Higher-order assembly of a type IX retron enables exploitation for designer antimicrobials.

Grace N Hibshman, Linhan Wang, Nicole MacRae, Karen Zhang, Alfredo Florez, Seth L Shipman, Eva Nogales

Abstract readPreprint

In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Grace N HibshmanCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3470-4861

Linhan WangGladstone Institute of Data Science and Biology, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-3862-1224

Nicole MacRaeCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Karen ZhangGladstone Institute of Data Science and Biology, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Alfredo FlorezCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Seth L ShipmanGladstone Institute of Data Science and Biology, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3130-8043

Eva NogalesCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9816-3681

Funding

Biophysics Training ProgramT32GM146614 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI James H Hurley, Ahmet Yildiz · 2023 to 2026

$2.5M

NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM146614

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacterial defense systems provide a rich reservoir for biotechnological innovation. Retrons are tripartite abortive infection systems that detect phage invasion using reverse-transcribed DNA (msDNA), but how they structurally couple threat detection to effector activation remains poorly understood. Here, we determine the cryo-EM structure and activation mechanism of retron-Kva2, a type IX retron from the human pathogen

Identifiers

PMID42523435

DOI10.64898/2026.07.11.737809

PMCPMC13405049

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Registered trials

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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.