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

Faure, Guilhem; Saito, Makoto; Wilkinson, Max E; Quinones-Olvera, Natalia; Xu, Peiyu; Flam-Shepherd, Daniel; Kim, Stephanie; Reddy, Nishith et al. · Science · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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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 nucleolar protein (Nop) domain, sometimes fused to HNH (TasH)- or RuvC (TasR)-nuclease domains. We show that TIGR arrays are processed into 36-nucleotide 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 small nucleolar ribonucleoproteins and IS110 RNA-guided transposases, providing insights into the evolution of diverse RNA-guided systems.

Medical subject headings