Synthetic Type III-E CRISPR-Cas Effectors for Programmable RNA-targeting

The recent discovery of the type III-E class of CRISPR-Cas effectors has reshaped our fundamental understanding of CRISPR-Cas evolution and classification. Type III-E effectors are composed of several Cas7-like domains and a single Cas11-like domain naturally fused together to create a single polypeptide capable of targeting and degrading RNA. Here we identified a novel type III-E-like effector composed of three Cas7 domains and a Cas1 domain which was not active but could be engineered into an active chimeric RNA-targeting Cas effector by domain additions and swaps from other type III-E effectors. The results reveal that various domains in type III-E effectors can be swapped for the equivalent domain from a different type III-E effector. Remarkably, the Cas1 domain located at the C-terminus of Cas7-1 could be swapped in place of the Cas11 domain located between the Cas7.1 and the Cas7.2 domains of DiCas7-11. The results reveal a new modality for engineering type III-E effectors from the blueprints found in nature.