2026 International SPP 2330 Symposium Berlin

Session

Novel anti-viral defence systems

6 Oct 2026, 14:00

Goethe-Saal (Harnack-Haus)

111. Phage-induced membrane remodelling is a vulnerability targeted by bacterial immunity

Karen Maxwell (University of Toronto)

06/10/2026, 14:00

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

Nucleus-forming jumbo phages establish infection by first enclosing their genome within an early phage infection (EPI) vesicle derived from the bacterial inner membrane. We discovered a bacterial immune system that targets this early membrane-bound stage of infection. This defence protein rapidly localizes to the site of phage infection and disrupts EPI vesicle morphology. In vitro, this...

34. ApeA cleaves genomic RNA to defend against RNA phage infection

Jens Hör (Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany)

06/10/2026, 14:30

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

To protect themselves against viral infection, bacteria encode a vast diversity of antiphage defense systems. However, the mechanisms of action of most of these systems have exclusively been studied using phages with DNA genomes as the models, while phages with RNA genomes remain understudied. Here, we investigated how the defense system ApeA confers resistance against RNA phage infection. We...

54. Deoxydinucleotides activate the bacterial anti-phage defense system ApeA

Jonas Juozapaitis (EMBL Partnership Institute for Genome Editing Technologies and Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LT-10257, Lithuania)

06/10/2026, 14:45

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Bacteria carry many antiviral defense systems, most of which rely on toxic effectors that must stay inactive until infection. How infection is actually sensed is still unknown for most of them. Here we focus on ApeA, a single-protein system with a HEPN RNase domain. Testing six homologs against a large E. coli phage panel revealed distinct, homolog-specific protection profiles. Protection...

109. Bacterial multicellular behaviour in antiviral defense

Julia Frunzke (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

06/10/2026, 15:00

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Phage defense is commonly studied at the level of individual cells and intracellular immune systems. However, bacterial populations often display multicellular organization, developmental differentiation, and extensive chemical interactions that can influence the outcome of phage infection.

Using Streptomyces as a model, we examine antiviral mechanisms that operate at the population...

110. Using LC-MS/MS for identification and quantification of host contaminant protein during phage production

Stefan Miller (PolyQuant GmbH)

06/10/2026, 15:20

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

Typical recombinant protein production often relies on standard ELISA assays for controlling product quality and safety. Phages however, require specific production hosts. Regulatory institutions demand phages to be controlled for presence of host-cell derived impurities, e.g. host-cell proteins (HCPs), endo- and exotoxins, as well as prophages.
LC-MS/MS-based HCP testing enables highly...

23. Horizontal Gene Transfer Shapes Bacterial Defense in Vibrio cholerae

Prof. Melanie Blokesch (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL))

06/10/2026, 16:10

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

Horizontal gene transfer has played a central role in the evolution of Vibrio cholerae, transforming an environmental bacterium into the causative agent of cholera through the acquisition of key virulence determinants. Recent work has revealed that the same evolutionary process has also shaped the bacterium's arsenal of defense systems against bacteriophages and plasmids. In this talk, I...

17. Sulfonamide antibiotic rescues bacteria from phage-induced collapse

Juliana Geromiller (Tübingen University)

06/10/2026, 16:40

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Phage-antibiotic combinations are a promising strategy to combat antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, but we currently lack mechanistic understanding of underlying bacterial responses. Here, we characterize the interaction between the antifolate antibiotic sulfamethoxazole and phage T4 in Escherichia coli.

We combine quantitative with molecular and phage biology approaches, namely...

68. Zorya-mediated defence results in distinct cellular outcomes following phage infection

Ms Adhvaidhi Kuntran (1. Institute of Biology/Molecular Microbiology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

06/10/2026, 17:00

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

The Zorya defence system is a multi-protein antiviral complex that detects phage infection at the bacterial membrane and restricts viral replication. Although the three Zorya subtypes share homologous membrane-spanning components, they encode distinct cytoplasmic effector proteins, suggesting mechanistic divergence between subtypes.
Here, we investigate the anti-phage defence profile of Zorya...

121. Hidden Functional Diversity among Type V-A CRISPR Effectors

Oleg Dmytrenko (Forschungszentrum Jülich)

06/10/2026, 17:20

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Bacterial antiphage defenses, including CRISPR-Cas, are commonly classified according to their evolutionary relationships, presence of known functional domains, or genomic neighborhood. Yet, as viral predation drives rapid diversification, incomplete sequence sampling and fragmented knowledge of bacterial immunity often undermine our ability to reliably predict defense functions. For example,...

120. From genetic conflicts to molecular innovation

Sanne Klompe (ETH Zurich)

06/10/2026, 17:35

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

Genetic conflict arises when distinct genetic elements within an organism pursue divergent evolutionary interests. These conflicting forces drive continuous cycles of adaptation and counter-adaptation that reshape microbial genomes and generate new molecular functions. In prokaryotes, this conflict is visible in the dynamic interplay between mobile elements such as transposons and...

118. Diverse responses of an archaeal CBASS

Uri Gophna (Tel Aviv University)

07/10/2026, 09:00

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

Many bacterial cyclic-oligonucleotide-based antiphage signalling systems (CBASS) defend against viral infections by depleting cellular NAD+ levels, eventually leading to dormancy or death. This abortive infection strategy is beneficial in stopping fast lytic infections, as cells die before spreading the virus to neighbouring cells. However, in chronic viral infections, which often occur in...

103. The ancient evolution of gasdermin-mediated immunity

Tanita Wein (Weizmann Institute of Science)

07/10/2026, 09:30

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Bacteria encode a remarkable diversity of immune systems, including systems that trigger cell death to halt phage infection. Gasdermins, which are best known as executors of inflammatory cell death in animals, are emerging as widespread effectors of bacterial anti-phage defense. Here, we uncover novel bacterial gasdermins and explore how these potent pore-forming proteins have diversified...

74. Dozens of phage proteins block retron defense by targeting its toxicity on the ribosome

Federico Corona (European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Molecular Systems Biology Unit, Heidelberg, Germany)

07/10/2026, 09:50

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Retron-Sen2 from S. Typhimurium encodes a tripartite toxin-antitoxin (TA) system that defends bacteria against phage via abortive infection. Its toxic effector, RcaT, is a predicted ribosyltransferase neutralized by the msDNA-reverse transcriptase complex, with msDNA acting as a sensor for infection. RcaT retrons represent the most prevalent retron family, and other families likely share...

119. Bacteria-inspired exploration of immune functions in eukaryotes

Rotem Sorek (Weizmann Institute of Science)

07/10/2026, 10:10

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Talk from invited speaker

A flurry of recent discoveries showed that defense islands in the microbial pan-genome contains hundreds of defense systems, the functions of many of which are still unexplored. The talk will present progress in understanding the mechanisms of action of new defense systems, will highlight cases in which bacterial defense from phage gave rise to key components in the eukaryotic innate immune...

57. A novel signaling system originating from a core metabolic enzyme

Dr Anna Kanevskaya (INSERM, CIRI)

07/10/2026, 11:10

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Bacteria employ diverse antiphage systems that produce second messengers in response to infection, activating effector proteins to block phage propagation. In several defense systems, enzymes originally discovered in cellular processes have been repurposed to synthesize signaling molecules.
Here, we discovered and characterized a two-gene system where the signaling enzyme is derived from...

85. Hidden Amun defensive proteins within defense islands broaden protectivity against phage families

Dr Marcel Sprenger (Friedrich Schiller University, Institute of Microbiology, 07745 Jena, Germany)

07/10/2026, 11:25

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

The ongoing arms race between phages and bacteria is a biological struggle for survival where bacteria develop defense mechanisms to resist phage infections. Vibrio cholerae interacts with numerous different lytic and lysogenic phages and strains from the current cholera pandemic acquired over 30 different antiviral defense systems. This project aims to investigate the presence of new...

89. A compact Druantia defense clears phage infections via single-stranded DNA recognition and directional duplex unwinding

Thomas Gaudin (HIRI)

07/10/2026, 11:45

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Bacteria encode diverse anti-phage defense systems triggered by invader-specific molecular cues. Here, we report that the compact type III-A Druantia system recognizes exposed single-stranded DNA to drive phage clearance. Using representative systems from Escherichia coli, we show that the two encoded proteins, DruE and DruH, together clear restriction-sensitive or recombination-prone phages...

16. Processing of forked DNA activates a helicase-nuclease immune system

Luuk Loeff

07/10/2026, 12:05

Novel anti-viral defence systems

Short-talk only

Innate immune systems detect molecular signatures of infection to initiate antiviral defence, yet the identity of pathogen-associated signals that distinguish phage from host nucleic acids remains incompletely understood. While recent work has shown that nucleic acid structures can act as triggers for bacterial defense systems, how these structural signals are coupled with immune activation...