As a phenotypically and phylogenetically diverse group, lactic acid bacteria are found in a variety of natural environments and occupy important roles in medicine, biotechnology, food and agriculture. The widespread use of lactic acid bacteria across these industries fuels the need for new and functionally diverse strains that may be utilized as starter cultures or probiotics. Originally characterized in lactic acid bacteria, CRISPR-Cas systems and derived molecular machines can be used natively or exogenously to engineer new strains with enhanced functional attributes. Research on CRISPR-Cas biology and its applications has exploded over the past decade with studies spanning from the initial characterization of CRISPR-Cas immunity in Streptococcus thermophilus to the use of CRISPR-Cas for clinical gene therapies. Here, we discuss CRISPR-Cas classification, overview CRISPR biology and mechanism of action, and discuss current and future applications in lactic acid bacteria, opening new avenues for their industrial exploitation and manipulation of microbiomes.

中文翻译：

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CRISPR-Cas系统在乳酸菌中的应用。

作为表型和系统发育上的多样性群体，乳酸菌存在于各种自然环境中，并在医学，生物技术，食品和农业中发挥着重要作用。乳酸菌在这些行业中的广泛应用引发了对新型和功能多样的菌株的需求，这些菌株可以用作发酵剂或益生菌。CRISPR-Cas系统和派生的分子机器最初具有乳酸菌的特征，可用于本地或外源工程改造具有增强功能特性的新菌株。CRISPR-Cas生物学及其应用的研究在过去十年中迅速发展，其研究范围从嗜热链球菌中CRISPR-Cas免疫的最初表征到将CRISPR-Cas用于临床基因治疗。这里，