TRAM is a regulator of myddosome assembly through dissociating MyD88 from the TLR–TIRAP complex to enable myddosome maturation and durable downstream signal transduction.

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...

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 ...

CRISPR-associated transposons mediate RNA-guided DNA integration, but the molecular basis of transposase function remains poorly understood. Here, the authors uncover the mechanism of a highly active ...

Viruses are intracellular parasites that reprogram the host proteome to promote replication and evade immune recognition. We applied a virome-wide library of ~10,000 open reading frames to discover vi...

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

Bacterial diadenylate cyclase (DAC) enzymes synthesize the nucleotide signal 3′3′ cyclic di-AMP (3′3′-c-di-AMP) to control osmoregulation, cell-wall homeostasis, and DNA-damage responses. Here we disc...

The Review describes shared ancient, conserved mechanisms between human antiviral immunity and bacterial anti-phage systems, outlining universal principles of pathogen sensing, signalling and effector...

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

Innate immune recognition of bacteria is thought to center on cell-surface or endosomal pattern recognition receptors such as TLRs. Ragland et al. identify an intraphagosomal cyclic dinucleotide (CDN)...

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...

Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) employ DNA synthesis to protect bacteria against phage infection[1][1],[2][2]. We previously showed that DRT10, a tripartite system comprising an RT, a...

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...

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...

Yang et al. reveal a dynamic DdmDE-mediated plasmid clearance pathway. Transient DNA bubbles permit promiscuous DdmE binding, while target specificity arises from slower dissociation at matched sites. DdmE then recruits a DdmD dimer to drive target-centered, bidirectional dsDNA unwinding. Free DdmD subsequently coats extruded ssDNA to enable site-specific endonucleolytic cleavage.

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

Many bacterial defense systems restrict phage infection by breaking down the molecule nicotinamide (Nam) adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) into adenosine di…

A better understanding of battles between bacteria and viruses could inspire new medicines

The life cycle of temperate bacteriophages involves lytic or lysogenic cycles and has historically served as a model for studying genetic regulation. This Review provides an updated overview of these ...

cGAS-like receptors (cGLRs) are an important family of nucleic acid-sensing pattern recognition receptors in innate immunity, which produce cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) to activate STING signaling and ...