Biology subjects

Klein-Sousa, V.

Publications and source records attributed to Klein-Sousa, V..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Piercing mechanism in the minimal contractile tail of bacteriophage P2.

Bacteriophage P2 is a long-standing model for contractile injection systems, yet high-resolution structures of the intact virion and the mechanism of baseplate activation have remained unresolved. Here, we combine high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy and in situ cryo-electron tomography to characterize P2, using its lytic mutant P2vir, in its pre- and post-contraction states and during host infection. We identify a previously undescribed fold in the head-to-tail adaptor, which mediates the transition from 12-fold portal symmetry to sixfold tail symmetry through interlocking {beta}-strand handshake interactions. Our structures further reveal a compact, threefold-symmetric baseplate established by a distinctive loop-helix module formed by the hub and tube initiator, which bioinformatic and phylogenetic analyses identify as a characteristic architectural feature of the Peduovirus lineage. We also propose a rope-like arrangement that anchors the tail fibre to the baseplate triplex component gpI and obtain evidence that the tape-measure protein adopts a C3 arrangement within the tail lumen, while computational predictions suggest a possible hexameric, pore-like organization after release. Comparison of pre- and post-contraction particles, supported by in situ imaging of infection, suggests that sheath contraction destabilizes the baseplate, promoting its disassembly. The inner tail tube appears to penetrate the host outer membrane but does not appear to reach the inner membrane, leading us to propose that the reorganized tape-measure protein forms a secondary conduit for genome translocation. These findings support a distinct model of contractile tail activation and expand the known architectural diversity of viral injection systems.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Structural modularity of receptor-binding proteins underlies host-range strategy diversification in Klebsiella pneumoniae phages

Bacteriophage receptor-binding proteins (RBPs) determine bacterial host recognition and are central to phage host-range evolution, yet the structural principles governing how RBPs diversify and expand host range remain not fully understood. Although phage RBPs are thought to evolve through modular exchange of receptor-binding domains, it is unclear how this modularity is organised across diverse RBP architectures, at what structural scales recombination operates, and how it shapes host-range breadth. Here we combined large-scale AlphaFold3 structural modelling, domain-level annotation, de novo pseudo-domain segmentation, sequence modularity analysis and experimentally determined host-range phenotypes across 192 Klebsiella pneumoniae phages and 382 high-confidence RBPs spanning up to 96 K-types. We generated the first system-wide structural atlas of K. pneumoniae phage RBPs, resolving 39 structurally distinct RBP-classes. Although capsule-degrading beta-helix depolymerases dominated numerically, 161 RBPs across 37 RBP-classes employed non-depolymerase architectures, including 18 novel RBP-classes. Structural and sequence analyses show that this diversity arose through modular reuse of structural domains rather than independent invention. Conserved N-terminal scaffolds linked depolymerase and non-depolymerase RBPs across morphotypes, while receptor-binding regions diversified through recombination operating at and beyond domain boundaries. We found recent modular exchange both within genera, where capsule-specific and capsule-independent RBPs can be swapped to alter host-range strategy, and across morphotypes, where depolymerase modules moved between distant lineages altering capsule specificity. Together, these architectures resolve into six receptor-recognition strategies, establishing multi-scale modularity as the primary organising principle of RBP diversification and a structure-informed framework for guiding phage isolation and engineering against K. pneumoniae. The complete atlas is freely accessible as an interactive community resource at Klebsiella-Phage-RBP-Atlas.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Molecular basis of the Druantia anti-phage defense system

Eukaryotes and prokaryotes have evolved diverse antiviral immune systems, many containing helicase modules central to defense. Druantia are widespread bacterial anti-phage defense systems, each built around a large helicase domain-containing protein, DruE, paired with variable subunits. Here, we investigate the molecular basis of a minimal two-protein module Druantia system, DruH-E. We demonstrate that DruH-E is sufficient to confer robust anti-phage defense. DruE exists in equilibrium between a monomer and an asymmetric dimer, with dimerization required for in vivo immunity. Cryo-EM structures define DruE asymmetric dimer assembly and its dsDNA unwinding mechanism, revealing a topologically closed architecture that is specifically activated by dsDNA substrates with a 3' overhang. We further identify DruH as an ssDNA-binding protein regulated by a metabolic switch, where its activity is inhibited by ATP at physiological concentrations through direct competition with ssDNA. Supported by mass spectrometry and single-cell microscopy data, we establish key determinants of the Druantia defense system and reveal how it mediates a direct antiviral immune mechanism.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Genome delivery of a contractile tailed phage and its superinfection exclusion mechanism

Successful viral infection requires efficient adsorption to the target cell, followed by membrane penetration for genome translocation into the host cytoplasm. Bacteriophage T4 initiates infection by binding to Escherichia coli receptors, triggering sequential conformational changes that culminate in genome delivery through viral channels spanning the host cell envelope. Here, we resolved structures of bacteriophage T4 at discrete stages. This revealed how long tail fiber extension affects the baseplate to initiate tail contraction, and the channel formation by the tape measure protein for genome translocation. We further demonstrate that the virus-encoded superinfection exclusion protein Imm binds to the tape measure protein to prevent secondary infections. Our findings offer insights into the coordinated process of genome delivery and phage-encoded superinfection exclusion proteins that prevent genome translocation.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2024

Towards a complete phage tail fiber structure atlas.

Bacteriophages use receptor-binding proteins (RBPs) to adhere to bacterial hosts. Understanding the structure of these RBPs can provide insights into their target interactions. Tail fibers, a prominent type of RBP, are typically elongated, flexible, and trimeric proteins, making it challenging to obtain high-resolution experimental data of their full-length structures. Recent advancements in deep learning-based protein structure prediction, such as AlphaFold2-multimer (AF2M) and ESMfold, allow for the generation of high-confidence predicted models of complete tail fibers. In this paper, we introduce RBPseg, a method that combines monomeric ESMfold predictions with a novel sigmoid distance pair (sDp) protein segmentation technique. This method segments the tail fiber sequences into smaller fractions, preserving domain boundaries. These segments are then predicted in parallel using AF2M and assembled into a full fiber model. We demonstrate that RBPseg significantly improves AF2M v2.3.2 in terms of model confidence, running time, and memory usage. To validate our approach, we used single-particle cryo-electron microscopy to analyze five tail fibers from three phages of the BASEL collection. Additionally, we conducted a structural classification of 67 fibers and their domains, which identified 16 well-defined tail fiber classes and 89 domains. Our findings suggest the existence of modular fibers as well as fibers with different sequences and shared structure, indicating possible sequence convergence, divergence, and domain swapping. We further demonstrate that these structural classes account for at least 24% of the known tail fiber universe.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Agtrevirus phage AV101 infect diverse extended spectrum β-lactamase E. coli by recognizing four different O-antigens

Bacteriophages in the Agtrevirus genus are known for expressing multiple tail spike proteins (TSPs), but little is known about their genetic diversity and host recognition apart from their ability to infect diverse Enterobacteriaceae species. Here we aim to determine the genetic differences that may account for the diverse host ranges of Agrevirus phages. We performed comparative genomics of 14 Agtrevirus and identified only a few genetic differences including genes involved in nucleotide metabolism. Most notably was the diversity of the tsp gene cluster, specifically in the receptor binding domains that were unique among most of the phages. We further characterized agtrevirus AV101 infecting nine diverse Extended Spectrum {beta}-lactamase (ESBL) E. coli and demonstrated that this phage encoded four unique TSPs among Agtrevirus. Purified TSPs formed translucent zones and inhibited AV101 infection of specific hosts, demonstrating that TSP1, TSP2, TSP3, and TSP4 recognize O8, O82, O153, and O159 O-antigens of ESBL E. coli, respectively. BLASTp analysis showed that the receptor binding domain of TSP1, TSP2, TSP3 and TSP4 are similar to TSPs encoded by E. coli prophages and distant related virulent phages. Thus, Agtrevirus may have gained their receptor binding domains by recombining with prophages or virulent phages. Overall, combining bioinformatic and biological data expands the understanding of TSP host recognition of Agtrevirus and give new insight into the origin and acquisition of receptor binding domains of Ackermannviridae phages. One sentence summaryAgtrevirus phage AV101 express four unique tail spike proteins that recognize different O-antigens of Extended Spectrum {beta}-Lactamase producing E. coli.

microbiology↗