Evolving to End a Toxic Relationship: ADP Ribosylation in Interbacterial Warfare.

Long before pathogenic interactions with eukaryotic cells evolved, bacteria were competing with one another for limited resources. In this issue, Ting et al. (2018) identify previously unappreciated players in the interbacterial arms race that may be the evolutionary ancestors of eukaryotic cell-targeting ADP-ribosyltransferase toxins.