Amazing stuff!
"... The scientists showed that this previously unknown immune mechanism does not exist only in single-celled organisms. It has been preserved through more than a billion years of evolution and is used by many living creatures, from corals to bees.
The newly revealed strategy is the latest of more than 100 recently discovered sophisticated mechanisms used by bacteria in their heroic battle against phages, the viruses that attack bacteria. ...
The scientists revealed that the mystery gene encodes a protein that cuts up and permanently destroys ATP molecules, thereby denying the invasive phage the energy it needs to reproduce itself. The result is an effective immune strategy. The researchers deduced that the gene plays a key role in bacterial immune systems: In its absence, phages that infected the bacteria replicated 100 times faster. ...
Moreover, they were surprised to find ATP-depleting capabilities in one family of proteins that, until now, was not even known to belong to the immune system. ..."
The scientists revealed that the mystery gene encodes a protein that cuts up and permanently destroys ATP molecules, thereby denying the invasive phage the energy it needs to reproduce itself. The result is an effective immune strategy. The researchers deduced that the gene plays a key role in bacterial immune systems: In its absence, phages that infected the bacteria replicated 100 times faster. ...
Moreover, they were surprised to find ATP-depleting capabilities in one family of proteins that, until now, was not even known to belong to the immune system. ..."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• The CBASS immune effector Cap17 is an ATP nucleosidase
• Defensive ATP nucleosidases in bacteria degrade ATP and dATP to block phage
• ATP nucleosidases are part of Detocs, a bacterial two-component anti-phage defense system
• ATP nucleosidases, common in bacteria, are also found in eukaryotic innate immune factors
Summary
During viral infection, cells can deploy immune strategies that deprive viruses of molecules essential for their replication. Here, we report a family of immune effectors in bacteria that, upon phage infection, degrade cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and deoxyadenosine triphosphate (dATP) by cleaving the N-glycosidic bond between the adenine and sugar moieties. These ATP nucleosidase effectors are widely distributed within multiple bacterial defense systems, including cyclic oligonucleotide-based antiviral signaling systems (CBASS), prokaryotic argonautes, and nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR)-like proteins, and we show that ATP and dATP degradation during infection halts phage propagation. By analyzing homologs of the immune ATP nucleosidase domain, we discover and characterize Detocs, a family of bacterial defense systems with a two-component phosphotransfer-signaling architecture. The immune ATP nucleosidase domain is also encoded within diverse eukaryotic proteins with immune-like architectures, and we show biochemically that eukaryotic homologs preserve the ATP nucleosidase activity. Our findings suggest that ATP and dATP degradation is a cell-autonomous innate immune strategy conserved across the tree of life."
Graphical abstract
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