Going viral: The role of mobile genetic elements in bacterial immunity.
Cell Host Microbe
; 32(6): 804-819, 2024 Jun 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38870898
ABSTRACT
Bacteriophages and other mobile genetic elements (MGEs) pose a significant threat to bacteria, subjecting them to constant attacks. In response, bacteria have evolved a sophisticated immune system that employs diverse defensive strategies and mechanisms. Remarkably, a growing body of evidence suggests that most of these defenses are encoded by MGEs themselves. This realization challenges our traditional understanding of bacterial immunity and raises intriguing questions about the evolutionary forces at play. Our review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest findings on the main families of MGEs and the defense systems they encode. We also highlight how a vast diversity of defense systems remains to be discovered and their mechanism of mobility understood. Altogether, the composition and distribution of defense systems in bacterial genomes only makes sense in the light of the ecological and evolutionary interactions of a complex network of MGEs.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Bactérias
/
Bacteriófagos
/
Sequências Repetitivas Dispersas
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Cell Host Microbe
Assunto da revista:
MICROBIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article