Small RNAs direct attack and defense mechanisms in a quorum sensing phage and its host.

Cell host & microbe [Cell Host Microbe] 2024 May 08; Vol. 32 (5), pp. 727-738.e6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 04.

Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.
Many, if not all, bacteria use quorum sensing (QS) to control collective behaviors, and more recently, QS has also been discovered in bacteriophages (phages). Phages can produce communication molecules of their own, or "listen in" on the host's communication processes, to switch between lytic and lysogenic modes of infection. Here, we study the interaction of Vibrio cholerae with the lysogenic phage VP882, which is activated by the QS molecule DPO. We discover that induction of VP882 results in the binding of phage transcripts to the major RNA chaperone Hfq, which in turn outcompetes and downregulates host-encoded small RNAs (sRNAs). VP882 itself also encodes Hfq-binding sRNAs, and we demonstrate that one of these sRNAs, named VpdS, promotes phage replication by regulating host and phage mRNA levels. We further show that host-encoded sRNAs can antagonize phage replication by downregulating phage mRNA expression and thus might be part of the host's phage defense arsenal.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

English

Publisher: Cell Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101302316 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1934-6069 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19313128 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cell Host Microbe Subsets: MEDLINE

Vibrio cholerae*/virology , Vibrio cholerae*/genetics , Quorum Sensing*/genetics , Bacteriophages*/genetics , Bacteriophages*/physiology , Host Factor 1 Protein*/metabolism , Host Factor 1 Protein*/genetics, Virus Replication ; Lysogeny ; RNA, Viral/genetics ; RNA, Viral/metabolism ; RNA, Small Untranslated/genetics ; RNA, Small Untranslated/metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; RNA, Bacterial/genetics ; RNA, Bacterial/metabolism ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; RNA, Messenger/genetics ; Host Microbial Interactions/genetics

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