In this section
@article{Kang:2025:nar/gkaf501,
author = {Kang, Y and Liu, Y and Zhou, H and Ma, B and Chen, H and Zhang, K and Wang, Y and Fan, C and Yang, H and Xu, Y and Matthews, S and Yuan, S and Li, Y and Liu, B},
doi = {nar/gkaf501},
journal = {Nucleic Acids Research},
title = {A temperature-driven DNA discrimination strategy to distinguish E. coli DNA and phage 5hmC-modified DNA},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf501},
volume = {53},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - The arms race between phages and bacteria is dynamic and ongoing, with both continuously acquiring new strategies to outcompete each other during co-evolution. Here, we report bacteriophage T4 exonuclease DexA and an uncharacterized Escherichia coli exonuclease as a rare pair of attack and defense duo arising from the same mechanism. DexA, highly conserved among phages, has two well-characterized biological roles: host DNA scavenging and intron homing. Unmodified DNA is the substrate during host DNA scavenging, whereas cleavage of 5hmC (5-hydroxymethylcytosine)-modified phage DNA is required for intron homing. We reveal a temperature-driven quaternary fold switch between DexA dimer and tetramer that facilitates cleavage of distinct DNA forms, namely 5hmC-modified phage DNA and unmodified host DNA. As a countermeasure, bacteria produce DexA variants for defense against phage that only targets 5hmC-modified DNA. Thus, both phages and bacteria compete using HmC-Recognizing EXonuclease strategies (designated as HREX).
AU - Kang,Y
AU - Liu,Y
AU - Zhou,H
AU - Ma,B
AU - Chen,H
AU - Zhang,K
AU - Wang,Y
AU - Fan,C
AU - Yang,H
AU - Xu,Y
AU - Matthews,S
AU - Yuan,S
AU - Li,Y
AU - Liu,B
DO - nar/gkaf501
PY - 2025///
SN - 0305-1048
TI - A temperature-driven DNA discrimination strategy to distinguish E. coli DNA and phage 5hmC-modified DNA
T2 - Nucleic Acids Research
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf501
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf501
VL - 53
ER -