A widespread family of WYL-domain transcriptional regulators co-localizes with diverse phage defence systems and islands.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria are under constant assault by bacteriophages and other mobile genetic elements. As a result, bacteria have evolved a multitude of systems that protect from attack. Genes encoding bacterial defence mechanisms can be clustered into 'defence islands', providing a potentially synergistic level of protection against a wider range of assailants. However, there is a comparative paucity of information on how expression of these defence systems is controlled. Here, we functionally characterize a transcriptional regulator, BrxR, encoded within a recently described phage defence island from a multidrug resistant plasmid of the emerging pathogen Escherichia fergusonii. Using a combination of reporters and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we discovered that BrxR acts as a repressor. We p

SUBMITTER: Picton DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9122601 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature