Toxin-Antitoxin Systems as Phage Defense Elements
Author(s)
LeRoux, Michele; Laub, Michael T
DownloadAccepted version (708.4Kb)
Open Access Policy
Open Access Policy
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
<jats:p> 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. </jats:p>
Date issued
2022Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyJournal
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