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Bacterial physiology

Bacteria can shed a layer when phages turn up the heat

Nature Microbiology volume 8, pages 367–368 (2023)Cite this article

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Phage-encoded endolysins released from neighbouring infected bacterial cells can confer a temporary resistance to phage infection by mediating the reversible loss of the cell wall.

Bacterial communities are under continual selective pressure from bacteriophages (‘phages’), which typically outnumber prokaryotes by severalfold1. To counter this pressure, bacteria have evolved a diversity of phage resistance mechanisms. These include CRISPR-Cas systems that provide adaptive immunity and abortive infection systems in which an infected cell sacrifices itself to prevent phage proliferation2. When defence mechanisms are absent or fail to protect against phage pressure, subpopulations of phage-resistant bacterial mutants can emerge, most frequently with mutations causing the loss of phage receptors on the cell’s surface. Although resistant subpopulations can outcompete susceptible wild-type cells in the short term, mutations conferring phage resistance often come with a fitness cost3. For example, in Gram-positive bacteria, mutations conferring phage resistance can impact the composition of teichoic acids, which are common phage receptors and are also involved in essential cell processes such as attachment to surfaces, resistance to antimicrobials and virulence4. Phage-resistant mutants are often locked into their new states, as the likelihood that a subsequent mutation will restore altered or lost functions is extremely rare. Although resistant subpopulations can evade phage predation, they are less likely to thrive in the long term.

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Fig. 1: Dynamics of endolysin-mediated L-form switching under selective phage pressure.

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  1. Department of Food Science, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Thomas G. Denes

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  1. Thomas G. Denes
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Correspondence to Thomas G. Denes.

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Denes, T.G. Bacteria can shed a layer when phages turn up the heat. Nat Microbiol 8, 367–368 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01332-y

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