The group of JI Qujiang at Shanghai University of Science and Technology has achieved efficient single-base editing in S. aureus multiple drug-resistant clinical strains, by incorporating inactivated Cas9 protein and CDase. By editing the corresponding codons in the genome as stop codons, this technique enabled gene inactivation quickly and efficiently and enabled efficient base-site mutagenesis without the use of repair templates and without sacrificing conversion efficiency. It is expected that these results will speed up the study of new pathogenic and drug resistance mechanisms in Staphylococcus aureus, promote the discovery of drug targets and the development of new therapeutic approaches.
China Bio news release, March 5, 2018