4.4 Review

Type II Toxin-Antitoxin Systems: Evolution and Revolutions

Journal

JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
Volume 202, Issue 7, Pages -

Publisher

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/JB.00763-19

Keywords

persistence; proteolysis; stress responses; toxin-antitoxin; transcriptional regulation

Categories

Funding

  1. Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) [T.0147.15F PDR, J.0061.16F CDR]
  2. ARC actions
  3. Fonds Jean Brachet
  4. Wallonia Region (Algotech) [1510598]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are small genetic elements composed of a toxic protein and its cognate antitoxin protein, the latter counteracting the toxicity of the former. While TA systems were initially discovered on plasmids, functioning as addiction modules through a phenomenon called postsegregational killing, they were later shown to be massively present in bacterial chromosomes, often in association with mobile genetic elements. Extensive research has been conducted in recent decades to better understand the physiological roles of these chromosomally encoded modules and to characterize the conditions leading to their activation. The diversity of their proposed roles, ranging from genomic stabilization and abortive phage infection to stress modulation and antibiotic persistence, in conjunction with the poor understanding of TA system regulation, resulted in the generation of simplistic models, often refuted by contradictory results. This review provides an epistemological and critical retrospective on TA modules and highlights fundamental questions concerning their roles and regulations that still remain unanswered.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.4
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available