Some DNA sequences localized between CRISPRs repeats of plant pathogenic bacteria are more similar to plant pathogenic viruses than to bacteriophages. Does it mean that plant viruses have infected those bacteria before?
Andrei, thank you a lot for your answer, but my question is a bit different: is it possible for plant pathogenic virus to find suitable receptor on bacterial surface and infect it?
I suppose that inside the plant infected by virus, bacteria have numerous contacts with virions, and even, naked virus DNA(RNA?) from dead cells, with walls destroyed by bacterial enzymes. So, even without proper infection viral DNA/RNA can find way into the bacterial cell, and this is the second possible explanation. But, there is the third one (easiest to accept) - that plant virus-like DNA between CRISPRs repeats came from unknown yet bacteriophage.
That is right, plant viruses can stay in insects and even infect animal or human. Physical damage of plant tissues open the gate inside host plant but virus infect undamaged cells. There are some plant viruses that infect chloroplasts - so, they may multiply in bacteria as well.
for chloroplasts there are some old related papers http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=187420, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00034936?, and some new I will send later. I see that the first topic now is not in the domain of public discussion.
From beginning
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=131247&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
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