A New Sugar for an Old Phage: a c-di-GMP-Dependent Polysaccharide Pathway Sensitizes Escherichia coli for Bacteriophage Infection.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophages are ubiquitous parasites of bacteria and major drivers of bacterial ecology and evolution. Despite an ever-growing interest in their biotechnological and therapeutic applications, detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying phage-host interactions remains scarce. Here, we show that bacteriophage N4 exploits a novel surface glycan (NGR) as a receptor to infect its host Escherichia coli. We demonstrate that this process is regulated by the second messenger c-di-GMP and that N4 infection is specifically stimulated by the diguanylate cyclase DgcJ, while the phosphodiesterase PdeL effectively protects E. coli from N4-mediated killing. PdeL-mediated protection requires its catalytic activity to reduce c-di-GMP and includes a secondary role as a transcriptional repres

SUBMITTER: Sellner B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8669472 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature