Impact of Xenogeneic Silencing on Phage-Host Interactions

Journal of Molecular Biology
Eugen PfeiferJulia Frunzke

Abstract

Phages, viruses that prey on bacteria, are the most abundant and diverse inhabitants of the Earth. Temperate bacteriophages can integrate into the host genome and, as so-called prophages, maintain a long-term association with their host. The close relationship between host and virus has significantly shaped microbial evolution and phage elements may benefit their host by providing new functions. Nevertheless, the strong activity of phage promoters and potentially toxic gene products may impose a severe fitness burden and must be tightly controlled. In this context, xenogeneic silencing (XS) proteins, which can recognize foreign DNA elements, play an important role in the acquisition of novel genetic information and facilitate the evolution of regulatory networks. Currently known XS proteins fall into four classes (H-NS, MvaT, Rok and Lsr2) and have been shown to follow a similar mode of action by binding to AT-rich DNA and forming an oligomeric nucleoprotein complex that silences gene expression. In this review, we focus on the role of XS proteins in phage-host interactions by highlighting the important function of XS proteins in maintaining the lysogenic state and by providing examples of how phages fight back by encoding inhi...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 30, 2019·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Eugen PfeiferJulia Frunzke
Nov 3, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ovidiu PopaOliver Ebenhöh
Dec 12, 2020·Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal·Jian Jiao, Chang-Fu Tian
Sep 15, 2021·Nucleic Acids Research·Fredj Ben BdiraRemus T Dame
Nov 25, 2021·Microbiology Spectrum·Vikas SharmaJulia Frunzke

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Bacteriophage: Phage Therapy

Phage therapy uses bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) to treat bacterial infections and is widely being recognized as an alternative to antibiotics. Here is the latest research.

Related Papers

Critical Care Medicine
D J Dries
Computational Biology and Chemistry
Ernesto Perez-Rueda, J Antonio Ibarra
Journal : Journal of the American Association for Medical Transcription
A H Stanton
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved