Phage provoke growth delays and SOS response induction despite CRISPR-Cas protection

Bacteria evolve resistance against their phage foes with a wide range of resistance strategies whose costs and benefits depend on the level of protection they confer and on the costs for maintainance. Pseudomonas aeruginosa can evolve resistance against its phage DMS3vir either by surface mutations that prevent phage binding or through CRISPR-Cas immunity. CRISPR immunity carries an inducible cost whose exact origin is still unknown, and previous work suggested it stems from the inability of the CRISPR-Cas system to completely prevent phage DNA injection and subsequent gene expression before clearing the phage infection. However, the bacterial processes involved are still unknown, and we hypothesize that CRISPR-immunity-associated costs could come from increased mortality rate or reduced growth ability compared with surface-resistant bacteria. To tease apart these two mechanisms with divergent ecological consequences, we use a novel microfluidics-based single-cell approach combined with flow cytometry methods to monitor the effects of phage exposure on the survival and growth of its host. We observed that while CRISPR immunity protects from phage-induced lysis, it cannot prevent phage-induced division lag, filamentation and SOS response activation in a subpopulation of the host bacteria. These results suggest that the costs associated with CRISPR immunity at the population level are caused by heterogeneity in phage-induced growth defects. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems'.<p></p>