Backman, Talia;
Latorre, Sergio M;
Symeonidi, Efthymia;
Muszyński, Artur;
Bleak, Ella;
Eads, Lauren;
Martinez-Koury, Paulina I;
... Karasov, Talia L; + view all
(2024)
A phage tail–like bacteriocin suppresses competitors in metapopulations of pathogenic bacteria.
Science
, 384
(6701)
, Article eado0713. 10.1126/science.ado0713.
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Abstract
Bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) are abundant, but we do not understand much about how they interact with bacteria in wild populations. Backman et al. investigated wild-collected herbarium samples of a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, infected with the bacterium Pseudomonas viridiflava. Comparative genomics between modern and historical Pseudomonas strains revealed a viral gene cluster encoding a phage tail fiber protein called a tailocin, which has been co-opted as a toxic element by the bacteria to ward off competitors. Purified tailocin killed a selection of non-kin but closely related bacteria while being less potent or not at all potent against other plant-associated bacteria. The dominant tailocin among the plant specimens examined has persisted largely unchanged for more than 177 years. —Caroline Ash
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