Revenge of the phages: defeating bacterial defences.

Abstract

Bacteria and their viral predators (bacteriophages) are locked in a constant battle. In order to proliferate in phage-rich environments, bacteria have an impressive arsenal of defence mechanisms, and in response, phages have evolved counter-strategies to evade these antiviral systems. In this Review, we describe the various tactics that are used by phages to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms, including adsorption inhibition, restriction-modification, CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated proteins) systems and abortive infection. Furthermore, we consider how these observations have enhanced our knowledge of phage biology, evolution and phage-host interactions.

• Authors: Julie E Samson, Alfonso H Magadán, Mourad Sabri, Sylvain Moineau
• Journal: Nature reviews. Microbiology (Nat Rev Microbiol) Vol. 11 Issue 10 Pg. 675-87 (Oct 2013) ISSN: 1740-1534 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 23979432 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)

Chemical References

• Bacterial Proteins
• Receptors, Virus

Topics

• Bacteria (genetics, virology)
• Bacterial Proteins (genetics)
• Bacteriophages (genetics, physiology)
• Evolution, Molecular
• Genome, Viral
• Mutation
• Receptors, Virus (metabolism)
• Virus Replication