The enigmatic epitranscriptome of bacteriophages: putative RNA modifications in viral infections

Curr Opin Microbiol. 2024 Feb;77:102417. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2023.102417. Epub 2024 Jan 13.ABSTRACTRNA modifications play essential roles in modulating RNA function, stability, and fate across all kingdoms of life. The entirety of the RNA modifications within a cell is defined as the epitranscriptome. While eukaryotic RNA modifications are intensively studied, understanding bacterial RNA modifications remains limited, and knowledge about bacteriophage RNA modifications is almost nonexistent. In this review, we shed light on known mechanisms of bacterial RNA modifications and propose how this knowledge might be extended to bacteriophages. We build hypotheses on enzymes potentially responsible for regulating the epitranscriptome of bacteriophages and their host. This review highlights the exciting prospects of uncovering the unexplored field of bacteriophage epitranscriptomics and its potential role to shape bacteriophage-host interactions.PMID:38217927 | DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2023.102417

Source: Current Opinion in Microbiology - January 13, 2024 Category: Microbiology Authors: Nadiia Pozhydaieva Maik Wolfram-Schauerte Helene Keuthen Katharina H öfer Source Type: research