Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41338195›Full record

ArticleCell2026

The unique architecture of umbrella toxins permits a two-tiered molecular bet-hedging strategy for interbacterial antagonism.

Qinqin Zhao, Jiri Vlach, Young-Jun Park, Yongjun Tan, Savannah K Bertolli, Pooja Srinivas, Pinyu Liao, Connor R Fitzpatrick, Jeffery L Dangl, Parastoo Azadi and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Qinqin ZhaoDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Jiri VlachComplex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Young-Jun ParkDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Yongjun TanDepartment of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Savannah K BertolliDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Pooja SrinivasDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Pinyu LiaoDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Connor R FitzpatrickDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Jeffery L DanglDepartment of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Parastoo AzadiComplex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Frank DiMaioDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
S Brook PetersonDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Dapeng ZhangDepartment of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA; Program of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
David VeeslerDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Joseph D MougousDepartment of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Microbial Interactions and Microbiome Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: joseph.mougous@yale.edu.

Funding

National Glycoscience Resource- CCRC Service and Training - NGlycoR@CCRCR24GM137782 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · PI Parastoo Azadi · 2020 to 2026
$5.2M
Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNIGMS NIH HHS R24 GM137782
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacteria exist in competitive and rapidly changing environments in which the nature of future threats cannot be easily predicted. Streptomyces coelicolor produces three antibacterial umbrella particles that harbor distinct polymorphic toxin domains and an overlapping set of six diversified lectins. Here, we show that the exquisite specificity of umbrella particles derives from lectin-mediated species-specific binding to previously undescribed hypervariable surface glycoconjugates. A cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of one such lectin in complex with its oligosaccharide substrate defines the molecular basis for targeting through the coordinated recognition of multiple glycan features. Biochemical and genetic studies of several target species, in conjunction with lectin-swapping experiments, support a model whereby S. coelicolor umbrella toxin diversification at the levels of lectin composition and toxin polymorphism represents a unique, two-tiered bet-hedging strategy. Bioinformatic analyses support this as a means by which the unusual architecture of umbrella toxins offers Streptomyces a generalizable strategy to antagonize an unpredictable array of competitors.

Indexed as

Bacterial ToxinsLectinsStreptomyces coelicolorAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsCryoelectron MicroscopyModels, MolecularAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsBacterial ToxinsLectinsantibacterialbet-hedgingcell wallGram-positiveinterbacterialtoxin

Identifiers

PMID41338195
PMCPMC13274773

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.