Small RNAs direct attack and defense mechanisms in a quorum sensing phage and its host.
Cell Host Microbe
; 32(5): 727-738.e6, 2024 May 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38579715
ABSTRACT
Many, if not all, bacteria use quorum sensing (QS) to control collective behaviors, and more recently, QS has also been discovered in bacteriophages (phages). Phages can produce communication molecules of their own, or "listen in" on the host's communication processes, to switch between lytic and lysogenic modes of infection. Here, we study the interaction of Vibrio cholerae with the lysogenic phage VP882, which is activated by the QS molecule DPO. We discover that induction of VP882 results in the binding of phage transcripts to the major RNA chaperone Hfq, which in turn outcompetes and downregulates host-encoded small RNAs (sRNAs). VP882 itself also encodes Hfq-binding sRNAs, and we demonstrate that one of these sRNAs, named VpdS, promotes phage replication by regulating host and phage mRNA levels. We further show that host-encoded sRNAs can antagonize phage replication by downregulating phage mRNA expression and thus might be part of the host's phage defense arsenal.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Health context:
3_ND
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Bacteriophages
/
Vibrio cholerae
/
Host Factor 1 Protein
/
Quorum Sensing
Language:
En
Journal:
Cell Host Microbe
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article