Structure and Mechanism of a Cyclic Trinucleotide-Activated Bacterial Endonuclease Mediating Bacteriophage Immunity (Molecular Cell)

Here, Lau et al. show that the cyclic oligonucleotide-based anti-phage signaling system (CBASS)-associated NucC nuclease causes death of phage-infected cells through genome destruction. They show how NucC is allosterically activated by a cyclic triadenylate second messenger synthesized by CBASS upon infection. NucC has also been integrated into type III CRISPR/Cas systems as an accessory nuclease.