Natural transformation is a widespread mechanism driving genetic exchanges in bacteria. It proceeds from the capture of extracellular DNA released ...

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02486-1Phage Tn-seq uses Tn5 transposon mutagenesis with anti-CRISPR-based selection and deep sequencing as a method to generate unbiased, genome-wide mutations across diverse phages

Abstract. Interactions between bacteria, bacteriophages, and their satellites are shaped by a myriad of defence and counter-defence mechanisms. Here, we id

CRISPR-Cas provides RNA-mediated adaptive immunity, but how its first RNA-guided effector arose is unclear. In this study, we report the discovery of Viral Interference Programmable Repeat (VIPR) syst...

Scientists have discovered a powerful gene-targeting system in viruses. Billions of years old, VIPR seems to predate CRISPR and may be even more powerful.

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 16 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02484-3An engineered non-pathogenic bacterium produces lytic phages and is protective in mouse models of Salmonella infection.

DNA glycosylases, typically used for DNA repair, can also protect bacteria against phages that would otherwise evade host immunity by incorporating modified bases into their genomes.

Cultivation-dependent techniques, computational analyses and genome-scale metabolic models show widespread amino acid auxotrophies, suggesting that soil microorganisms exist within integrated ecologic...

The T7 bacteriophage deactivates bacterial defence systems through T7K phosphorylation of nearly all host and phage proteins during infection.

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02387-3The phage-encoded protein PptA enables its DNA to masquerade as the host and evade cleavage, providing a potential foundation for engineering therapeutic phages that could bypass this widespread defence system.

Bacteria produce natural products to adapt to their environments, with phage interactions as major ecological and evolutionary drivers. While some nat…

EMBL Hamburg / CSSB The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is Europe’s flagship life sciences organization, with more than 110 independent research groups across Heidelberg, Hamburg, Grenobl...

OLD, an abortive immunity protein from prophage P2, consists of an ABC ATPase sensor and a TO-PRIM nuclease effector - a core architecture shared by a large protein family, including components of ant...

Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...

Abstract. The QueC protein family (PF06508) is best known for its role in the biosynthesis of 7-deazaguanine derivatives, including the tRNA modification queuosine and the DNA base 7-cyano-7-deazaguan...

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An immunity-like system functions as a lysis control hub to promote gene transfer agent particle release from host bacterial cells, suggesting that bacterial immune systems may be co-opted to promote ...