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Viruses cooperate to defeat bacteria

It emerges that viruses called phages, which infect bacteria, can suppress the bacterial immune system during an initial wave of unsuccessful infection, enabling subsequent viral infection to succeed.
  1. Aude Bernheim

    1. Aude Bernheim is in the Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

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  2. Rotem Sorek

    1. Rotem Sorek is in the Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

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Bacteria and the viruses that infect them, known as phages, are engaged in a constant arms race. Bacteria continually evolve new mechanisms of resistance against viruses, while phages evolve countermeasures to overcome these defence mechanisms. Writing in Cell, Borges et al.1 and Landsberger et al.2 reveal how phages can ‘collaborate’ to shut down the bacterial immune system and achieve a successful infection. Although an initial viral attempt at infection fails, this enables a subsequent phage infection to be successful. This example of ‘cooperation’ between genetically identical individuals of a viral population illuminates a previously unknown group strategy of phages, and provides an interesting example of viral ‘altruism’.

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Nature 559, 482-484 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05762-1

References

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Competing Interests

R. S. is a scientific adviser to BioMX Ltd and Pantheon Biosciences Ltd.

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