Impact of CRISPR interference on strain development in biotechnology
Kerstin Schultenkämper, Luciana Fernandes Brito, Volker F. Wendisch
Abstract
Genetic perturbation systems are of great interest to redirect metabolic fluxes for value-added production, as well as genetic screening for the development of new drugs, or to identify new targets for biotechnological applications. Here, we review CRISPR interference (CRISPRi), a method for gene expression using a catalytically inactive version of the CRISPR-associated protein 9 (dCas9) of the widely applied CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system. In combination with the appropriate sgRNA, dCas9 binds to specific DNA sequences without causing double-stranded DNA breakage but interfering with transcription initiation or elongation. Besides manifold uses to interrogate the physiology of a bacterial cell, CRISPRi is used in applications for metabolic engineering and strain development in industrial biotechnology. Albeit in its infancy, CRISPRi has already delivered the first success stories; however, we also analyze limitations of the CRISPRi system and give future perspectives.