Sutharsan Govindarajan

Abstract Bacterial cryptic prophages encode genes that reduce the viability of the host, upon induction, but also contribute to host survival during stress conditions. Rac is a cryptic prophage of Escherichia coli and it encodes a toxic protein KilR which causes morphological defects to the host. But the mechanistic basis of its action is not well understood. In this study, we provide evidence that KilR is a dual morphogenetic inhibitor that affects cell division and cytoskeletal organization.

Abstract All viruses require strategies to inhibit or evade the immune pathways of cells that they infect. The viruses that infect bacteria, bacteriophages (phages), must avoid immune pathways that target nucleic acids, such as CRISPR–Cas and restriction-modification systems, to replicate efficiently1. Here we show that jumbo phage ΦKZ segregates its DNA from immunity nucleases of its host, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by constructing a proteinaceous nucleus-like compartment.