Researchers at the Faculty of Biology at the Technion discovered a unique mechanism that protects marine bacteria from viruses that attack them
As humans, we are very bothered by viruses and bacteria to a similar extent - although many of the bacteria are essential to our health, these and these are involved in a variety of diseases, some of them dangerous. A lesser known phenomenon is the constant struggle between themselves, that is, between bacteria and phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria.
This struggle, which takes place in the seas and oceans, leads to a mutual evolution (co-evolution) of these two populations. In some marine areas, viral infection is a major factor in the mortality of large bacterial populations. If the bacteria had not developed resistance to these viruses, there would probably have been bacteria-free areas, but the reality is not like this thanks to the resistance mechanisms developed by the bacteria during evolution.
A new article by female researchers in the Faculty of Biology at the Technion, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, presents a unique resistance mechanism that was not known until now. The research was led Prof. Debbie Lindel and the Ph.D Formerly Dr. Sofia Zborovsky (currently a postdoctoral student in England) and the doctoral student Ran Tahan participated in it.
Prof. Lindel's research group has been engaged in this field for many years, and has already presented dramatic discoveries regarding the relationship between phages and bacteria in the seas and oceans. The current article reveals a unique defense mechanism that protects the marine bacteria against viruses. This is a defense mechanism passive dose based low especially of molecules involved in the genetic translation process leading to the creation of proteins.
The said study deals with a marine bacterium called Synococcus (Synechococcus) and in his relationship with a phage called Syn9. Synococcus, a bacterium of the cyanobacteria family, is a "primary producer", meaning an organism that produces its food from inorganic substances and produces oxygen through photosynthesis. The importance of these bacteria is enormous, as they produce a significant part of the oxygen in the atmosphere and play a vital role in "starting" the food chain.
The Sinococcus bacterium interacts with various phages including Syn9. Had it not developed defense mechanisms against this phage during evolution, Synchococcus may have become extinct. Why is it not extinct and what are its defense mechanisms? - This question preoccupies many research groups, and some of them have already presented certain answers to this question.
in an article inNature Microbiology The Technion researchers present an evolutionary scenario in which protection is achieved precisely through a plateau reduced tRNA (guide RNA) - a molecule that plays an important role in the gene translation process.
"Research dealing with resistance tends to focus on genes that give the organism an active defense against infection," explains Prof. Lindel. "However, not all of these defense mechanisms result from active genetic capabilities; some result from 'passive resistance,' like the one we discovered. Our findings suggest that a normal level of tRNA reduces the resistance of the bacterium to the virus, and a low level amplifies this durability. this is Tolerable pattern of resistance, where exactly loss Intracellular functions lead to resistance to viral infection."
Prof. Lindel adds that this resistance mechanism does not inhibit the penetration of the phage into the bacterial cell, but it prevents the formation of new viruses and thus allows the bacterium to survive. "The fact that there are types Synechococcus with several defense mechanisms, and no virus can infect them, indicates that these marine bacteria have developed during evolution several layers of protection, some of them passive, that make them resistant to a wide variety of viruses in the sea. We estimate that the layer of passive protection we discovered gradually developed as a result of selective pressure, that is - bacteria with a reduced tRNA level survived longer and established lineages of bacteria like them, protected against viral infection. In our estimation, this phenomenon of passive resistance is more widespread than commonly thought and is not limited to the Sinnococcus-Syn9 relationship."
The research was supported by the Simmons Foundation.
for the article in Nature Microbiology
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