New retron systems from environmental bacteria identify triggers of anti-phage defense and expand tools for genome editing.

ABSTRACT: Retrons are bacterial immune systems that protect a bacterial population against phages by killing infected hosts. Retrons typically comprise a reverse transcriptase (RT), a template noncoding RNA that is partially reverse transcribed into RT-DNA, and a toxic effector. The reverse transcriptase (RT), noncoding RNA, and RT-DNA complex sequester the toxic effector until triggered by phage infection, at which point the toxin is released to induce cell death. Due to their ability to produce single-stranded DNA in vivo, retrons have also been engineered to produce donor templates for genome editing in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, the current repertoire of experimentally characterized retrons is limited, with most retrons sourced from clinical and laboratory strains of bacteria. To

SUBMITTER: Nakamura KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12548924 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature