Aging is frequently accompanied by inflammaging—a chronic, low-grade inflammatory state that contributes to functional decline and disease risk. Disruption of the intestinal barrier is increasingly...

A widely distributed but overlooked large-sized phage clade is active in human gut and thus could potentially affect human health.

Pseudaminic acids (Pse) are a family of carbohydrates found within bacterial lipopolysaccharides, capsular polysaccharides and glycoproteins. Now, monoclonal antibodies have been developed that recogn...

The reliance on natural plasmid replication mechanisms limits plasmid tunability, compatibility, and modularity. Here the authors refactor the natural pMB1 origin and create plasmids with customizable...

In this work, authors present an automated, high-throughput platform that utilizes robotics and computer vision to enable creation of a therapeutic phage cocktail, LBP-EC01, effective against over 96%...

UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.

Bacteriophages are promising alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. However, bacteria possess immune systems that neutralize bacteriophages. Zang et al. discover small molecule...

Many bacterial defense systems restrict phage infection by breaking the molecule NAD+ to its constituents, adenosine diphosphate ribose (ADPR) and nicotinamide (Nam). To counter NAD+ depletion-mediated defense, phages evolved NAD+ reconstitution pathway 1 (NARP1), which uses ADPR and Nam to rebuild NAD+. Here we report a bacterial defense system called aRES, involving RES-domain proteins that degrade NAD+ into Nam and ADPR-1″-phosphate (ADPR-1P). This molecule cannot serve as a substrate for NARP1, so that NAD+ depletion by aRES defends against phages even if they encode NARP1. We further discover that some phages evolved an extended NARP1 pathway capable of overcoming aRES defense. In these phages, the NARP1 operon also includes a specialized phosphatase, which dephosphorylates ADPR-1P to form ADPR, a substrate from which NARP1 then reconstitutes NAD+. Other phages encode inhibitors that directly bind aRES proteins and physically block their active sites. Our study describes new layers in the NAD+-centric arms race between bacteria and phages and highlights the centrality of the NAD+ pool in cellular battles between viruses and their hosts. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, ERC-AdG GA 101018520 Israel Science Foundation, MAPATS grant 2720/22 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SPP 2330, grant 464312965 Minerva Foundation with funding from the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research research grant from Magnus Konow in honor of his mother Olga Konow Rappaport Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, https://ror.org/05aycsg86 Clore Scholars Program

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans facilitate the assembly of clusters of glycoRNAs and cell surface RNA-binding proteins, which negatively modulate VEGF-A signalling and angiogenesis.

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Covering: 2005 to July 2025Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), emerging as one of the most common multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial strains, has posed a serious threat to global heal...

Yoshioka et al. show that bacteria wrap their flagella to squeeze through near cell-width confinements, which allows symbiotic microbes to navigate constricted gut regions within insect hosts.

Light-driven enzymatic catalysis has enabled important abiological transformations in vitro. Now a cellular ene-reductase photoenzyme is integrated with a de novo-designed olefin biosynthetic pathway ...

Purpose This review aims to provide an overview of current knowledge on the involvement of QS in phage infection. The role of QS in bacterial defence against phages is emphasized, without overlooking ...