Exploitation of the Cooperative Behaviors of Anti-CRISPR Phages
Abstract
Bacteriophages encoding anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) must cooperate to overcome phage resistance mediated by the bacterial immune system CRISPR-Cas, where the first phage blocks CRISPR-Cas immunity in order to allow a second Acr phage to successfully replicate. However, in nature, bacteria are frequently not pre-immunized, and phage populations are often not clonal, exhibiting variations in Acr presence and strength. We explored how interactions between Acr phages and initially sensitive bacteria evolve, both in the presence and absence of competing phages lacking Acrs. We find that Acr phages benefit ‘‘Acr-negative’’ phages by limiting the evolution of CRISPR-based resistance and helping Acr-negative phages to replicate on resistant host sub-populations. These benefits depend on the strength of CRISPR-Cas inhibitors and result in strong Acrs providing smaller fitness advantages than weaker ones when Acr phages compete with Acr-negative phages. These results indicate that different Acr types shape the evolutionary dynamics and social interactions of phage populations in natural communities.
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BibTeX
@article{chevallereau2026exploitation,
title = {{Exploitation of the Cooperative Behaviors of Anti-CRISPR Phages}},
author = {Anne Chevallereau and Sean Meaden and Olivier Fradet and Mariann Landsberger and Alice Maestri and Ambarish Biswas and Sylvain Gandon and Stineke van Houte and Edze Westra},
journal = {Cell Host \& Microbe},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.chom.2019.12.004},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-03839968v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exploitation of the Cooperative Behaviors of Anti-CRISPR Phages
AU - Anne Chevallereau
AU - Sean Meaden
AU - Olivier Fradet
AU - Mariann Landsberger
AU - Alice Maestri
AU - Ambarish Biswas
AU - Sylvain Gandon
AU - Stineke van Houte
AU - Edze Westra
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Cell Host & Microbe
DO - 10.1016/j.chom.2019.12.004
UR - https://hal.science/hal-03839968v1
AB - Bacteriophages encoding anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) must cooperate to overcome phage resistance mediated by the bacterial immune system CRISPR-Cas, where the first phage blocks CRISPR-Cas immunity in order to allow a second Acr phage to successfully replicate. However, in nature, bacteria are frequently not pre-immunized, and phage populations are often not clonal, exhibiting variations in Acr presence and strength. We explored how interactions between Acr phages and initially sensitive bacteria evolve, both in the presence and absence of competing phages lacking Acrs. We find that Acr phages benefit ‘‘Acr-negative’’ phages by limiting the evolution of CRISPR-based resistance and helping Acr-negative phages to replicate on resistant host sub-populations. These benefits depend on the strength of CRISPR-Cas inhibitors and result in strong Acrs providing smaller fitness advantages than weaker ones when Acr phages compete with Acr-negative phages. These results indicate that different Acr types shape the evolutionary dynamics and social interactions of phage populations in natural communities.
SN - 1931-3128
ER -