Viral-induced DNA damage triggers both eukaryotic and prokaryotic innate immunity. Here, we report that self-DNA ends generated routinely during normal termination of bacterial replication suffice to ...

The conservation of immune systems from prokaryotes to eukaryotes can guide discovery of immunity genes across the tree of life. Most studies to date have focused on metazoan systems, while the extent...

Recent discoveries on bacterial immunity have revealed that several protein domains involved in anti-phage defense are conserved in eukaryotes, such as SIRim, TIR, PNP and gasdermin. Bacterial immune ...

Comparative and functional analyses of Myotis bats uncover unique patterns of adaptation in virus-interacting proteins and longevity-associated pathways, linking two hallmarks of bat biology.

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

All kingdoms of life have developed strategies to limit viral infection. In humans, interferons induce a suite of antiviral factors that collectively provide immunity. Some human immune genes are homo...

Bacteria encode numerous stress-response pathways that protect their hosts against both internal and external threats. A key question is how these pathways are regulated, especially anti-phage immune ...

Folddisco enables protein structural motif search in million scale databases.

A functional screen reveals phage sponge proteins that bind Pycsar, Thoeris and CBASS signalling molecules to inhibit bacterial immunity.

The prophage of a clinical Enterobacter isolate uses an RNA-guided transcription factor to alter flagellar composition, leading to enhanced bacterial motility and improved gut colonization in a mouse model.

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 27 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02312-8A large-scale, comparative cell biology and biochemical screen defines the molecular features controlling antiphage defence systems that encode nuclease effectors and accessory NTPase proteins.

Two research teams mined genomic data from bacteria to create databases containing thousands of antiviral defence proteins that could inspire powerful biotechnologies.

Nature - The database of 200 million protein-structure predictions now includes homodimers, adding new biological relevance.

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

A survey of the reconstructed gene set of the last eukaryotic common ancestor shows a consistent link between Asgard archaea and the origin of numerous, functionally diverse eukaryotic genes, dem...

A library of 400 phage protein-coding genes is used to find a trove of antiphage systems, revealing systems that target tail fibre and major capsid proteins.

Intestinal barrier integrity is crucial for gut homeostasis. Douadi et al. show that bacteriophages can cross this barrier without causing damage and that translocation rates depend on the barrier sta...

Transposable elements can insert into genes, disrupting protein-coding potential. Researchers discover a mode of RNA processing, ‘SOS splicing’, that provides a quick fix.

Bacteria and archaea encode on average ten antiphage systems. Quorum sensing, cellular, or transcription factors can regulate specific systems (CRISPR-Cas, CBASS). Yet, a systematic assessment of anti...

Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domains are important for immune signaling across humans, plants and bacteria. These domains were recently found to produce immune signaling molecules in plant immuni...

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Baretić and Missoury et al. identify vertebrate proteins FAM118B and FAM118A as sirtuins similar to bacterial antiphage enzymes and show that...

Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...

A search for analogues of the human SAMD9/9L antiviral genes identifies convergent evolution of this gene family in the bacterial and animal kingdoms, with species-specific and recent genomic signatur...

An exploration of previously undescribed variants from the long tail of the CRISPR–Cas distribution.

Bacteria are frequently attacked by viruses, known as phages, and rely on diverse defence systems like restriction endonucleases and CRISPR-Cas to survive. While phages can evade these defences by cov...

Bacteria acquire new genes by horizontal gene transfer, typically mediated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). While plasmids, bacteriophages, and c...

In this review, Vaysset and Bernheim examine how nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a key player in diverse and widespread bacterial antiphage defense systems and phage counterdefense. The au...

Bacteria defend themselves from viral predation using diverse immune systems, many of which sense and target foreign DNA for degradation. Defense-associated reverse transcriptase (DRT) systems provide...

Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.