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Class I DISARM provides anti-phage and anti-conjugation activity by unmethylated DNA recognition

Class I DISARM provides anti-phage and anti-conjugation activity by unmethylated DNA recognition
Class I DISARM provides anti-phage and anti-conjugation activity by unmethylated DNA recognition
Bacteriophages impose a strong evolutionary pressure on microbes for the development of mechanisms of survival. Multiple new mechanisms of innate defense have been described recently, with the molecular mechanism of most of them remaining uncharacterized. Here, we show that a Class 1 DISARM (defense island system associated with restriction-modification) system from Serratia sp. provides broad protection from double-stranded DNA phages, and drives a population of single-stranded phages to extinction. We identify that protection is not abolished by deletion of individual DISARM genes and that the absence of methylase genes drmMI and drmMII does not result in autoimmunity. In addition to antiphage activity we also observe that DISARM limits conjugation, and this activity is linked to the number of methylase cognate sites in the plasmid. Overall, we show that Class 1 DISARM provides robust anti-phage and anti-plasmid protection mediated primarily by drmA and drmB, which provide resistance to invading nucleic acids using a mechanism enhanced by the recognition of unmethylated cognate sites of the two methylases drmMI and drmMII.
Aparicio-Maldonado, Cristian
336d135a-3e11-4e25-a26f-34965940aee2
Ofir, Gal
821aae0a-a09b-404d-aa65-741b02d765be
Salini, Andrea
acb07d5f-e7f6-42eb-ae44-44162152d8be
Sorek, Rotem
703235a4-e8b9-4f5e-ac0d-c205c1fb0645
Luzia De Nobrega, Franklin
6532795d-88a4-4f05-9b26-6af5b8f21a0d
Brouns, Stan J.J.
b9c93a6a-120b-476b-8394-048e41d8ae79
Aparicio-Maldonado, Cristian
336d135a-3e11-4e25-a26f-34965940aee2
Ofir, Gal
821aae0a-a09b-404d-aa65-741b02d765be
Salini, Andrea
acb07d5f-e7f6-42eb-ae44-44162152d8be
Sorek, Rotem
703235a4-e8b9-4f5e-ac0d-c205c1fb0645
Luzia De Nobrega, Franklin
6532795d-88a4-4f05-9b26-6af5b8f21a0d
Brouns, Stan J.J.
b9c93a6a-120b-476b-8394-048e41d8ae79

Aparicio-Maldonado, Cristian, Ofir, Gal, Salini, Andrea, Sorek, Rotem, Luzia De Nobrega, Franklin and Brouns, Stan J.J. (2021) Class I DISARM provides anti-phage and anti-conjugation activity by unmethylated DNA recognition. (doi:10.1101/2021.12.28.474362).

Record type: Other

Abstract

Bacteriophages impose a strong evolutionary pressure on microbes for the development of mechanisms of survival. Multiple new mechanisms of innate defense have been described recently, with the molecular mechanism of most of them remaining uncharacterized. Here, we show that a Class 1 DISARM (defense island system associated with restriction-modification) system from Serratia sp. provides broad protection from double-stranded DNA phages, and drives a population of single-stranded phages to extinction. We identify that protection is not abolished by deletion of individual DISARM genes and that the absence of methylase genes drmMI and drmMII does not result in autoimmunity. In addition to antiphage activity we also observe that DISARM limits conjugation, and this activity is linked to the number of methylase cognate sites in the plasmid. Overall, we show that Class 1 DISARM provides robust anti-phage and anti-plasmid protection mediated primarily by drmA and drmB, which provide resistance to invading nucleic acids using a mechanism enhanced by the recognition of unmethylated cognate sites of the two methylases drmMI and drmMII.

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2021.12.28.474362v1.full - Author's Original
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Published date: 28 December 2021

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 456385
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/456385
PURE UUID: c3a972e1-77a5-463c-8da2-184c929b6bda
ORCID for Franklin Luzia De Nobrega: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8238-1083

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Date deposited: 27 Apr 2022 15:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:02

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Contributors

Author: Cristian Aparicio-Maldonado
Author: Gal Ofir
Author: Andrea Salini
Author: Rotem Sorek
Author: Stan J.J. Brouns

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