Toxin-Antitoxin Systems as Phage Defense Elements
Name
LeRoux Laub manuscript final.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
708.46 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d1cbcdd02a97bc5d1371ae0a23899668
Author(s)
LeRoux, Michele
Laub, Michael T
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Annual Review of Microbiology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Citation
LeRoux, Michele and Laub, Michael T. 2022. "Toxin-Antitoxin Systems as Phage Defense Elements." Annual Review of Microbiology, 76 (1).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic elements in bacteria that consist of a growth-inhibiting toxin and its cognate antitoxin. These systems are prevalent in bacterial chromosomes, plasmids, and phage genomes, but individual systems are not highly conserved, even among closely related strains. The biological functions of TA systems have been controversial and enigmatic, although a handful of these systems have been shown to defend bacteria against their viral predators, bacteriophages. Additionally, their patterns of conservation—ubiquitous, but rapidly acquired and lost from genomes—as well as the co-occurrence of some TA systems with known phage defense elements are suggestive of a broader role in mediating phage defense. Here, we review the existing evidence for phage defense mediated by TA systems, highlighting how toxins are activated by phage infection and how toxins disrupt phage replication. We also discuss phage-encoded systems that counteract TA systems, underscoring the ongoing coevolutionary battle between bacteria and phage. We anticipate that TA systems will continue to emerge as central players in the innate immunity of bacteria against phage.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-MICRO-020722-013730
