Postdoctoral research fellow: Immunosuppression by anti-CRISPR phages

CRISPR immunity protects bacteria against bacteriophage infections. Recent work from our lab demonstrates that phages that encode anti-CRISPR proteins immunosuppress bacterial hosts, which allows other phages to replicate when they infect the same host. Some anti-CRISPRs are better immunosuppressors than others, which likely impacts the "sociality" of these anti-CRISPR phages. This project aims to understand the mechanisms and the consequences of immunosuppression by anti-CRISPR phages.