Coordinately regulated interbacterial antagonism defense pathways constitute a bacterial innate immune system
Authored by
See-Yeun Ting, Kaitlyn D. LaCourse, Hannah E. Ledvina, Rutan Zhang, Matthew C. Radey, Hemantha D. Kulasekara, Rahul Somavanshi, Savannah K. Bertolli, Larry A. Gallagher, Jennifer Kim, Kelsi M. Penewit, Stephen J. Salipante, Libin Xu, S. Brook Peterson, and Joseph D. Mougous
Posted
August 23, 2021
Server
bioRxiv
Abstract
Bacterial survival is fraught with antagonism, including that deriving from viruses and competing bacterial cells1–3 4 . It is now appreciated that bacteria mount complex antiviral responses; however, whether a coordinated defense against bacterial threats is undertaken is not well understood. Previously we showed thatPseudomonas aeruginosa possess a danger sensing pathway that is a critical fitness determinant during competition against other bacteria5, 6 . Here, we conducted genome-wide screens inP. aeruginosa that reveal three conserved and widespread interbacterial antagonism resistance clusters (arc1-3 ). We find that althougharc1-3 are coordinately activated by the Gac/Rsm danger sensing system, they function independently and provide idiosyncratic defense capabilities, distinguishing them from general stress response pathways. Our findings demonstrate that Arc3 family proteins provide specific protection against phospholipase toxins by preventing the accumulation of lysophospholipids in a manner distinct from previously characterized membrane repair systems. These findings liken the response ofP. aeruginosa to bacterial threats to that of eukaryotic innate immunity, wherein threat detection leads to the activation of specialized defense systems.
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