Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Bioessays. 2011 Jan;33(1):43-51. doi: 10.1002/bies.201000071.
Bacteria, the most abundant organisms on the planet, are outnumbered by a factor of 10 to 1 by phages that infect them. Faced with the rapid evolution and turnover of phage particles, bacteria have evolved various mechanisms to evade phage infection and killing, leading to an evolutionary arms race. The extensive co-evolution of both phage and host has resulted in considerable diversity on the part of both bacterial and phage defensive and offensive strategies. Here, we discuss the unique and common features of phage resistance mechanisms and their role in global biodiversity. The commonalities between defense mechanisms suggest avenues for the discovery of novel forms of these mechanisms based on their evolutionary traits.
细菌是地球上数量最多的生物，其数量是感染它们的噬菌体的 10 到 1 倍。面对噬菌体粒子的快速进化和更替，细菌已经进化出各种机制来逃避噬菌体的感染和杀伤，从而导致了一场进化军备竞赛。噬菌体和宿主的广泛共同进化导致了细菌和噬菌体防御和进攻策略的多样性。在这里，我们讨论了噬菌体抗性机制的独特和共同特征及其在全球生物多样性中的作用。防御机制的共性表明，可以根据它们的进化特征来发现这些机制的新形式。
