2021/04/01 by Artem B. Isaev, Artem Isaev, Olga S. Musharova +3
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #CRISPR and Genetic Engineering #RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1134/s0006297921040064
crossref issued 2021/04/01 · crossref published 2021/04/01 · crossref published-print 2021/04/01 · openalex publication_date 2021/04/01 · crossref published-online 2021/04/09 · crossref created 2021/04/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/03/16 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Bacteriophages or phages are viruses that infect bacterial cells (for the scope of this review we will also consider viruses that infect Archaea). The constant threat of phage infection is a major force that shapes evolution of microbial genomes. To withstand infection, bacteria had evolved numerous strategies to avoid recognition by phages or to directly interfere with phage propagation inside the cell. Classical molecular biology and genetic engineering had been deeply intertwined with the study of phages and host defenses. Nowadays, owing to the rise of phage therapy, broad application of CRISPR-Cas technologies, and development of bioinformatics approaches that facilitate discovery of new systems, phage biology experiences a revival. This review describes variety of strategies employed by microbes to counter phage infection. In the first part defense associated with cell surface, roles of small molecules, and innate immunity systems relying on DNA modification were discussed. The second part focuses on adaptive immunity systems, abortive infection mechanisms, defenses associated with mobile genetic elements, and novel systems discovered in recent years through metagenomic mining.