Synthetic Biology Group, Microbiology Department, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France.
Institute of Molecular and Supramolecular Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lyon-CNRS, Villeurbanne 69100, France.
Cell Host Microbe. 2016 Oct 12;20(4):471-481. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.08.010. Epub 2016 Sep 22.
Organisms from all domains of life are infected by viruses. In eukaryotes, serine/threonine kinases play a central role in antiviral response. Bacteria, however, are not commonly known to use protein phosphorylation as part of their defense against phages. Here we identify Stk2, a staphylococcal serine/threonine kinase that provides efficient immunity against bacteriophages by inducing abortive infection. A phage protein of unknown function activates the Stk2 kinase. This leads to the Stk2-dependent phosphorylation of several proteins involved in translation, global transcription control, cell-cycle control, stress response, DNA topology, DNA repair, and central metabolism. Bacterial host cells die as a consequence of Stk2 activation, thereby preventing propagation of the phage to the rest of the bacterial population. Our work shows that mechanisms of viral defense that rely on protein phosphorylation constitute a conserved antiviral strategy across multiple domains of life.
所有生命领域的生物都受到病毒的感染。在真核生物中，丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶在抗病毒反应中起着核心作用。然而，细菌通常不被认为将蛋白磷酸化作为其抵御噬菌体的防御机制的一部分。在这里，我们鉴定了一种葡萄球菌丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶 Stk2，它通过诱导无效感染为细菌提供有效的抗噬菌体免疫。一种未知功能的噬菌体蛋白激活了 Stk2 激酶。这导致 Stk2 依赖性磷酸化几种参与翻译、全局转录控制、细胞周期控制、应激反应、DNA 拓扑结构、DNA 修复和中心代谢的蛋白质。由于 Stk2 的激活，细菌宿主细胞死亡，从而阻止噬菌体传播到细菌种群的其余部分。我们的工作表明，依赖蛋白磷酸化的病毒防御机制构成了跨越多个生命领域的保守抗病毒策略。
