Belongs to the CRISPR-associated endoribonuclease Cas13a family.
CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat), is an adaptive immune system that provides protection against mobile genetic elements (viruses, transposable elements and conjugative plasmids). CRISPR clusters contain sequences complementary to antecedent mobile elements and target invading nucleic acids. Unlike many single-component effectors, this CRISPR-Cas system targets RNA (By similarity). CRISPR clusters are transcribed from pre-CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and processed into crRNA by this protein (PubMed:27669025).
Part of a type VI uridine-prefering CRISPR-Cas system.
Pre-crRNA processing is metal independent, while crRNA-guided target RNA cleavage is dependent on divalent metal.
The target ssRNase active sites are probably within the 2 HEPN-like folds, and the 2 folds interact in vivo (PubMed:26593719).