokaryote. In specific embodiments, the promoter inducing chemical can be anhydrotetracycline. Upon induction, the CRISPR nuclease is synthesized and complexes with the at least one guide RNA, which targets the CRISPR nuclease system to the target site in the bacterial chromosome, thereby forming the protein-nucleic acid complex as disclosed herein.
A further aspect of the present disclosure encompasses methods for altering the population and composition of microbiota, by selectively slowing the growth of a target microbe (prokaryote) in a mixed population of microbes. The method comprises expressing an engineered RNA-guided (CRISPR) nuclease system in the target prokaryote, wherein the engineered RNA-guided nuclease system is targeted to a site in a chromosome of the target prokaryote such that at least one double strand break is introduced in the chromosome of the target prokaryote, thereby slowing the growth or propagation of the target prokaryotes. The growth of the target prokaryote comprising at least one double strand break in chromosomal DNA is slowed or halted because DNA breaks generally are not repaired or are inefficiently repaired in prokaryotes. Slowing the growth of the target prokaryote leads to reduced or eliminated levels of the target prokaryote in the mixed population of prokaryotes.
Any of the CRISPR nuclease systems described above in section (I)(a) can be engineered as described above in section (II) to target a site in the chromosome of a prokaryote of interest, which are described above in section (I)(b). The engineered CRISPR nuclease system can be introduced as part of a vector into the prokaryote as described above in section (II). In general, the CRISPR nuclease is inducible (i.e., its encoding sequence is operably linked to an inducible promoter). As such, the CRISPR nuclease can be expressed at a defined point in time. In the absence of a promoter inducing chemical, the CRISPR nuclease system cannot be generated. A CRISPR nuclease can be produced by exposing the prokaryote to a promoter inducing chemical, such that the CRISPR nuclease is expressed from the chromosomally integrated encoding sequence or the extrachromosomal encoding sequence as described above in section (II). The CRISPR nuclease complexes with the at least one guide RNA that is constitutively expressed from the chromosomally integrated encoding sequence or the extrachromosomal encoding sequence, thereby forming an active CRISPR nuclease system. The CRISPR nuclease system is targeted to the target site in the prokaryotic chromosome, where it introduces a double strand break in the chromosomal DNA. The double strand break results in slowed growth and/or death of the target prokaryote. As a consequence, the mixed population of prokaryotes has reduced or eliminated levels of the target prokaryote.
In some embodiments, the target prokaryote can be a Bacteroides species, as detailed above in section (I)(b).
The engineered CRISPR system can be introduced into the target prokaryote within the mixed population of prokaryotes. Alternatively, the engineered CRISPR system can be introduced into the target prokaryote, which is then mixed with the mixed population of prokaryotes.
In some embodiments, the mixed population of prokaryotes can be harbored in cell culture, wherein exposure to the promoter inducing chemical leads to reduced or eliminated levels of the target prokaryote.
In other embodiments, the mixed population of prokaryotes can be harbored in a mammal's digestive tract (or gut), wherein administration of the promoter inducing chemical leads to reduced or eliminated levels of the target prokaryote in the gut microbiota. The promoter inducing chemical can be administered orally (e.g., via food, drink, or a pharmaceutical formulation). The mammal can be a mouse, rat, or other research animal. In specific embodiments, the mammal can be a human. Reduction or elimination of the target prokaryote (e.g., Bacteroides) can lead to improved gut health.
The mixed population of prokaryotes (in cell culture or a digestive tract) can comprise a wide diversity of taxa. For example, human gut microbiota can comprise hundreds of different species of bacteria and many strain-level variants of these species.
In certain embodiments, the mammal (e.g., human) can be undergoing cancer immunotherapy, wherein immunotherapy responders have been shown to have lower levels of Bacteroides species in their gut microbiota as compared to non-responders (Gopalakrishnan et al., Science, 2018, 359:97-103). Thus, reduction in the levels of Bacteroides species in gut microbiota may lead to better human cancer immunotherapy outcomes.
In certain embodiments, the mammal (e.g., human, canine, feline, porcine, equine, or bovine) can undergo gut surgery for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, bowel blockage, polyp removal, cancerous tissue removal, ulcerative colitis, bowel resection, proctectomy, complete colectomy, or partial colectomy wherein attenuation of Bacteroides fragilis species within the mammalian gut pre-surgery by an inducible CRISPR system may reduce the risk of post-surgery infections by B. fragilis at locations outside the gut, but within the mammalian body. Locations outside the gut include the external surface of the gut. The inducible CRISPR systems within B. fragilis can be targeted to cut or modify a location similar, but not limited to, a pathogenicity island, toxins (i.e., B. fragilis toxin or BFT) or other unique sequence associated with infectious strains of B. fragilis or other native gut prokaryotes known to cause post-surgical infections. For example, levels of nontoxigenic B. fragilis (NTBF) and enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) maybe be selectively modulated using engineered inducible CRISPR systems placed within ETBF strains, but not NTBF strains. Other bacterial taxa that cause infections after gut surgery may include Bacteroides capillosis, Escherchia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Gamella haemolysan, and Morganella morganii. Delivery of the inducible CRISPR system to the gut microbiota may occur as part of a probiotic treatment before, during, or after surgery. Delivery of the inducible CRISPR system to the target prokaryote may occur outside the mammalian body or within the mammalian body. Delivery of the inducble CRISPR system to the target prokaryote may occur via nucleic acid vectors such as plasm ids or bacteriophage. Delivery of plasm ids may occur via electroporation, chemical transformation, or bacteria-to-bacteria conjugation.
In various embodiments, the level of the target prokaryote can be reduced by at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, or at least about 99% relative to that before expression of the CRISPR nuclease. In certain embodiments, the target prokaryote can be reduced to undetectable levels in the mixed population of prokaryotes after expression of the CRISPR nuclease.
Yet another aspect of the present disclosure encompasses engineered prokaryotes for use as probiotics. The engineered prokaryotes comprise any of engineered CRISPR nuclease systems described in section (I) integrated into the prokaryotic chromosome or maintained as episomal vectors within the prokaryotic cell. In some embodiments, the engineered prokaryote is an engineered Bacteroides comprising an inducible CRISPR nuclease system. Administration of the engineered Bacteroides to a mammalian subject followed by induction of the CRISPR system can be used to reduce the relative abundance of Bacteroides strains in gut microbiota. In other embodiments, the Bacteroides strains can be engineered to out-compete wildtype strains of Bacteroides in gut microbiota. In these and other embodiments, engineered Bacteroides strains providing a therapeutic benefit for the mammalian subject can then be removed from the mammalian subject by induction of the inducible CRISPR nuclease system.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the meaning commonly understood by a person skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The following references provide one of skill with a general definition of many of the terms used in this invention: Singleton et al., Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology (2nd Ed. 1994); The Cambridge Dictionary of Science and Technology (Walker ed., 1988); The Glossary of Genetics, 5th Ed., R. Rieger et al. (eds.), Springer Verlag (1991); and Hale & Marham, The Harper Collins Dictionary of Biology (1991). As used herein, the following terms have the meanings ascribed to them unless specified otherwise.
When introducing elements of the present disclosure or the preferred embodiments(s) thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
The term “about” when used in relation to a numerical value, x, for example means x±5%.
As used herein, the terms “complementary” or “complementarity” refer to the association of double-stranded nucleic acids by base pairing through specific hydrogen bonds. The base paring may be standard Watson-Crick base pairing (e.g., 5′-A G T C-3′ pairs with the complementary sequence 3′-T C A G-5′). The base pairing also may be Hoogsteen or reversed Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding. Complementarity is typically measured with respect to a duplex region and thus, excludes overhangs, for example. Complementarity between two strands of the duplex region may be partial and expressed as a percentage (e.g., 70%), if only some (e.g., 70%) of the bases are complementary. The bases that are not complementary are “mismatched.” Complementarity may also be complete (i.e., 100%), if all the bases in the duplex region are complementary.
The term “expression” with respect to a gene or polynucleotide refers to transcription of the gene or polynucleotide and, as appropriate, translation of an mRNA transcript to a protein or polypeptide. Thus, as will be clear from the context, expression of a protein or polypeptide results from transcription and/or translation of the open reading frame.
A “gene,” as used herein, refers to a DNA region (including exons and introns) encoding a gene product, as well as all DNA regions which regulate the production of the gene product, whether or not such regulatory sequences are adjacent to coding and/or transcribed sequences. Accordingly, a gene includes, but is not necessarily limited to, promoter sequences, terminators, translational regulatory sequences such as ribosome binding sites and internal ribosome entry sites, enhancers, silencers, insulators, boundary elements, replication origins, matrix attachment sites, and locus control regions.
The term “heterologous” refers to an entity that is not endogenous or native to the cell of interest. For example, a heterologous protein refers to a protein that is derived from or was originally derived from an exogenous source, such as an exogenously introduced nucleic acid sequence. In some instances, the heterologous protein is not normally produced by the cell of interest.
The term “nuclease,” which is used interchangeably with the term “endonuclease,” refers to an enzyme that cleaves both strands of a double-stranded nucleic acid sequence or cleaves a single-stranded nucleic acid sequence.
The terms “nucleic acid” and “polynucleotide” refer to a deoxyribonucleotide or ribonucleotide polymer, in linear or circular conformation, and in either single- or double-stranded form. For the purposes of the present disclosure, these terms are not to be construed as limiting with respect to the length of a polymer. The terms can encompass known analogs of natural nucleotides, as well as nucleotides that are modified in the base, sugar and/or phosphate moieties (e.g., phosphorothioate backbones). In general, an analog of a particular nucleotide has the same base-pairing specificity; i.e., an analog of A will base-pair with T.
The term “nucleotide” refers to deoxyribonucleotides or ribonucleotides. The nucleotides may be standard nucleotides (i.e., adenosine, guanosine, cytidine, thymidine, and uridine), nucleotide isomers, or nucleotide analogs. A nucleotide analog refers to a nucleotide having a modified purine or pyrimidine base or a modified ribose moiety. A nucleotide analog may be a naturally occurring nucleotide (e.g., inosine, pseudouridine, etc.) or a non-naturally occurring nucleotide. Non-limiting examples of modifications on the sugar or base moieties of a nucleotide include the addition (or removal) of acetyl groups, amino groups, carboxyl groups, carboxymethyl groups, hydroxyl groups, methyl groups, phosphoryl groups, and thiol groups, as well as the substitution of the carbon and nitrogen atoms of the bases with other atoms (e.g., 7-deaza purines). Nucleotide analogs also include dideoxy nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, locked nucleic acids (LNA), peptide nucleic acids (PNA), and morpholinos.
The terms “polypeptide” and “protein” are used interchangeably to refer to a polymer of amino acid residues.
The terms “target sequence,” and “target site” are used interchangeably to refer to the specific sequence in the nucleic acid of interest (e.g., chromosomal DNA or cellular RNA) to which the CRISPR system is targeted, and the site at which the CRISPR system modifies the nucleic acid or protein(s) associated with the nucleic acid.
Techniques for determining nucleic acid and amino acid sequence identity are known in the art. Typically, such techniques include determining the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA for a gene and/or determining the amino acid sequence encoded thereby, and comparing these sequences to a second nucleotide or amino acid sequence. Genomic sequences can also be determined and compared in this fashion. In general, identity refers to an exact nucleotide-to-nucleotide or amino acid-to-amino acid correspondence of two polynucleotides or polypeptide sequences, respectively. Two or more sequences (polynucleotide or amino acid) can be compared by determining their percent identity. The percent identity of two sequences, whether nucleic acid or amino acid sequences, is the number of exact matches between two aligned sequences divided by the length of the shorter sequences and multiplied by 100. An approximate alignment for nucleic acid sequences is provided by the local homology algorithm of Smith and Waterman, Advances in Applied Mathematics 2:482-489 (1981). This algorithm can be applied to amino acid sequences by using the scoring matrix developed by Dayhoff, Atlas of Protein Sequences and Structure, M. O. Dayhoff ed., 5 suppl. 3:353-358, National Biomedical Research Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA, and normalized by Gribskov, Nucl. Acids Res. 14(6):6745-6763 (1986). An exemplary implementation of this algorithm to determine percent identity of a sequence is provided by the Genetics Computer Group (Madison, Wis.) in the “BestFit” utility application. Other suitable programs for calculating the percent identity or similarity between sequences are generally known in the art, for example, another alignment program is BLAST, used with default parameters. For example, BLASTN and BLASTP can be used using the following default parameters: genetic code=standard; filter=none; strand=both; cutoff=60; expect=10; Matrix=BLOSUM62; Descriptions=50 sequences; sort by=HIGH SCORE; Databases=non-redundant, GenBank+EMBL+DDBJ+PDB+GenBank CDS translations+Swiss protein+Spupdate+PIR. Details of these programs can be found on the GenBank website.
As various changes could be made in the above-described cells and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and in the examples given below, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
The following examples illustrate certain aspects of the disclosure.
The CRISPR integration pNBU2-CRISPR plasmids were constructed using Gibson cloning (NEBuild HIFI DNA Assembly Master Mix, New England Biolabs) of plasmid backbone (RP4-oriT, R6K ori, bla, ermG) from pExchange-tdk, NBU2 integrase from pNBU2-tetQb, and anhydrotetracycline (aTc) inducible CRISPR cassettes (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9, P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold) assembled from synthetic DNAs or PCR of genomic DNA of Streptococcus pyogenes strain SF370.
The plasmid backbone harbors R6K origin of replication and bla sequence for ampicillin selection in E. coli, RP4-oriT sequence for conjugation and ermG sequence for erythromycin (Em) selection in Bacteroides. NBU2 encodes the intN2 tyrosine integrase, which mediates sequence-specific recombination between the attN2 site on pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid and one of the attB sites located on the chromosome of Bacteroides cells. The attN2 and attB have the same 13 bp recognition nucleotide sequence (5′-3′): CCTGTCTCTCCGC (SEQ ID NO: 2).
The inducible CRISPR cassettes include aTc inducible SpCas9 under the control of TetR regulator (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9), and constitutively expressed guide RNA under P1 promoter (P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold). The promoters and ribosomal binding sites are derived and engineered from regulatory sequences of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron 16S rRNA genes, as described in Lim et al., Cell, 2017, 169:547-558. The guide RNA is a nucleotide sequence that is homologous to a coding DNA sequence, or non-coding DNA sequence, or a non-targeting scramble nucleotide sequence. This sequence can be of any form as long as it is compatible with protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) requirements of different Cas9 homologs. The guide RNA can be either in separate transcriptional units of tracrRNA and crRNA or fused into a hybrid chimeric tracr/crRNA single guide(sgRNA).
The DNA sequence for the above plasmid is presented in SEQ ID NO: 3:
The pNBU2.CRISPR plasmids were transformed to E. coli S-17 lambda-pir, followed by delivery to Bacteroides cells via conjugation. In this specific example, the pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid encodes the intN2 tyrosine integrase, which mediates sequence-specific recombination between the attN2 site on pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid and one of two attBT sites located in the 3′ ends of the two tRNA-Ser genes, BT_t70 (attBT2-1) and BT_t71 (attBT2-2), on the chromosome of B. thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482 (Bt in short). Insertion of the pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid inactivates one of the two tRNA-Ser genes, and simultaneous insertion into both BT_t70 and BT_t71 is unlikely because of the essentiality of tRNA-Ser.
In this specific example, three plasm ids were constructed which express a non-targeting control guide RNA (termed ‘M’), a guide RNA targeting tdk_Bt (BT_2275) and susC_Bt (BT_3702) coding sequences in the Bt genome. The tdk gene encodes thymidine kinase, and the susC gene encodes outer membrane protein involved in starch binding in B. thetaiotaomicron. The protospacer sequence for tdk_Bt is 5′-AATTGAGGCATCGGTCCGAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 4), and that for susC_Bt is 5′-ATGACGGGAATGTACCCCAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 5). In silico analyses of the non-targeting control protospacer sequence (5′-TGATGGAGAGGTGCAAGTAG-3′; SEQ ID NO: 6) against Bacteroides genomes did not result in any significant sequence matches, so no ‘off-target’ activity is expected. The sgRNA scaffold sequence was 5′-GTTTTAGAGCTAGAAATAGCAAGTTAAAATAAGGCTAGTCCGTTATCAAC TTGAAAAAGTGGCACCGAGTCGGTGCTTTTTT-3″ (SEQ ID NO:7). The resulting plasmids are called pNBU2-CRISPR.M, pNBU2-CRISPR.tdk_Bt, and pNBU2-CRISPR.susC_Bt, respectively.
The pNBU2-CRISPR plasmids were conjugated to Bt cells with erythromycin selection, resulting in 500-1000 colonies per conjugation (
For selected B. thetaiotaomicron CRISPR integrants M1, T1 and S1, all with an inducible CRISPR cassette integrated at the attBT2-1 locus, the inducible CRISPR/Cas9 mediated cell killing was investigated either on BHI blood agar plate or in TYG liquid medium (
Similarly, except M1, no cell growth was observed in liquid tube cultures containing TYG medium supplemented with aTc at 100 ng/ml, even after 4 days of anaerobic incubation at 37° C. However, slight growth was observed for clones T1 and S2 at aTc concentration of 10 ng/ml after 24 h of anaerobic incubation, suggesting higher aTc concentration is desired for complete depletion (
A mixed culture of CRISPR integrated Bt strains expressing either a non-targeting (M) or targeting (tdk_Bt or susC_Bt) guide RNA was employed to demonstrate targeted CRISPR killing of a specific strain in a mixed population in vitro. Equal amounts of exponential growth phase cultures were mixed and incubated anaerobically in 5 ml TYG liquid medium supplemented with aTc at final concentrations of 0, 10 or 100 ng/ml, respectively. After 24 h, all cultures grew up to about 1.3 OD600 nm (
One of the aTc-treated cultures (M1+S1-aTc100) was diluted and spread on BHI blood agar without aTc supplementation to obtain single colonies. Individual colonies as well as a scrape of colonies on the agar plate were analyzed by PCR of the gRNA region followed by Sanger DNA sequencing. It was found that all the individual colonies and the colony mixture only harbored non-targeting, control gRNA, suggesting that the susC_Bt gRNA harboring integrants were successfully depleted by aTc inducible CRISPR killing, and not growth inhibition due to induced Cas9 protein expression per se in the tube culture (
A similar experiment was performed for mixed culture of M1+T1, resulting in the same observations. These data demonstrated targeted, inducible CRISPR killing of B. thetaiotaomicron cells in a mixed population in vitro.
Serial limiting dilution was used for testing long-term growth and targeted killing in liquid cultures without any antibiotic selection. The CRISPR integrated Bt strains M1, T1 and S1 were inoculated in TYG medium from glycerol stocks and grew anaerobically at 37° C. in a coy chamber for 24 h. The culture was re-inoculated into fresh TYG medium at a dilution of 1:100 and grown anaerobically for another 24 h. The same procedures were repeated 4 times, resulting in about 5 days, 40 generations of growth in liquid medium. The cultures were then spread onto BHI blood agar plates forming single colonies. The antibiotic resistances of about 50 colonies each were tested on BHI blood agar plates supplemented with either Gm (200 μg/ml) or Em (25 μg/ml). All colonies tested were resistant to both antibiotics, suggesting the long-term maintenance of the CRISPR cassettes in integrated Bt strains.
The inducible CRISPR cassettes were also integrated on the chromosome of Bacteroides vulgatus ATCC 8482 strain (Bv in short). The pNBU2.CRISPR plasmid used for chromosomal integration on Bv was constructed as in Example 1, except that a guide RNA targeting susC_Bv (BVU_RS05095) on Bv genome was cloned. The 20 bp protospacer sequence for expressing susC_Bv guide RNA is 5′-ATTCGGCAGTGAATTCCAGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 8).
The pNBU2-CRISPR plasmids expressing either non-targeting, control guide RNA (M) or susC_Bv targeting guide RNA were transformed to E. coli S17 lambda-pir, and conjugated to Bv cells. About 10,000 Em resistant colonies were obtained for each conjugation. Seven colonies (labeled VM1, VM2, VM3, VM4, VM5, VM6 and VM7) were picked from the non-targeting control conjugation plate, and five colonies (labeled V1, V2, V3, V4, V5) were picked from the susC_Bv targeting conjugation plate, respectively, for chromosomal CRISPR integration screening by colony PCR. There are three potential NBU2 integrase recognition loci on Bv chromosome, attBv.3-1 (tRNA-Ser, BVU_RS10595), attBv.3-2 (BVU_RS21625) and attBv.3-3 (intergenic region, nucleotide coordinates from 3,171,462 to 3,171,474). For each locus, PCR using outside primers was carried out. If no integration occurred, a PCR amplicon about 0.5 kb is expected on a gel; otherwise, no PCR product is expected. For attBv.3-1 locus, PCR amplifying left junction of integration was performed using an outside primer binding to chromosomal sequence and an internal primer binding to ermG coding sequence from integration plasmid. If an integration occurred at the attBv.3-1 locus, about 0.6 kb PCR product should be seen on a gel; otherwise, no PCR product is expected. As shown in
As in Example 3, individual CRISPR integrated By strains VM1 (expressing non-targeting guide RNA) and V1, V2, V3, V4, V5 (all expressing susC_Bv guide RNA) were anaerobically grown in TYG liquid medium overnight. Then the cultures were re-inoculated (1:100 dilution) to fresh TYG medium supplemented with 100 ng/ml aTc, followed by anerobic growth at 37° C. for 24 h. Only VM1 culture grew to high turbidity, while other cultures expressing targeting guide RNA exhibited no growth.
As in Example 4, a mixed culture of VM1 (non-targeting guide RNA) and V3 (expressing susC_Bv guide RNA) were treated with aTc at 100 ng/ml, followed by anaerobic incubation in TYG liquid medium for 24 h. The culture grew up to high turbidity. PCR and DNA sequencing of the guide RNA region of the mixed culture indicates that the treated culture contained only cells expressing non-targeting, control guide RNA. This demonstrates targeted CRISPR killing of specific B. vulgatus strain in a mixed cell population upon the addition of an inducer.
The NBU2 integrase recombination tRNA-ser sites (13 bp) are conserved and exist in many other Bacteroides strains as well, including Bacteroides cellulosilyticus, Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides helcogenes, Bacteroides ovatus, Bacteroides salanitronis, Bacteroides uniformis and Bacteroides xylanisolvens, based on published genome sequences. The inducible CRISPR cassette expressing a targeting guide RNA can be integrated on the chromosome of these Bacteroides strains (as described in Examples 3 and 6), and targeted CRISPR killing of a specific strain expressing a targeting guide RNA can be achieved by treatment with aTc inducer (as described in Examples 4, 5 and 7).
In situations in which there are no NBU2 integrase sites on the chromosome of a specific species, these 13 base-pair DNA sequences can be readily inserted on the chromosome via recombination (e.g., Cre/loxP) or allelic exchange as described in the art to enable chromosomal CRISPR integration and targeted strain killing.
CRISPR integrated Bacteroides strains can be used as a method to reduce the relative abundance of wildtype Bacteroides strains in the human gut. Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in human melanoma patients has been shown to differ depending on the presence of Bacteroides strains in gut microbiota (Gopalakrishnan et al., Science, 2018, 359:97-103). Non-responders have increased relative amounts of Bacteroides strains in their microbiota when compared with immunotherapy responders. Before immunotherapy is started, Bacteroides strain elimination, via the induced integrated CRISPR system, could be performed to improve the outcome of human cancer immunotherapy.
The gut microbiota is an important determinant of many aspects of human health as well as various diseases. The rapidly growing appreciation of its myriad effects on host biology has stimulated efforts to develop microbiota-directed therapeutics. Many of these nascent therapies have shown striking dependencies on the initial configuration of the gut microbiota. As such, tools for the delineation of ecological relationships between members of a microbiota (e.g., niche partitioning including the underpinnings of competition/cooperation for nutrients), will play a vital role in the advancement of effective microbiota-directed therapeutics (e.g. Patnode et al., 2019).
In order to study interactions among gut microbial community members, we developed a genetic system with the capability of independently perturbing the representation of specific gut bacterial strains in a defined model human gut microbiota. This system was implemented using Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a prominent and common member of the adult human gut microbiota in healthy individuals.
We generated a set of mutants in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron strain VPI-5482 (Bt). Mutants contained (i) an anhydrotetracycline-inducible (aTc) spCas9 gene, (ii) an erythromycin resistance cassette, and (iii) a constitutively active guide RNA that targets either random, non-genomic sequence (negative control), or one of two Bt genes (tdk and SusC).These cassettes were integrated at one of two genomic locations. Using these mutants, we documented potent aTc-inducible killing in plate assays and in liquid cultures (
We colonized germ-free mice with a consortium of 13 cultured human gut bacterial strains whose genomes had been sequenced (see below); this consortium included a Bt-CRISPR mutant with a tdk-targeting gRNA. Mice were singly-housed and fed a human diet high in saturated fats and low in fruits and vegetables. The low fiber, ‘HiSF/LoFV’ diet was supplemented with 10% (w/w) pea fiber: this formulation was previously shown to maintain the relative abundance of Bt at 15-20% in this community/diet context (Patnode et al., 2019). In treatment arms, one- or four-days post-gavage, drinking water was supplemented with aTc at 10 μg/mL (
The results revealed that a 35-fold reduction in the relative and in absolute abundances of Bt was achieved 2 days after initiation of aTc treatment in the 4-day treatment arm and had similar effects in the early treatment condition (50-fold relative abundance reduction). Although Bt abundance began increasing after reaching this nadir, it never reached the level observed in the control group (
The depletion of Bt was accompanied by significant changes in the relative abundances of several other Bacteroides: B. cellulosilyticus, B. ovatus, and B. caccae (
In a related experiment, mice were colonized with the 13-member community, including a WT Bt strain, or a 12-member community, excluding Bt. These mice were singly-housed and fed the HiSF/LoFV+10% pea fiber diet ad libitum for 20 days post-gavage. COPRO-Seq analysis of DNA isolated from serially collected fecal samples disclosed that omission of WT Bt prior to installation of the consortium resulted in changes in the relative/absolute abundances of these other Bacteroides that were largely consistent with the effects of CRISPR-Bt knockdown (
A. In Vitro Growth Assays
All growth assays were performed in a soft-sided anaerobic growth chamber (Coy Laboratory Products) under an atmosphere of 3% hydrogen, 20% CO2, and 77% N2. Stock solutions of anhydrotetracycline hydrochloride (37919, Millipore Sigma) were prepared at 2 mg/mL in ethanol and filter-sterilized (Millipore Sigma SLGV033RS). Stocks of Bt mutants were serially diluted and plated on blood agar plates±200 ng/mL anhydrotetracycline. After two days of growth, plates were imaged. Glycerol stocks of Bt mutants were colony purified and inoculated into 5 mL LYBHI containing 25 μg/mL erythromycin. After overnight incubation, cultures were diluted 1:50 in LYBHI medium containing 9 ng/mL aTc and a 200 μL aliquot was pipetted into wells of a 96-well full-area plate (Costar; Cat. No.; CLS3925). Plates were sealed with an optically clear membrane (Axygen; Cat. No.; UC500) and growth monitored via optical density (600 nm) every 15 minutes at 37° C. (Biotek Eon with a BioStack 4).
B. Gnotobiotic Mice
Husbandry—All experiments involving mice were carried out in accordance with protocols approved by the Animal Studies Committee of Washington University in St. Louis. Germ-free male C57/B6 mice (18-22 weeks-old) were singly-housed in cages located within thin-film, flexible plastic isolators and fed an autoclavable mouse chow (Envigo; Cat. No.: 2018S). Cages contained paper houses for environmental enrichment. Animals were maintained on a strict light cycle (lights on at 0600 h, off at 1900 h).
The HiSF/LoFV+10% pea fiber was produced using human foods, selected based on consumption patterns from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database1. The diet was milled to powder (D90 particle size, 980 mm), and mixed with pea fiber at 10% (w/w) fiber (Rattenmaier; Cat. No.: Pea Fiber EF 100). This mixture was then extruded into pellets. The pellets were packaged, vacuum sealed, and sterilized by gamma irradiation (20-50 kilogreys). Sterility was confirmed by culturing the diet under aerobic and anaerobic conditions (atmosphere, 75% N2, 20% CO2, 5% H2) at 37° C. in TYG medium, and by feeding the diets to germ-free mice followed by short read shotgun sequencing (Community PROfiling by sequencing, COPRO-Seq) analysis of their fecal DNA.
Fresh sterile drinking water containing 0.5% ethanol or 10 μg/mL aTC was prepared every other day in gnotobiotic isolators.
Colonization—Bacteroides caccae TSDC17.2-1.2, Bacteroides finegoldii TSDC17.2-1.1, Bacteroides massiliensis TSDC17.2-1.1, Collinsella aerofaciens TSDC17.2-1.1, Escherichia coli TSDC17.2-1.2, Odoribacter splanchnicus TSDC17.2-1.2, Parabacteroides distasonis TSDC17.2-1.1, Ruminococcaceae sp. TSDC17.2-1.2, and Subdoligranulum variabile TSDC17.2-1.1. were cultured from a fecal sample collected from a lean co-twin in an obesity-discordant twin-pair [Twin Pair 1 in Ridaura et al. (2013)]. The annotated genome sequences of these isolates and of Bacteroides ovatus ATCC 8483, Bacteroides vulgatus ATCC 8482, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482, and Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2 are described in Patnode et al 2019. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482 mutants were generated according to the protocol defined above. Each of these 13 strains were colony purified, grown to early stationary phase in TYGs or LYBHI medium (Goodman et al., 2019). Aliquots of the monocultures were stored at −80° C. in 15% glycerol. Equivalent numbers of organisms were pooled (based on OD600 measurements) and aliquots maintained in 15% glycerol at 80° C. until use. On experimental day 0, aliquots were thawed and introduced into gnotobiotic isolators. The bacterial consortium was administered to germ-free mice through a plastic tipped oral gavage needle (total volume, 300 μL per mouse).
Mice were switched to unsupplemented HiSF/LoFV diet ad libitum for four days prior to colonization. After colonization mice were started on HiSF/LoFV supplemented with 10% pea fiber. One day following gavage, all mice were started on drinking water containing 0.5% ethanol or anhydrotetracycline (10 μg/mL). After colonization and after aTc withdrawal, bedding (Aspen Woodchips; Northeastern Products) was replaced. Fresh fecal samples were collected, within seconds of being produced, from each animal on experimental days 0-8 and immediately frozen at −80° C.
C. COPRO-Seq Analysis of Relative and Absolute Abundances of Community Members
Frozen fecal samples, and cecal contents (collected at the time of euthanasia) were weighed in a 1.8 mL screw-top tube. Two bacteria strains not found in mammalian microbiota were ‘spiked in’ to each sample tube at a known concentration [30 μL of both 2.22×108 cell/mL Alicyclobacillus acidiphilus DSM 14558 and 9.93×108 cell/mL of Agrobacterium radiobacter DSM 30147]. DNA extraction began by bead-beating samples with 250 μL 0.1 mm zirconia/silica beads and one 3.97 mm steel ball in 500 μL of 2× buffer A (200 mM Tris, 200 mM NaCl, 20 mM EDTA), 210 μL 20% (wt:wt) sodium dodecyl sulfate, and 500 μL of phenol:chloroform:amyl alcohol (pH 7.9; 25:24:1) for four minutes (Biospec Minibeadbeater-96). After centrifuging at 3,220 g for 4 minutes, 420 μL of the aqueous phase was removed and purified (QIAquick 96 PCR purification kit; Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's protocol.
Sequencing libraries were prepared from purified DNA using the Nextera DNA Library Prep Kit (Illumina; Cat. No.: 15028211) and combinations of custom barcoded primers (Adey). Libraries were sequenced using an Illumina NextSeq instrument [read length, 75 nt; sequencing depth, 1.02×106±2.2×104 reads/sample (mean±SD)]. Reads were mapped onto bacterial genomes with Bowtie II and relative abundances were calculated using read counts scaled by informative genome size (Hibberd et al., 2017). Samples with less than 100,000 reads were omitted from further analysis. We defined the absolute abundance of given community members using the relationship:
(where Pi is fractional abundance of some species in the 13-member community 1=Σi=113 Pi, lower case letters denote cell number, Pa/r is the fractional abundance of spike-in bacteria in the total 1=Pa+Pr+Pcommunity, a denotes A. r denotes A.
, ρ is bacterial density (cells/mg feces), and W is fecal pellet mass (mg)).
D. Linear Modeling
Relative abundance data from the vehicle control arm and the four-day treatment arm for days post gavage 4-7 was modelled using linear models (R core team, 2018) in the form:
lm(log10(percent)˜Condition*DPG, data=data)
Using estimated marginal means (Lenth, 2019), effects of condition by each day were tested for significance on the response scale.
The stably maintained RepA CRISPR plasm ids were constructed using Gibson cloning (NEBuild HIFI DNA Assembly Master Mix, New England Biolabs) of plasmid backbone (RP4-oriT, R6K ori, bla, ermG) from pExchangetdk, RepA from pBI143 (Smith et al., Plasmid, 1995, 34:211-222), and anhydrotetracycline (aTc) inducible CRISPR cassettes (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9, P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold) assembled from synthetic DNAs or PCR of genomic DNA of Streptococcus pyogenes strain SF370.
The plasmid backbone harbors R6K origin of replication and bla sequence for ampicillin selection in E. coli, repA sequence for replication in Bacteroides, RP4-oriT sequence for conjugation and ermG sequence for erythromycin (Em) selection in Bacteroides.
The inducible CRISPR cassettes include aTc inducible SpCas9 under the control of TetR regulator (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9), and constitutively expressed guide RNA under P1 promoter (P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold). The promoters and ribosomal binding sites are derived and engineered from regulatory sequences of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron 16S rRNA genes, as described in Lim et al., Cell, 2017, 169:547-558. The guide RNA is a nucleotide sequence that is homologous to a coding DNA sequence, or non-coding DNA sequence, or a non-targeting scramble nucleotide sequence. This sequence can be of any form as long as it is compatible with protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) requirements of different Cas9 homologs. The guide RNA can be either in separate transcriptional units of tracrRNA and crRNA or fused into a hybrid chimeric tracr/crRNA single guide(sgRNA).
The DNA sequence for the above plasmid is presented in SEQ ID NO: 9:
Two stably maintained plasmids were conjugated into B. thetaiotaomicron on Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) blood agar plates with no antibiotic selection. One plasmid was a negative control (termed ‘M’) with a scrambled non-targeting protospacer sequence (5′-TGATGGAGAGGTGCAAGTAG-3′; SEQ ID NO 6). In silico analyses of this non-targeting control protospacer sequence against Bacteroides genomes did not result in any significant sequence matches, so no ‘off-target’ activity is expected. The other plasmid has a protospacer sequence (5′-ATGACGGGAATGTACCCCAG-3′; SEQ ID NO:5) that targets the susC_Bt (BT_3702) coding sequence on the Bt genome. susC gene encodes an outer membrane protein involved in starch binding in B. thetaiotaomicron. The sgRNA scaffold sequence was 5′-GTTTTAGAGCTAGAAATAGCAAGTTAAAATAAGGCTAGTCCGTTATCAAC TTGAAAA AGTGGCACCGAGTCGGTGCTTTTTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:7). The resulting two plasm ids are called pRepA-CRISPR.Mand pRepA-CRISPR.susC_Bt. Colonies were picked and re-streaked on BHI blood agar plates with 200 μg/ml gentamin (Gm) and 50 μg/ml erythromycin (Em) and grown anaerobically in a coy chamber (Coy Laboratory Products Inc.). From this re-streaked plate, a single colony was picked and grown in 10 ml of TYG liquid medium at 200 μg/ml Gm and 50 μg/ml Em. OD600 nm readings were taken so the concentrations could be adjusted to an OD of 1. One to ten dilutions were then made in one ml volumes. One hundred microliters of two dilutions (10−4 and 10−6) were spread on BHI blood agar plates with 200 μg/ml gentamin (Gm) and 50 μg/ml erythromycin (Em) supplemented with anhydrotetracycline (aTc) at concentrations of 0 and 100 ng/ml, respectively. The agar plates were incubated anaerobically at 37° C. for 2-3 days. Colony forming units (CFU) were obtained on blood agar plates without aTc present (0 ng/ml) for all strains. No CFU formation was observed on blood agar plates with aTc present (100 ng/ml) for the susC targeting plasmid, while CFUs were still obtained for the M strain (
The CRISPR integration pNBU2.CRISPR plasm ids were constructed using Gibson cloning (NEBuild HIFI DNA Assembly Master Mix, New England Biolabs) of plasmid backbone (RP4-oriT, R6K ori, bla, ermG) from pExchangetdk, NBU2 integrase from pNBU2-tetQb, and an anhydrotetracycline (aTc) inducible CRISPR cassettes (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9, P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold) assembled from synthetic DNAs or PCR of genomic DNA of Streptococcus pyogenes strain SF370. The erythromycin (ermG) antibiotic resistance gene was replaced by the cefoxitin antibiotic resistance gene (cfxA) using synthetic DNA and traditional restriction enzyme cloning.
The plasmid backbone harbors R6K origin of replication and bla sequence for ampicillin selection in E. coli, RP4-oriT sequence for conjugation and cfxA sequence for cefoxitin (FOX) selection in Bacteroides (Parker and Smith, Antimicrobial agents and Chemotherapy, 1993, 37: 1028-1036). NBU2 encodes the intN2 tyrosine integrase, which mediates sequence-specific recombination between the attN2 site on pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid and one of the attB sites located on the chromosome of Bacteroides cells. The attN2 and attB have the same 13 bp recognition nucleotide sequence (5′-3′): CCTGTCTCTCCGC (SEQ ID NO: 2).
The inducible CRISPR cassettes include aTc inducible SpCas9 under the control of TetR regulator (P2-A21-tetR, P1TDP-GH023-SpCas9), and constitutively expressed guide RNA under P1 promoter (P1-N20 sgRNA scaffold). The promoters and ribosomal binding sites are derived and engineered from regulatory sequences of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron 16S rRNA genes, as described in Lim et al., Cell, 2017, 169:547-558. The guide RNA is a nucleotide sequence that is homologous to a coding DNA sequence, or non-coding DNA sequence, or a non-targeting scramble nucleotide sequence. This sequence can be of any form as long as it is compatible with protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) requirements of different Cas9 homologs. The guide RNA can be either in separate transcriptional units of tracrRNA and crRNA or fused into a hybrid chimeric tracr/crRNA single guide(sgRNA).
The DNA sequence for the above plasmid (
The pNBU2-CRISPR plasm ids were transformed to E. coli S-17 lambda-pir, followed by delivery to Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2 cells via conjugation. In this specific example, the pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid encodes the intN2 tyrosine integrase, which mediates sequence-specific recombination between the attN2 site on pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid and one of three attBWH2 sites located in the 3′ ends of the two tRNA-Ser genes, BcellWH2_RS22795 or BcellWH2_RS23000, or a non-coding region (nucleotide coordinates 6,071,791-6,071,803) on the chromosome of Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2 (BWH2 in short). Insertion of the pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid may inactivate one of the two tRNA-Ser genes (will not inactivate a tRNA-Ser gene if inserted in the non-coding region), and simultaneous insertion into both tRNA-Ser genes is unlikely because of the essentiality of tRNA-Ser.
Five plasmids were constructed which express a non-targeting control guide (termed ‘M’), two guide RNAs targeting tdk_BWH2 (BcellWH2_RS17975) (termed ‘T2’ and ‘T3’) and two guide RNAs targeting susC_BWH2 (BcellWH2_RS26295) (termed ‘S6’ and ‘S19’). The tdk gene encodes thymidine kinase, and the susC gene encodes the SusC/RagA family Ton-B-linked outer membrane protein involved in starch binding in Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2. The two protospacer sequences for tdk_BWH2 are T2 (5′-ATACAGGAAACCAATCGTAG-3′; SEQ ID NO:11) and T3, (5′-GGAAGAATCGAAGTTATATG-3′; SEQ ID NO:12) and for susC_BWH2 are S6 (5′-AATCCACTGGATGCCATCCG-3′; SEQ ID NO:13) and S19 (5′-GCTTATGTCTATCTATCCGG-3′; SEQ ID NO:14). In silico analysis of the non-targeting control protospacer sequence M (5′-TGATGGAGAGGTGCAAGTAG-3′; SEQ ID NO 6) against Bacteroides genomes did not result in any significant sequence matches, so no “off-target” activity is expected. The sgRNA scaffold sequence was 5′-GTTTTAGAGCTAGAAATAGCAAGTTAAAATAAGGCTAGTCCGTTATCAA CTTGAAAAAGTGGCACCGAGTCGGTGCTTTTTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:7). The resulting plasmids are called pNBU2-CRISPR.M_BWH2, pNBU2-CRISPR.tdk_BWH2-2, pNBU2-CRISPR.tdk_BWH2-3, pNBU2-CRISPR.susC_BWH2-6 and pNBU2-CRISPR.susC_BWH2-19.
An example of a targeted insertion between the attN2 site on a pNBU2-CRISPR plasmid with cefoxitin resistance and one of three attBWH2 sites in the Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2 genome is shown in
For selected Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2 integrants (M1, M2, T2, T3, S6 and S19), inducible CRISPR Cas9 mediated cell killing was investigated in TYG liquid medium. Single colonies of M1, M2, T2, T3, S6 and S19 (M1 and M2 were separate colonies from the same M non-targeting conjugation plate) were grown anaerobically in a coy chamber (coy Laboratory Products Inc.) overnight in falcon tubes cultures containing 5 ml of TYG liquid medium supplemented with 200 μg/ml gentamicin (Gm) and 10 μg/ml cefoxitin (FOX). Overnight cultures were then normalized to an OD600 nm of 1 with TYG medium. These normalized cultures were diluted at a 1:100 ratio (250 μl into 24.75 ml of TYG) to make a seed culture. This 25 ml seed culture was aliquoted into 5 ml cultures in fresh 15 ml falcon tubes. Anhydrotetracycline (aTc) was added to the 5 ml cultures at either 0 ng/ml. 10 ng/ml or 100 ng/ml and incubated anaerobically at 37° C. for 24 hours. OD600 nm readings taken after 24 hours of growth are shown in
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The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/908,130, filed Sep. 30, 2019, and of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/909,078, filed Oct. 1, 2019, and of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/052,825, filed Jul. 16, 2020, the entire contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63052825 | Jul 2020 | US | |
| 62909078 | Oct 2019 | US | |
| 62908130 | Sep 2019 | US |
