Researchers report on the molecular assembly of one of the most common anti-phage systems -- from the family of proteins called Gabija -- that is estimated to be used by at least 8.5%, and up to 18%, of all bacteria species on Earth.
One of the many secrets to bacteria's success is their ability to defend themselves from viruses, called phages, that infect bacteria and use their cellular machinery to make copies of themselves.
Researchers found that one protein appears to have the power to fend off a phage, but when it binds to a partner protein, the resulting complex is highly adept at snipping the genome of an invading phage to render it unable to replicate. Shen and co-lead author Xiaoyuan Yang, a PhD student, work in the lab of senior author Tianmin Fu, assistant professor of biological chemistry and pharmacology at Ohio State.The two proteins that make up this defense system are called Gabija A and Gabija B, or GajA and GajB for short.
"That's the mysterious part," Yang said."GajA alone is sufficient to cleave the phage nucleus, but it also does form the complex with GajB when we incubate them together. Our hypothesis is that GajA recognizes the phage's genomic sequence, but GajB enhances that recognition and helps to cut the phage DNA."
One of their hypotheses is that GajB may influence the concentration level of an energy source, the nucleotide ATP , in the cellular environment -- specifically, by driving ATP down upon detection of the phage's presence. That would have the dual effect of expanding GajA's phage DNA-disabling activity and stealing energy that a phage would need to start replicating, Yang said.
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