A functional selection reveals previously undetected anti-phage defence systems in the E. coli pangenome.

ABSTRACT: The ancient, ongoing coevolutionary battle between bacteria and their viruses, bacteriophages, has given rise to sophisticated immune systems including restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas. Many additional anti-phage systems have been identified using computational approaches based on genomic co-location within defence islands, but these screens may not be exhaustive. Here we developed an experimental selection scheme agnostic to genomic context to identify defence systems in 71 diverse E. coli strains. Our results unveil 21 conserved defence systems, none of which were previously detected as enriched in defence islands. Additionally, our work indicates that intact prophages and mobile genetic elements are primary reservoirs and distributors of defence systems in E. coli, with defence s

SUBMITTER: Vassallo CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9519451 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature