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Following Cell-fate in E. coli After Infection by Phage Lambda
Published on: October 14, 2011
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Phage lysis-lysogeny switches and programmed cell death: Danse macabre
Sean Benler1, Eugene V Koonin1
1National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Summary
Prokaryotic immune systems and bacteriophages share decision-making pathways for survival. They jointly regulate programmed cell death (PCD) or pathogen defense based on DNA damage, ensuring cell fate prediction.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Prokaryotic immune systems, including restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas, possess programmed cell death (PCD) capabilities.
- A critical question is how these systems predict infection outcomes to decide between fighting pathogens or initiating PCD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the parallels between prokaryotic immune system decisions and temperate phage life-or-death choices.
- To understand how molecular inputs, like DNA damage, influence these cellular decisions.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of prokaryotic immune systems and temperate phage (pro)phage behavior.
- Investigation of shared molecular signaling pathways, particularly DNA damage response.
Main Results:
- Prokaryotic immune systems and temperate phages exhibit striking parallels in sensing molecular inputs (e.g., DNA damage).
- These systems jointly regulate the lysis-lysogeny switch in phages and cellular PCD.
- Temperate phages, as part of prokaryotic genomes, share "interests" with hosts, leading to coregulation.
Conclusions:
- Prokaryotic immune systems and temperate phages form a joint decision-making machinery for predicting infection outcomes.
- This collaboration allows cells to "decide" whether to combat infection or undergo PCD.
- Shared regulatory mechanisms ensure coordinated responses to cellular stress and infection.
Keywords:
CRISPRabortive infectionkin selectionlambda switchlysogenyprogrammed cell deathtoxin-antitoxinMore Related Videos
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