Nuclease–NTPase antiphage defence systems use conserved molecular features to control bacterial immunity

Large-scale comparative cell biology and biochemistry of 16 bacterial nuclease-NTPase antiphage defence systems shows that protein-protein complex formation is a shared feature. The nucleases of the Pa AbpAB, Bt Hachiman and Ec PD-T4-8 systems degrade nucleic acids with highly degenerate recognition site preferences, while the Azaca system specifically targets modified phage genomic DNA (Nature Microbiology, 2026).