Bacterial MazF/MazE toxin-antitoxin suppresses lytic propagation of arbitrium-containing phages.

Yongqing Cui, Xiang Su, Chen Wang, Han Xu, Delei Hu, Jing Wang, Kai Pei, Ming Sun, Tingting Zou

Cell reports 2022 Dec 06

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Temperate phages dynamically switch between lysis and lysogeny in their full life cycle. Some Bacillus-infecting phages utilize a quorum-sensing-like intercellular communication system, the "arbitrium," to mediate lysis-lysogeny decisions. However, whether additional factors participate in the arbitrium signaling pathway remains largely elusive. Here, we find that the arbitrium signal induces the expression of a functionally conserved operon downstream of the arbitrium module in SPbeta-like phages. SPbeta yopM and yopR (as well as phi3T phi3T_93 and phi3T_97) in the operon play roles in suppressing phage lytic propagation and promoting lysogeny, respectively. We further focus on phi3T_93 and demonstrate that it directly binds antitoxin MazE in the host MazF/MazE toxin-antitoxin (TA) module and facilitates the activation of MazF's toxicity, which is required for phage suppression. These findings show events regulated by the arbitrium system and shed light on how the interplay between phages and the host TA module affects phage-host co-survival. Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Yongqing Cui, Xiang Su, Chen Wang, Han Xu, Delei Hu, Jing Wang, Kai Pei, Ming Sun, Tingting Zou. Bacterial MazF/MazE toxin-antitoxin suppresses lytic propagation of arbitrium-containing phages. Cell reports. 2022 Dec 06;41(10):111752