A bacterial host factor confines phage localization for excluding the infected compartment through cell division
Fiyaksel O.P. Dalvi S.P. Zhou B. Ravins M. Shraiteh B. Bhattacharya S. Kirillov S. Kaur P. Rosenshine I. Ghosal D. Ben-Yehuda S.
22 July 2025Elsevier B.V.
Cell Reports
2025#44Issue 7
Viruses frequently induce the formation of specialized subcellular compartments to facilitate their replication and assembly. Here, we describe a “host-derived” confinement mechanism, compartmentalizing bacteriophage (phage) production to enable phage caging through cell division. By employing the bacterium Bacillus subtilis and its lytic phages, we identified YjbH, highly conserved among gram-positive bacteria, as a host factor that limits plaque expansion. YjbH directly binds the penetrating phage genome via its helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domain and accumulates into a focus at the site of DNA injection. YjbH further constricts the synthesis of phage components, including DNA and capsid proteins, to a specific subcellular locale. Consequently, the division machinery is recruited to produce adjacent septations, often asymmetric, effectively trapping and excluding the infected compartment. This “exclude and survive” defense mechanism may represent a prevalent strategy employed by the host to contain viral spread.
Bacillus subtilis , bacteriophage infection , cell division , CP: Microbiology , phage defense mechanisms , plaque formation , SPO1 , SPP1 , viral compartmentalization
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Post Office Box 12272, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel
Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
ARC Centre for Cryo-electron Microscopy of Membrane Proteins, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
National Center for Biotechnology, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology
ARC Centre for Cryo-electron Microscopy of Membrane Proteins
National Center for Biotechnology
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026