Richard D. Morgan
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Richard D. Morgan has a total of 8 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Alexey Fomenkov
Research Department, New England Biolabs, 240 County Road, Ipswich, MA 01938, USA
1 shared publication - Alfred A. Antson
York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
1 shared publication Ananya Jain
York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
1 shared publication- Julia Gordeeva
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow 143028, Russia
1 shared publication - Konstantin Severinov
Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334, Russia
1 shared publication Richard J Roberts
New England Biolabs, 240 County Road, Ipswich, MA 01938, USA
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
A virion protein of an archaeal virus inhibits a Type V BREX defense system in Haloarcula hispanica
Bacteriophage Exclusion (BREX) systems are a diverse family of bacterial and archaeal defense mechanisms defined by two conserved genes encoding a putative alkaline phosphatase BrxZ (PglZ) and an ATPase BrxC (PglY). Here, we characterize a Type V BREX system from the archaeon Haloarcula hispanica . Similar to bacterial Type I BREX systems, host–virus discrimination relies on methylation of specific non-palindromic DNA motifs. Notably, the H. hispanica BREX locus encodes two methyltransferases, BrxX1 and BrxX2, which independently target distinct motifs (GTAYCCG and GACCCC). The system protects H. hispanica against three of seven tested archaeal viruses. However, two related viruses, SH1 and HHIV-2, despite encoding multiple BREX target sites, escape BREX-mediated defense. We demonstrate that a large virion protein, VP1, encoded by these viruses inhibits the BREX system, as mutant viruses carrying partial deletions of VP1 lose resistance to the host defense. Together, these findings provide the first characterization of a Type V BREX system and demonstrate that archaeal viruses can counteract BREX through virion-associated anti-defense proteins.
Open AccessA virion protein of an archaeal virus inhibits a Type V BREX defense system in Haloarcula hispanica
Bacteriophage Exclusion (BREX) systems are a diverse family of bacterial and archaeal defense mechanisms defined by two conserved genes encoding a putative alkaline phosphatase BrxZ (PglZ) and an ATPase BrxC (PglY). Here, we characterize a Type V BREX system from the archaeon Haloarcula hispanica . Similar to bacterial Type I BREX systems, host–virus discrimination relies on methylation of specific non-palindromic DNA motifs. Notably, the H. hispanica BREX locus encodes two methyltransferases, BrxX1 and BrxX2, which independently target distinct motifs (GTAYCCG and GACCCC). The system protects H. hispanica against three of seven tested archaeal viruses. However, two related viruses, SH1 and HHIV-2, despite encoding multiple BREX target sites, escape BREX-mediated defense. We demonstrate that a large virion protein, VP1, encoded by these viruses inhibits the BREX system, as mutant viruses carrying partial deletions of VP1 lose resistance to the host defense. Together, these findings provide the first characterization of a Type V BREX system and demonstrate that archaeal viruses can counteract BREX through virion-associated anti-defense proteins.