ReviewNature reviews. Genetics2020
Evolutionary entanglement of mobile genetic elements and host defence systems: guns for hire.
Review in Nature reviews. Genetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 152 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 251 citations in OpenAlex.
- Shuttling, swapping, and mixing: the rapid modular evolution of antiviral repertoires in temperate phages and their satellites.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- An expanded realm of anti-CRISPR-associated proteins and regulatory mechanisms.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Helitrons are enriched in lichenized fungi with long generation lengths and small distribution sizes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Ancestral proteins trace the emergence of substrate specificity and oligomerization within bacterial DEDDy dinucleases.Science advances · 2026Article
- Review
- Mobile genetic elements shape microbial diversity and functions in thawing permafrost soils.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Multiple forms of protein-protein and DNA binding are exhibited by BrxC from the BREX phage restriction system.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Eco-evolutionary dynamics of defense systems in mobile genetic elements: Cui bono?Research square · 2026Article
- Eco-evolutionary dynamics of defense systems in mobile genetic elements: Cui bono?bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Phage satellites induced by virulent phages are mobilized by natural competence leading to phage resistance in a new host.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Genomic and Proteolytic Profiling of Lacticaseibacillus sp. PRA205: Insights into PepX-Mediated Bioactive Peptide Metabolism.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- A developmental condensin I complex assists the Paramecium PiggyMac domesticated transposase during programmed DNA elimination.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Competing forms of protein-protein association and DNA binding exhibited by BrxC from the BREX phage restriction system.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Earthworm gut microbiome promotes biodegradation of albendazole in soil.Crop health · 2026Article
- Endogenous retroviral elements LTR8B and MER65 rewire PSG9 regulation to control trophoblast syncytialization and pre-eclampsia risk.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Diversity and evolution of archaeal immune strategies.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Uncovering Cas9 PAM diversity through metagenomic mining and machine learning.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Review
- Recurrent acquisition of nuclease-protease pairs in antiviral immunity.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
All cellular life forms are afflicted by diverse genetic parasites, including viruses and other types of mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and have evolved multiple, diverse defence systems that protect them from MGE assault via different mechanisms. Here, we provide our perspectives on how recent evidence points to tight evolutionary connections between MGEs and defence systems that reach far beyond the proverbial arms race. Defence systems incur a fitness cost for the hosts; therefore, at least in prokaryotes, horizontal mobility of defence systems, mediated primarily by MGEs, is essential for their persistence. Moreover, defence systems themselves possess certain features of selfish elements. Common components of MGEs, such as site-specific nucleases, are 'guns for hire' that can also function as parts of defence mechanisms and are often shuttled between MGEs and defence systems. Thus, evolutionary and molecular factors converge to mould the multifaceted, inextricable connection between MGEs and anti-MGE defence systems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.