Cost and benefits of CRISPR spacer acquisition

Abstract: CRISPR-Cas mediated immunity in bacteria allows bacterial populations to protect themselves against pathogens. However, it also exposes them to the dangers of auto-immunity by developing protection that targets its own genome. Using a simple model of the coupled dynamics of phage and bacterial populations, we explore how acquisition rates affect the survival rate of the bacterial colony. We find that the optimal strategy depends on the initial population sizes of both viruses and bacteria. Additionally, certain combinations of acquisition and dynamical rates and initial population sizes guarantee protection, due to a dynamical balance between the evolving population sizes, without relying on acquisition of viral spacers. Outside this regime, the high cost of auto-immunity limits the acquisition rate. We discuss these optimal survival strategies in terms of recent experiments.