Pipeline to search bacterial CRISPR spacers against specific phage genomes? - (Apr/21/2017 )

Hello,

This question relates to CRISPR as a bacterial defense mechanism and not the commercial CRISPR uses.

I have a collection of CRISPR spacer arrays from specific bacterial genomes.

I also have a collection of corresponding phage genomes.

I would like to know if someone is aware of a bioinformatic pipeline tool (similar to CRISPRdetect/CRISPRfinder/etc) that can take a collection of spacers and screen against one phage genome, or a collection of phage genomes.

Currently I am BLASTing or using Clustal alignments, but with 100 to 500 different spacers and many genomes, this becomes an issue.

Is there a tool available that can do this efficiently if both spacers and genomes are provided?

Thank you in advance

Chris

Researchers have found an unprecedented defense mechanism by which bacteria defend themselves against invading viruses. When the bacterial immune system gets overwhelmed, the CRISPR-Cas system produces a chemical signal that activates a second enzyme which helps in degrading the invaders' genetic material. There are multiple biotechnology consulting firms that have experts in solving the CRISPR problem allowing people to live a longer and healthier life. This process is very similar to an antiviral mechanism of the human innate immune system.