Article
Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides.
Science (New York, N.Y.) - 20 Aug 2026
Osterman Ilya, Hurieva Bohdana, Moses Sarit, Falkovich Alla H, Itkin Maxim, Malitsky Sergey, Yardeni Eliane H, Yirmiya Erez, Sorek Rotem
Abstract excerpt
Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. In this work, we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis aborts phage infection once it detects the modified mononucleotide N6-methyl-deoxyadenosine monophosphate (m6dAMP). As methylation of deoxyadenosines usually occurs on the DNA polymer, accumulation of...
Read the complete abstract on PubMedTopics
Share this publication in a Topic to start or enrich a Post.