Bacteria have a completely new immune system to neutralize pathogens

Bacteria, like humans, have different immune systems to protect against pathogens such as viruses. They

decompose their DNA to render it harmless.The research group of Assistant Professor Daan Swarts from Wageningen University's Laboratory of Biochemistry and Research has discovered an entirely new immune system that uses a different mechanism to neutralize invaders.

It turned out that the Argonaute type of bacterial proteins, after detecting invading DNA, deliberately destroys all molecules of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+).

Argonaute proteins are found in multicellular andsingle-celled organisms, such as bacteria. These Argonauts are programmed to search for invasive RNA or DNA. In most cases, the protein destroys the pathogen by cutting it into smaller pieces, thereby rendering it harmless.

In a new study, researchers observed howthe Argonaute protein also uses a guide RNA, but protects the bacterium with a fundamentally different approach. After detecting invasive DNA, it completely shuts down the cell by cleaving NAD+.

The NAD+ molecule plays a crucial role in metabolismcells and keeps them alive. But by allowing the infected cell to die, the invader cannot multiply and spread to neighboring bacteria. “She «is sacrificed,» to save other, healthy cells,” the scientists explain. Such an immune system has been found in different types of bacteria.

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