ArticleCell reports2026
A prophage-expressed type IV pilus component provides anti-phage defense.
Article in Cell reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 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
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- β-strand addition within tip initiation complexes licenses assembly of diverse type IV filaments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Temperate phages enhance bacterial host fitness via RNA-guided flagellar remodelling.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- β-strand complementation within tip initiation complexes licenses assembly of diverse type IV filaments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Steering the course: targeting and exploiting surface receptors in phage therapy.Journal of bacteriology · 2026Review
- A type IV pili-mediated mutualism between two co-resident temperate archaeal viruses and their host.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a model bacterium in antiphage defense research.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Phage genomes integrated within bacterial genomes, known as prophages, frequently encode proteins that provide defense against further phage infection. These proteins often function by altering the cell surface and preventing phages from attaching to their host receptor. Here, we describe prophage-encoded proteins that resemble FimU, a component of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pilus. These phage FimU proteins are incorporated into the pilus without altering its function, yet they mediate robust protection against infection by phages that bind to the tip of the pilus, where FimU is located. The phage FimU proteins and the phage tail proteins that likely interact with FimU are highly diverse, suggesting that evolution in this system is driven by phage versus phage competition. These phage FimU proteins represent an example of anti-phage defense mediated by the replacement of a bacterial cell surface component with a phage-encoded protein.
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.