Anti-Kronos effect: phage protein Zip blocks self-reinfection to protect viral progeny (Nature)

University of Toronto researchers report in Nature that the phage protein Zip reduces the number and length of pili on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and, they hypothesize, prevents self-infection so that viral progeny can reach new hosts, a phenomenon they call the anti-Kronos effect. When the phage could no longer make Zip, progeny fell from roughly one million viruses per millilitre of broth to 500; Zip levels respond to a bacterial communication system, and anti-Kronos systems also appear in phages that target Salmonella and Listeria.