ArticleCell2025
Kiwa is a membrane-embedded defense supercomplex activated at phage attachment sites.
Article in Cell, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- How bacterial immune systems sense phage infection.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Review
- Recent Advances in the Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Anti-Phage Defence Systems.Microbial biotechnology · 2026Article
- Article
- Identification of novel prophages and variants of integrative and conjugative elements in Elizabethkingia anophelis clinical isolates from Seremban, Malaysia.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- It's not me, it's you: Anti-phage nuclease specificity inside a bacterium.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Mycobacterial non-homologous end joining is required for antiphage defense.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- A methylome-derived mbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Phage-quinolone synergy: mechanisms, clinical strategies, and translational prospects.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- More Is Not Always Better: Co-Occurrence Analysis of Anti-Phage Systems Reveals Prevalent Neutral Interactions inMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Battle beyond membrane: flagella as a conduit for phage DNA entry and a trigger for bacterial defense in Yersinia enterocolitica.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Phage Therapy forAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- OLD amputates the anticodon arm of tRNAs during P2-Lambda interference.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Identification of the tetraspanin gene family in sugarcane and its response to sugarcane mosaic virus infection.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Prokaryotic homeostasis - a solution to thrive and survive.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Bacteria and archaea deploy diverse antiviral defense systems, many of which remain mechanistically uncharacterized. Here, we characterize Kiwa, a widespread two-component system composed of the transmembrane sensor KwaA and the DNA-binding effector KwaB. Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) analysis reveals that KwaA and KwaB assemble into a large, membrane-associated supercomplex. Upon phage binding, KwaA senses infection at the membrane, leading to KwaB binding of ejected phage DNA and inhibition of replication and late transcription, without inducing host cell death. Although KwaB can bind DNA independently, its antiviral activity requires association with KwaA, suggesting spatial or conformational regulation. We show that the phage-encoded DNA-mimic protein Gam directly binds and inhibits KwaB but that co-expression with the Gam-targeted RecBCD system restores protection by Kiwa. Our findings support a model in which Kiwa coordinates membrane-associated detection of phage infection with downstream DNA binding by its effector, forming a spatially coordinated antiviral mechanism.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.