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The group of Molecular Genetics of the University of Murcia (UMU) publishes an article in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, which describes a new mechanism that controls the response against external pathogens, usually viruses, using the Myxococcus xanthus bacterium as a model.

The importance of this finding lies, according to the study's principal investigator, Montserrat Elías Arnanz, in "the demonstration that cells are not always on the defensive but only activate a CRISPR-Cas system when they need to protect themselves so that the pathogen does not destroy. "

The CRISPR-Cas system, whose function is to defend bacteria from attack by foreign genetic elements, acts as a molecular scissors.

"Regulating your expression saves energy and avoids the potential danger for the cell itself to be constantly expressing these molecular scissors," says Elías.

According to the expert, "this mechanism is based on an alternative factor of the ECF family (ExtraCytoplasmic Function), its negative regulation due to its anti-s factor, and the global regulatory complex formed by the CarD and CarG proteins. they are required to initiate the expression of specific groups of genes in response to specific extracellular signals.The findings represent a novel aspect in the multifaceted biology of these intriguing prokaryotic immune systems. "

The result of this research is the fruit of four years of work in which multiple genetic-molecular analyzes have been performed to see the expression changes of the genes involved and find out how they were regulated.

The expert explains that they found these findings while conducting their studies on the defense against cell damage from exposure to light.

For researchers the next step will be "to understand at a much more detailed molecular level how regulation is carried out and evaluate its impact on protection against different viruses that normally infect the bacteria".

The article carried out has had S. Padmanabhan, member of the Institute of Physical Chemistry Rocasolano (IQFR);

and the Area of ​​Genetics-University of Murcia (Unit Associated to the IQFR), with Diego Bernal-Bernal, Javier Abellón-Ruiz, Antonio A. Iniesta, Elena Pajares-Martínez, Eva Bastida-Martínez, Marta Fontes and the IP Montserrat Elías- Arnanz.

Source: Universidad de Murcia