Cell-autonomous immunity as an integrated immune network against bacterial and viral pathogens

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 30 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02428-xThis Review summarizes the current knowledge about the cell-intrinsic factors that act against pathogenic bacteria and viruses and the immune evasion strategies that pathogens have to counteract cell-autonomous immunity.

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Genetic engineering of Staphylococcus haemolyticus: overcoming restriction-modification barriers and targeting virulence genes

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is an emerging multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen noted for robust biofilm formation and complex restriction-modification (RM) systems that hinder genetic manipulation...

microbiologyresearch.org

Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome - Nature

Systematic analysis of prokaryotic STAND NTPases — relatives of animal and plant immune receptors — uncovers diverse antiviral sensors that detect most of the core structural and replicative proteins of bacteriophages.

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Octameric dGTPase assemblies mediate broad anti-phage defense - Nature Communications

Deoxyguanosine triphosphatases (dGTPases) are nucleotide-depleting enzymes that contribute to antiviral defense. Here, the authors reveal widespread and structurally diverse dGTPases and characterize oligomeric dGTPases in distinct assembly states, providing insights into their architecture, activation, and regulation.

nature.com

Immune safeguarding as a conserved principle of antiviral defence - Nature Reviews Microbiology

All organisms defend against viral infections through active immunity mechanisms that clear the virus or population-level mechanisms that cause regulated cell death. Recent research increasingly shows...

nature.com

A family of lanthipeptides with anti-phage function

Bacteria produce natural products to adapt to their environments, with phage interactions as major ecological and evolutionary drivers. While some nat…

sciencedirect.com

Gabija restricts phage circularization and DNA replication

Gabija acts early during phage infection, preventing phage genome circularization and replication. Phage DNA end-binding proteins prevent RecBCD loading onto linear DNA, and the absence of RecBCD lice...

cell.com

Research Technician (Osterman Group – Metabolism-driven immunity)

EMBL Hamburg / CSSB The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is Europe’s flagship life sciences organization, with more than 110 independent research groups across Heidelberg, Hamburg, Grenobl...

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OLD sentinel: an abortive tRNase surveys phage replication and DNA defects in RecBCD-compromised cells

OLD, an abortive immunity protein from prophage P2, consists of an ABC ATPase sensor and a TO-PRIM nuclease effector - a core architecture shared by a large protein family, including components of ant...

biorxiv.org

Mechanism of tandem-repeat DNA synthesis by an antiviral reverse transcriptase

Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) employ DNA synthesis to protect bacteria against phage infection[1][1],[2][2]. We previously showed that DRT10, a tripartite system comprising an RT, a...

biorxiv.org

Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides

Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...

science.org

Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides

Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...

science.org

Functional divergence and conservation in the QueC protein family (PF06508): from tRNA modification to anti-phage defense

Abstract. The QueC protein family (PF06508) is best known for its role in the biosynthesis of 7-deazaguanine derivatives, including the tRNA modification queuosine and the DNA base 7-cyano-7-deazaguan...

portlandpress.com

Widespread immune systems protect bacteria against conjugative plasmids

Conjugative plasmids are a class of mobile genetic elements capable of efficient transfer between bacterial cells. Although they can introduce beneficial traits such as antibiotic resistance to recipi...

biorxiv.org

Membrane protein solubilization and structure determination using de novo–designed proteins

Developing therapies and vaccines against integral membrane proteins is hindered by their extensive hydrophobic surfaces, which complicate production and structural analysis. Here, we describe a gener...

science.org

Computational prediction resolves thousands of homooligomeric phage protein structures

Bacteriophages (phages) play essential roles in microbial systems, yet most phage proteins remain poorly characterised. Protein tertiary and quaternary structure information contributes valuable infor...

doi.org

Antimicrobial-resistance plasmids encode Evangelion, a widespread DUF4062 anti-phage defence family

Many bacterial anti-phage defence systems are encoded by mobile genetic elements, yet much of this antiviral repertoire remains undiscovered. Antimicrobial-resistance plasmids are well known for disse...

biorxiv.org

dITP-induced remodeling activates the filamentous effector complex in Kongming anti-phage defense - Nature Communications

Some bacteria use the so-called Kongming immune system, based on nucleotide signaling, to respond to viral infections. Here, the authors show that the Koming effector complex assembles into a helical filament, and the signaling nucleotide induces conformational rearrangements that activate an NADase activity leading to death of infected cells.

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Targeted DNA nicking enables efficient, single-step and counterselection-free editing of bacteriophage genomes

Genetic manipulation of bacteriophages is essential for interrogating phage biology and advancing antimicrobial therapies. However, current genome editing approaches can be inefficient, require multip...

biorxiv.org

END nucleases are antiphage defence systems targeting multiple phages with modified genomes

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02407-2The END nuclease targets eight phage families with at least ten different known DNA modifications, but not unmodified DNA. Its specificity is dictated by the C-terminal iEndoIII domain. To combat END, modified phages encode direct-binding inhibitors.

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