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A Broadly Conserved Deoxycytidine Deaminase Protects Bacteria from Phage Infection

Severin, G. B.; Hsueh, B. Y.; Elg, C. A.; Dover, J. A.; Rhoades, C. R.; Wessel, A. J.; Ridenhour, B. J.; Top, E. M.; Ravi, J.; Parent, K. N.; Waters, C. M.

2021-03-31 microbiology
10.1101/2021.03.31.437871 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The El Tor biotype of Vibrio cholerae is responsible for perpetuating the longest cholera pandemic in recorded history (1961-current). The genomic islands VSP-1 and -2 are two understudied genetic features that distinguish El Tor from previous pandemics. To understand their utility, we calculated the co-occurrence of VSP genes across bacterial genomes. This analysis predicted the previously uncharacterized vc0175, herein renamed deoxycytidylate deaminase Vibrio (dcdV), is in a gene network with dncV, a cyclic GMP-AMP synthase involved in phage defense. DcdV consists of two domains, a P-loop kinase and a deoxycytidylate deaminase, that are required for the deamination of dCTP and dCMP, inhibiting phage predation by corrupting cellular nucleotide concentrations. Additionally, DcdV is post-translationally inhibited by a unique noncoding RNA encoded 5 of the dcdV locus. DcdV homologs are conserved in bacteria and eukaryotes and our results identify V. cholerae DcdV as the founding member of a previously undescribed bacterial phage defense system.

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