Pipolins are bimodular platforms that maintain a reservoir of defense systems exchangeable with various bacterial genetic mobile elements.

ABSTRACT: Defense genes gather in diverse types of genomic islands in bacteria and provide immunity against viruses and other genetic mobile elements. Here, we disclose pipolins, previously found in diverse bacterial phyla and encoding a primer-independent PolB, as a new category of widespread defense islands. The analysis of the occurrence and structure of pipolins revealed that they are commonly integrative elements flanked by direct repeats in Gammaproteobacteria genomes, mainly Escherichia, Vibrio or Aeromonas, often taking up known mobile elements integration hotspots. Remarkably, integrase dynamics correlates with alternative integration spots and enables diverse lifestyles, from integrative to mobilizable and plasmid pipolins, such as in members of the genera Limosilactobacillus, Pseudosulfit

SUBMITTER: Mateo-Caceres V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11551731 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature