Bacterial “Molecular Guard” Discovered to Control Phage Infection
Scientists have discovered a new family of bacterial defence systems that use enzymes called nucleotidyltransferases (NTase) to produce DNA signals and defend against phage infection. The system, named Hailong, consists of two proteins: HalB and HalA. HalB is an NTase enzyme that converts deoxy-ATP into single-stranded DNA oligomers. This process triggers a response in the … Read more