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 ...

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...

Many bacterial immune defenses transmit recognition of phage infection via the generation of diverse cyclic nucleotide second messengers. Phage have evolved to subvert this kind of immunity by sequest...

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...

Many important biological functions arise not from single genes but from complex interactions encoded by entire genomes. We report the first generative design of complete bacteriophage genomes using g...

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...

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...

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...

In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Osterman et al. discover aRES, a new family of bacterial immune proteins that deplete cellular NAD+, generating cleavage products that cannot be utilized by canon...

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 02 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02352-0A functional screen reveals phage sponge proteins that bind Pycsar, Thoeris and CBASS signalling molecules to inhibit bacterial immunity.

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

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…

Locked in a constant arms race, bacteria and their phage predators have evolved various defenses and counter-defenses. Compared to the numerous identified defenses, phage-encoded counter-defenses are ...

Triggering immune response through generation of signal molecules is a common immune strategy across all domains of life. In the bacterial type IV Thoeris anti-phage system, a Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR)-domain protein produces adenosine 5’-diphosphate-cyclo[N7:1”]-ribose (N7-cADPR) as the immune signal to activate a Caspase-like effector. Here, we identified an inhibitor of type IV Thoeris through a phage mating assay that allows a sensitive phage to acquire anti-defense genes from related resistant phages. The inhibitor (hereafter TadIV-1) functions as a sponge that sequesters the N7-cADPR signal to inhibit Caspase activation. Structural analyses of TadIV-1 indicate a distinctive signal binding mechanism, wherein the binding pocket comprises its N-terminal flexible loop. In addition, phages lacking TadIV-1 can escape type IV Thoeris sensing through mutation in the capsid vertex protein. Collectively, this work expands the phage anti-defense arsenal with a unique immune signal s

Abstract. Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas immune systems detect and cleave foreign nucleic acids. In type III CRISPR-Cas systems, the Cas10 subunit of the activated

Nature Microbiology - This study highlights that Schlafens are ancient, mechanistically conserved immune effectors that mediate antiviral immunity in organisms ranging from humans to bacteria.

Immune systems in animals, plants, and bacteria often rely on intracellular nucleotide signaling, which viruses can block by sequestering or degrading these signals. We identified structural and bioph...

Bacteriophages are promising alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. However, bacteria possess immune systems that neutralize bacteriophages. Zang et al. discover small molecule...