BREX system's unique DNA recognition mechanism enhances bacterial antiviral defense

Bacteriophages, the most abundant life form on Earth, infect bacterial cells and influence the structure of the microbial community. To fend off phage attacks, bacteria have evolved their own defense tools, including the most common restriction-modification (R-M) and CRISPR-Cas systems.

Max Planck Research Group Microbial Metabolism

Mechanism of methyltransferase METTL8-mediated mitochondrial RNA m3C modification and its relaxed substrate specificity

A study published in the journal Science Bulletin was led by Profs. Xiao-Long Zhou and En-Duo Wang (CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences).

Cells with stochastically increased methyltransferase to restriction endonuclease ratio provide an entry for bacteriophage into protected cell population - PubMed

The action of Type II restriction-modification (RM) systems depends on restriction endonuclease (REase), which cleaves foreign DNA at specific sites, and methyltransferase (MTase), which protects host genome from restriction by methylating the same sites. We here show that protection from phage infe …