Journal
CELL
Volume 183, Issue 6, Pages 1551-+Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.09.065
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Funding
- Ariane de Rothschild Women Doctoral Program
- Israeli Council for Higher Education via Weizmann Data Science Research Center
- European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Long Term Fellowship [EMBO ALTF 186-2018]
- Israel Science Foundation [1360/16]
- European Research Council [ERC-CoG 681203]
- Ernest and Bonnie Beutler Research Program of Excellence in Genomic Medicine
- Minerva Foundation
- Federal German Ministry for Education and Research
- Knell Family Center for Microbiology
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Retrons are bacterial genetic elements comprised of a reverse transcriptase (RT) and a non-coding RNA (ncRNA). The RT uses the ncRNA as template, generating a chimeric RNA/DNA molecule in which the RNA and DNA components are covalently linked. Although retrons were discovered three decades ago, their function remained unknown. We report that retrons function as anti-phage defense systems. The defensive unit is composed of three components: the RT, the ncRNA, and an effector protein. We examined multiple retron systems and show that they confer defense against a broad range of phages via abortive infection. Focusing on retron Ec48, we show evidence that it guards RecBCD, a complex with central anti-phage functions in bacteria. Inhibition of RecBCD by phage proteins activates the retron, leading to abortive infection and cell death. Thus, the Ec48 retron forms a second line of defense that is triggered if the first lines of defense have collapsed.
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