DISARM is a widespread bacterial defence system with broad anti-phage activities.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary pressure imposed by phage predation on bacteria and archaea has resulted in the development of effective anti-phage defence mechanisms, including restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas systems. Here, we report on a new defence system, DISARM (defence island system associated with restriction-modification), which is widespread in bacteria and archaea. DISARM is composed of five genes, including a DNA methylase and four other genes annotated as a helicase domain, a phospholipase D (PLD) domain, a DUF1998 domain and a gene of unknown function. Engineering the Bacillus paralicheniformis 9945a DISARM system into Bacillus subtilis has rendered the engineered bacteria protected against phages from all three major families of tailed double-stranded DNA phages. Using a series of g

SUBMITTER: Ofir G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5739279 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature