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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 ...

Bacterial genomes are remarkably dynamic, shaped by horizontal transfer of plasmids that follow evolutionary trajectories of their own. This study uses eco-evolutionary perspectives to reveal how the ...

CRISPR–Cas systems transcriptionally tune diverse innate defences using CRISPR RNA-like guides to balance antiviral protection with fitness, and hyperactivate these defences when compromised, establis...

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

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...

Many bacterial defense (immune) systems prevent the entry of foreign DNA by directly recognizing and targeting nucleic acids, effectively blocking all mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer[1][1]. How...

Conjugative plasmids are a class of mobile genetic elements capable of efficient transfer between bacterial cells. Although they can introduce beneficial traits such as antibiotic resistance to recipi...

An 8-year soil meta-omic time series shows how mobile genetic elements shape permafrost microbial diversity and impact a range of functions, including carbon and nutrient cycling.

Natural transformation is one of the major pathways of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria, enabling the acquisition of extracellular DNA and its integration into the host genome. ComEC is a membrane...

Inactivation of chromosomal genes through plasmid-encoded IS elements is an extended mechanism of antimicrobial resistance evolution in bacteria.

Natural transformation is a widespread mechanism driving genetic exchanges in bacteria. It proceeds by the capture and internalization of exogenous DNA in linear single strands, ultimately integrated in the genome by homologous recombination. It is unknown how the RecA-directed D-loop intermediate of this dedicated recombination pathway is processed. We report that resolution of the transformation D-loop depends on two endonucleases of opposing phylogenetic distribution in bacteria. One is YraN, which has co-evolved and interacts with the ComM helicase, known to extend DNA recombination at the transformation D-loop. The other is CoiA, which is restricted to the Bacillota. CoiA is shown to be a resolvase of the transformation D-loop, extended by the RadA helicase in these species. We demonstrate that both YraN and CoiA act synergistically with their cognate helicases. These findings reveal that bacteria have evolved two helicase/nuclease pairs for the maturation and recombination extension of the transformation D-loop. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Agence Nationale de la Recherche, https://ror.org/00rbzpz17, ANR-20-CE12-0004, ANR-10-BLAN-1331, ANR-17-CE13-0031, ANR-22-CE44-0044, ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID, PIA/ANR-16-CONV-0005 Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, https://ror.org/04w6kn183, FDT202001010890 European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships, 101208987 National Institute of Health, USA, R35GM128674