Streamlining CRISPR spacer-based bacterial host predictions to decipher the viral dark matter
Thousands of new phages have recently been discovered thanks to viral metagenomics. These
phages are extremely diverse and their genome sequences often do not resemble any known phages.
To appreciate their ecological impact, it is important to determine their bacterial hosts. CRISPR
spacers can be used to predict hosts of unknown phages, as spacers represent biological records of
past phage-bacteria interactions. However, no guidelines have been established to standardize host
prediction...